Michel is fishing the rocks with Carolina-rigged live minnows
Anglers are catching limits of speckled trout in the Cocodrie area using live minnows on a Carolina rig, a fishing guide said.
Capt. Bryce Michel with Topwater Charters in Chauvin said trout are holding to any type of structure on the bottom right now.
“The easiest report I can tell you is they’re on the rocks. They’re on the limestone pads. They’re on the reefs,” Michel said. “They’re moving from that to the beach within this next month. We’re going to start getting some 85- and 87-degree days and they’re going to start moving out to spawn and dump their eggs.
“The water temperatures is going to be right, and with this south wind blowing the salinity’s going to be right. It’s going to be on.”
Michel said his boats have consistently come back with limits the last four days.
“We had 400 trout on Friday, 300 on Saturday, 450 yesterday and 150 today,” Michel said. “They’re on the rocks. The next moon should put the fish on the beach.”
The colder-than-normal winter pushed the action back a bit, he said.
“Everything is a month-and-a-half late,” he said. “Shrimp, pogeys, croakers and trout.”
Michel said he’s using live minnows Carolina-rigged with a 12- to 18-inch fluorocarbon leader and a 1- or 2-aught Kahle hook.
“If your hook’s too big, your bait won’t work good enough,” he said. “Downsize your hook and you’ll get bit more.”
