Trout bite still going strong out of Cocodrie

And bull reds feasting on Carolina-rigged crab and mullet, Schouest says

Despite warmer-than-usual temperatures in August, the speckled trout bite out of Cocodrie is still going strong, according to a fishing guide.

Capt. Chris “Crawdaddy” Schouest, with Tradewinds Marina on Highway 56, said trout have been pretty consistent, and the bull reds are off the charts.

“The trout are still biting when the weather is good. We’re still catching limits this time of year, which is kind of weird hot like it’s been. I don’t know what that little front last week did to do to them, because they’re going to transition pretty soon in September and October to the inside,” Schouest said. “But right now they’re still on the beach at Timbalier, and at the wells in Lake Pelto. Most of the boats going out are coming back with limits of trout.

“When the water is clear, you can catch them on plastics, and when it has a little tint to it, you can catch them on live bait.”

Shrimp under a cork or Carolina-rigged is effective, and Schouest said artificial-wise, he uses a clear H&H sparkle beetle tandem-rigged on either a ¼- or ⅛-ounce jighead.

And even if you’re focused on specks, Schouest said the bull reds probably won’t be far away.

“About every fifth fish you catch — even if you’re fishing trout — you wind up catching a bull red,” he said. “I think we have more bull reds this year than I’ve ever seen before. Carolina-rig crab and mullet on the bottom from Little Pass to Timbalier to Coon Point, on the beach and in the surf, and on the shell piles and at the wells.

“I had a friend who had about a pound-and-a-half trout on the line, and the bull red was trying to eat his trout. They’re everywhere. And if you go in the Pass, you’ll find them on top the water.”

Tradewinds Marina, which the Schouest family has reopened, typically has live shrimp, croakers and minnows, although the shrimp are almost too large to fish with now, he said.

“We’re just about ready to stop handling shrimp because they’ve gotten so big. But we always try to at least handle minnows, and at times we have croakers,” he said. “But when they’re all in season, we’ll have all three of them.”

The new phone number for Tradewinds Marina is 985-466-3838.

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Patrick Bonin is the former editor of Louisiana Sportsman magazine and LouisianaSportsman.com.