Interior lakes and bays producing specks now, guide says
I just returned from a trip with Capt. Mike Wittich in Delacroix Island, where we put a three-man limit of specks in the boat before noon.
Wittich told me the night before that trout have shown up in the interior, and he was on a good bite. So we headed back to the same area, and found them waiting.
Our first cast was met with a good strike, and the action continued at a steady — but not furious pace — throughout the morning. Live shrimp under one of Capt. Mike’s hard plastic cork “Wittich Rigs” was the best producer, but I also did very well with a natural-colored Vudu shrimp under a popping cork.
“The fish are here, and the action will only get better from here on out,” he said.
Wittich says Oak River is lined up with shrimp trawlers right now, so the shrimp are definitely there, and from Oak River they flow with the tides into all the intersecting waters.
“You can catch trout right now at all the usual fall hotspots: Oak River Bay, Adema Pond, Bay Lafourche, Bakers Bay, Pointe Fienne, Bay Jack, Skippy Lake, Bay Andrew, the Twin Pipelines, False River, and Lake Fausan — you name it,” Wittich said. “I like to either drift and troll while casting all around the boat, and sticking the Power-Pole when you bump into trout.
“Resume drifting when the bite stops. I also like to set up at good points with current lines where I see bait in the water. We catch both reds and specks in the mix.”
Wittich says the trout aren’t really stacked up in any one place, so you may have to bounce around and try several different spots and different techniques to find them.
“Vary your depth. Fish one line 3 feet under a cork, another 4 feet under a cork, and see what gets the hits. Then let everyone fish at that depth. If the bite slows, experiment with other depths or colors,” he said.
The Delacroix trout fuse is definitely lit, and Wittich said it’s about to explode into a full-fledged frenzy.
For charter information, Capt. Wittich can be reached at 504-577-4774.
