Road fishermen are not daybreak fishermen, I learned.
“You can get your kids off to school and do your errands,” Terry St. Cyr said. “The fish don’t bite until later. I don’t think that tide plays a big part of road-fishing, either, unless you are fishing culverts.”
That kind of schedule works just fine for Noch Camardelle. Besides being a shrimper, he drives a Jefferson Parish school bus, so the late bite allows him to deliver children to school and then leisurely go fishing.
What does make a difference is cold weather.
“From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the colder it gets the better,” Camardelle said. “When it gets really cold, the redfish get in here. I think the trout are still here too, but they are dormant.
“The cold weather can make miserable fishing, but it’s worth it. The secret is not to get your hands wet. Use pliers to handle the fish.”
Pete Cassagne, Camardelle’s fishing partner and a friend of St. Cyr’s, as well, agreed.
“When we get a cold front, everybody on the island runs out here,” Cassagne said. “When it warms up, the fishing isn’t as good.
“Plus you can’t cast as far casting into a south wind.”
