Split action for Mississippi River trout, reds

Bulls already gathering near passes east of the river

Normally anglers have been catching beautiful specks around the mouth of the Mississippi River by this time of year, but guide Brent Roy said it’s been different. Yes, there are trout to be caught, but for some reason it’s just not been as good.

So you’ll have to travel a bit to catch specks out of Venice this month.

The good news for those who want to stick close is that the redfish were ready to move into the river in late June.

“If the river continues to fall, we’ll start catching redfish in the river system,” said Roy, owner of Venice Charters.

He said, barring a major jump in the river, the Mighty Mississippi will be turning that pretty green Venice anglers love and redfish should be ganging up in the passes and in the main river.

“You can usually catch them with a jig, tipping it with shrimp, or by fishing live shrimp on the bottom or under a cork,” Roy explained.

It the reds haven’t quite made it to the main river, passes to target include Baptiste Collette, Southwest Pass and South Pass.

“If we have a good, low river, you should be able to go limit out pretty easily,” Roy said. “Even someone who doesn’t know anything about Venice should be able to catch redfish.”

If the river bumps up again, the reds will stage around the mouths of the passes and in the peripheral bays.

“The reds essentially hover at the mouths of the passes, waiting on the river to drop,” Roy said.

A key sign that reds should be moving into the passes comes from commercial crabbers.

“When you start seeing crab traps in the passes, that’s when the reds will be moving in,” the guide said.

While you should be able to pick up some trout around the Venice area, Roy admitted July normally sees the close-in speck fishing slow down.

Instead, he’ll be pointing his bow to the east, heading to the islands and rigs in Breton Sound.

“Breton Island is typically good,” Roy said. “And there’ll be some trout on the rigs.”

He included the rigs out of Baptiste Collette on that list.

Live shrimp — mostly under corks — are going to be the ticket to putting these fish in the boat, Roy said.

Obviously, there’s lots of water on the east side of the river, but the veteran guide said there are two keys for which to look.

“Any time you’re trout fishing, you’ve got to have good water and you’ve got to have bait,” Roy said. “If you have those two things, you’re going to have trout.”

He said you’ll probably need to bounce around until you find fish, but when you get a couple of bites the biggest mistake you can make is pulling up stakes too quickly.

“If you’re catching pretty steady, don’t move,” Roy said. “You’ve got to be patient with trout. They’ll stop biting for a few minutes, and then they’ll start again.”

Anglers often think that the trout have moved when the bite shuts down, which is simply not the case, this veteran guide said.

“They might move, but they don’t go far,” Roy said. “They’re there for a reason. And if you are just patient, they’ll start biting again.

“I see people all the time pull up and catch some fish, and when it gets slow they move; then they’ll return later.

“But while they’re gone, I just stay and keep catching trout. You’ve got to be patient.”

About Andy Crawford 863 Articles
Andy Crawford has spent nearly his entire career writing about and photographing Louisiana’s hunting and fishing community. While he has written for national publications, even spending four years as a senior writer for B.A.S.S., Crawford never strayed far from the pages of Louisiana Sportsman. Learn more about his work at www.AndyCrawford.Photography.