Lockport Action in Canals and Little Bayous

By Chris Ginn - March 23, 2006 | Reader Format

Once the water comes back up, the speck action will be strong in the Lockport area.

This is the time of year when Captain T-Man Cheramie (985-693-6828) expects the water to finally come up around Lockport and stay. He would also expect to find plenty of speckled trout hanging out in the ponds during late March. The only problem with this scenario right now is that the cool fronts keep pushing the water back out as soon as it comes up. Therefore, the trout are stacked up in the canals and little bayous.

“The fish are all over the place inside right now in those smaller spots,” Cheramie said. “These spots are full of little shad and baby croakers, and the trout are going nuts on them.”

While any little canal or bayou is subject to hold a ton of specks right now, places like Bayou Blue, Bayou Sevin, Bayou Salle and a spot known locally as April Canal are all producing a lot of fish.

“It really doesn’t matter what spot you fish,” Cheramie insisted. “All you got to do is find some bayous and canals that have a little current in them and you’ll find some fish. They’re just sitting in those areas waiting on a little bait to come their way. There’s a ton of these kinds of areas around here. There’s a bunch of 13 to 17 inch fish, but we’re getting plenty three and four pounders too.”

Cheramie said that all it was taking to catch the trout in the current holes is a smoke sparkle beetle fished on a jighead. While smoke has been his most productive color, he did say that avocado was producing well in a little bit clearer water. Purple/chartreuse will also catch some fish if it’s cloudy, and purple/white is producing when the sun is bright.

“We’ve mainly just been bumping the little jigs on the bottom,” he added. “Look at your fish finder and you can determine whether they’re on the bottom or if they’re suspended. If they’re up in the water a little, you can do pretty good fishing the beetles under a popping cork. We’ve also been catching some Carolina rigging with croaker or little shad.”

Cheramie also reported that there has been an excellent topwater bite later in the afternoon. Baits like the She Dog or Top Dog Jr. with white bellies are producing some awesome action.

The redfish are all over the place too, according to Cheramie. He said anglers could have a blast getting up in the marsh and throwing gold spoons or little spinnerbaits.

Cheramie invited anybody looking for a place to stay around Lockport to give him a call. “The lodge is up and kicking,” he said. “We’ve got good fishing and a great place to stay.”