Hillman sets his sights on redfish and speckled trout in shallow water
Ty Hillman is an avid fisherman whose love for the sport has prompted him to share his fishing forays via his YouTube channel (Marshes and Hills with Ty Hillman).
Hillman grew up in Mississippi, where he fished for bass and other freshwater fish, but when he moved to Southeast Louisiana his passion turned to marsh fishing. Now he mostly focuses his energies chasing redfish and trout anywhere he hears they’re biting.
Pond hopping
In November, Hillman said he’ll be hunting both reds and specks in the lakes and ponds of the Biloxi Marsh.
“This is the time of year I especially love to fish the Biloxi Marsh,” he said. “It’s the first place I started exploring and fishing when I came to Louisiana and it really introduced me to marsh fishing. I still love to fish there.”
Hillman said he usually fishes from Muscle Bay up to Pete’s Lagoon and from there over to Brick Lagoon and Cut Off Lagoon; and he doesn’t only fish the named lakes and lagoons, but he loves to poke into the shallow ponds and washouts all around those areas.
“I’m a pond-hopper,” he said. “I actually have two boats; a 17-foot Carolina Skiff and a 21-foot bay boat. I use the skiff to get into the skinny water when I want to sight fish for reds. I can float in only 6-8 feet of water, and I stand on the bow on top of a Yeti ice chest and troll slowly along the banks of the ponds, sight-fishing for reds. Just that little extra elevation enables me to see reds, drum, sheepshead, stingrays and whatever else is down there, and I cast to what I want to catch. I also have that 21-foot bay boat that I use when fishing the bigger, deeper outside bays for speckled trout.”
What he uses
For bait, Hillman forgoes the live stuff and chooses to fish both hard and soft plastics.
“When I’m fishing for redfish, I’ll toss a gold bladed spinner bait with a Matrix Craw in the Chinese Bandit color, or a Matrix paddle-tail bait in the Shrimp Creole or the Tiger bait color,” he said.
When fishing trout in the marsh, Hillman likes to toss topwater baits in the early mornings. He likes the Heddon Zara Super-Spook Jr., the Evergreen SB125 and the Heddon One Knocker, all in the bone color. He said once the sun gets up he switches to a Matrix in the Shrimp Creole color in clear water, or the Tiger Bait color in darker water, on a jig head, tightlined. In the bays he likes the paddle tails under a popping cork, and he said he also likes the Four Horsemen Boom-Boom Shrimp under a cork.
Hillman said whatever area he fishes he’ll look for clean water, moving water and any sign of bait in the water.
“I prefer a falling tide, but any decent tide movement is good enough to catch fish,” he said. “And if you still see birds diving in the bays or lakes in November, don’t pass them up.”
