Along Atchafalaya Bay, where my spouse and I fish, there are higher rates of salinity in the early spring.
But that doesn’t slow down the bite.
An abstract from a study conducted by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ W. Guthrie Perry Jr. near Grand Chanier in the western part of the state noted that blue catfish tolerate higher salinity than channel catfish.
They can handle salinities of 3.7 parts per thousand, compared to the 1.7 ppt channel cats tolerate, the study found.
As a result, what we’ve found is that there seems to be a preponderance of blue cats versus channel cats at this time of year.
It’s nearer to April on into May that the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers rise and lower the salinities in the lower cost, tipping the scales toward channel cats.
