The Tchefuncte River has left many an angler scratching his head, but it actually offers surprisingly good springtime spawning action.
These wicked winds are forcing guides to cancel trips all across coastal Louisiana, but I bumped into at least one that was able to make a few trips this week. Captain Big “O” Langridge with Big “O” Charters (225-664-9293) had to cancel a couple himself, but the two he made were very productive.
“I’ve had two downriver trips during the last few days,” said Langridge. “I had to cancel last Sunday because of 30 mile-an-hour winds, but the day before it was almost as if there were redfish on every point in Garden Island Bay.”
Langridge and his anglers wound up catching three to four reds on each point before the bite would quit. Realizing that he could maximize his time by hopping from point to point without wasting time by trying to scrape up more than three or four fish per point.
“We were fishing market bait under a cork,” Langridge pointed out. “I think one of the keys to us catching so many reds was fishing the market bait under an Aggravator cork… that was the ticket. We wound up catching and releasing over 40 reds.”
After skipping Sunday because of the winds, Langridge found himself right back at it on Monday even with the howling northeast winds. He and his customers bounced around in Blind Bay for several hours with minimal results.
“I didn’t think we could fish Garden Island Bay because of the wind,” Langridge continued, “but I went there anyway. We got on the backside of a point out of the wind and found the reds.”
Langridge says he stuck his Power Pole down and never moved. While fishing market bait under the Aggravator cork again, he and his anglers caught and released over 45 redfish.
“I think a couple keys that could help somebody catch some redfish while fishing stained water while the wind is howling is to use the freshest shrimp you can get,” Langridge concluded. “That and using the Aggravator cork. Make lots of noise and have something good-smelling for the reds, and you can catch some fish.”
