The late season front that blew through this past weekend put the brakes on the fishing around Hopedale for a couple of days. However, on Wednesday, Capt. Gene Dugas of Rather Be Fishing Adventures (985-640-0569) put a whacking on them, and his boat had 100 trout by 9:30. “We struggled most of the day on Monday, but we were able to put together a mixed bag of reds and trout,” Dugas reported. “It got a little better by Tuesday, but we had to work hard and stay on the trolling motor all day. Wednesday was great, even though we still had to fight the wind a little bit.”
Dugas said he found plenty bigger trout outside in Black Bay that were orienting around islands and reefs.
“I haven’t been fishing rigs that much,” he said. “Lately, we’ve been doing best fishing the tide lines around the islands and the passes across points and stuff with mullet ganged up on the bank. There are plenty of birds around, too. You can catch a bunch of smaller trout fishing under them.”
Although Dugas had some easy fishing Wednesday with shrimp under a popping cork, he added that plastics are also working well.
“In fact,” he said, “the plastics are almost as good as the shrimp right now. I’ve been fishing everything from Dudleys to Bayou Chubs to DOAs in chartreuse, avocado and glow either tightlined or under a cork. The chartreuse has been working best in clear water, and the avocado is best in darker water.”
Dugas said that the only problem is that the wind is blowing from a different direction every day. He’s finding fish in an area one day that turns up barren the next. He recommended staying on the move and trying different areas as long as the wind stayed fresh.
The redfish have been thumbing their noses at all the spoons Dugas has tossed at them, but they aren’t passing up dead shrimp fished under a cork around Lake Campo, Bay Lafourche and Oak River.
“These aren’t giant reds,” Dugas said. “They’re mainly 20 to 22 inches. You’ve got to get in there and work the shoreline. Put a shrimp about a foot under a cork and get right against the bank. Move to the outside if you’re looking for some bull reds.”
