Captain Bill Lake with Bayou Service (985-851-6015) has slammed the trout and redfish out of lower DuLarge the past six days. Six days worth of trout and redfish limits has him believing the fishing is as good as it gets. Hurricane Ike seems to have pushed tons of shrimp into the marsh, and the fish are going nuts.
“It’s as good as I’ve ever seen for this time of year,” said Lake. “It gets this good during late October and November, but for it to start this early is unusual. In fact, just three or four days after the Ike flood waters, the shrimp and trout were already here.”
While the fishing is fantastic in DeCade, Sister Lake and Mechant, Lake says he hasn’t had to leave Sister or Mechant at any time during the last six days. He has found that the shrimp, birds, trout and redfish are stacking up at the mouth of run-outs when the tide is falling.
Lake’s best scenario has been to fish tandem rigs in 6 to 8 feet of water right where it drops down to about 10 to 12 feet. If he has had any problem, it has been trying to get his tandem rig below the smaller fish that are right at the surface to the larger fish that are down deeper.
“They’re not that much bigger on the bottom,” he said, “but if you’re hooking those fish that bite right when your bait hits the water… that’s the 10- to 12-inch fish. If you can get it down through the small fish you’re going to catch the 14- to 16-inch trout. Fishing both baits on 1/4-ounce jigheads is getting us down to where we need to be.
“We’ve been mainly fishing the LSU and avocado Bayou Chubs, but with the action as good as it is, you can get rid of a lot of your old, discolored baits that are crowding your box. Right now, it’s almost just like what we do during the summer to catch fish.”
Lake insisted that anglers should stay on the trolling motor when fishing right now because everything is moving so quickly. The congregations of shrimp, birds and fish are all together, but they move in and out with the tide. Rather than throw out an anchor just to have to pick it up again in 5 or 10 minutes, just stay on the trolling motor to stay on the fish.
“The shrimp are in the drains. The birds are picking over the drains. And the trout are right there under all that action,” Lake concluded. “This incredible fishing should last until we get those first two or three really strong fronts with 40-degree nights and strong north winds. They will push the shrimp back into the Gulf of Mexico, and we’re going to have to move to the reefs then.”
