Trout, redfish action heats up as weather cools down.
The recent cool weather has sent the signal to speckled trout that it’s time to hunker down in the interior marshes, and that’s exactly what’s going on in Delacroix.
Recent reports from the area have been strong, with anglers catching fish in all the usual autumn hotspots – Round Lake, Four Horse, Bakers Bay, Skippy Lake, Pointe Fienne and Lake Batola.
On Tuesday (Nov. 1), Larry Frey, Austin Boudreaux, my son Joel and I got out for a sample of the action, and were limited only by the stiff winds that built throughout the day.
We started in Batola, where the water was absolutely filthy. We made a few drifts, pushed by the northeast wind and tail end of a rising tide. We caught some fish on all of the drifts, but we hoped to find some faster action. We picked up to try our luck in Pointe Fienne.
The action was slower there, so we moseyed over to Skippy Lake, where we picked up only a fish or two.
We then cut over to Bakers, where we found the prettiest water of the day.
We gave the area a cursory drift, but gave up after boating only a couple of undersized fish.
We returned to Batola to finish out the day catching mixed sizes of specks on the now-falling tide.
The day was beautiful, but conditions were tough with the high winds and dirty water. Still, we caught enough fish to make it well worth our while.
According to Frey, a Delacroix fanatic, trout action will last through the fall and winter, with the fish retreating to the deep holes of Oak River and other community spots only in the coldest of weather.
Best baits are DOA shrimp, Gulp shrimp and chartreuse curly tails (Frey’s favorite), all under rattling corks. When the water’s up, as it was on our trip, the baits may need to be fished really deep under the corks.
When our action slowed on our 2 1/2- to 3-foot leaders, Frey switched to an unwieldy 4-foot leader, and immediately resumed putting fish in the boat.
For more information on fishing the Delacroix area this time of year, be sure to pick up the December issue of Louisiana Sportsman. Or download the digital edition right to your computer or mobile device.
Contributor Chris Ginn will have a feature on the area in that issue of the magazine.
Also be sure to look for daily user reports and add your own reports on the LouisianaSportsman.com Inshore Fishing Forum. Not a member of the Sportsman team yet? Just fill out the short registration form to get started today!
