Friday’s full moon could mean solid window for speckled trout — if weather cooperates
Despite lots of dirty water still in Lake Pontchartrain, one fishing guide said April’s recent windy weather — more than any clarity issue — has been a bigger hinderance so far in catching springtime speckled trout this month.
“I haven’t noticed any real difference in productivity besides being able to get to the fish,” said Capt. Mike Gallo, with Angling Adventures of Louisiana. “When you can get out to the lake safely, there seems to be fish out there.
“The water still has that off color to it, but that’s on the surface.”
Gallo said he had recently spoken with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Ashley Ferguson, who had gone diving in Lake Pontchartrain and shared with him what she had seen.
“She said the bottom 2 feet is beautiful clear green water,” Gallo said. “It’s that top 8 feet that has that sandy look to it, but we’ve been fishing in it and we’ve been catching fish. She said it’s almost like looking under clouds. Once you get down there, it kind of opens up and you can see.”
With April’s full moon this Friday, Gallo said he expects some nice trout to be caught this week — assuming the weather cooperates.
“I think we’re going to see some above-average size trout three to five days prior to the full moon, and then three to five days after the full moon,” he said. “The theory is those fish are depleted because they spent so much time strictly spawning, and then they’re hungry again on the backside of the spawn.”
On one of Gallo’s recent trips before the weather shut things down last week, he said his customers caught 100 specks on the Trestles drop-shotting with live shrimp. He said the Hwy. 11 bridge, the twin spans and the Trestles are all good bets right now if the weather allows.
“Where all the bridges hit shore on the south side, there’s a point that sticks out and the current rolls past that point really good,” Gallo said. “All of the bridges are good, but the Trestles seems to be the most popular.
“But there’s fish on all of them at any given time.”
If you prefer to use artificial lures, Gallo said he hadn’t noted a big difference in colors the trout prefer right now — but he had a suggestion.
“We had colors from blue moon to mojo mullet, but if I had to pick one plastic, I’d choose salt and pepper,” he said. “Believe it or not, I’m seeing pogies in the lake, and salt and pepper is a good imitation of a pogie.”
