Speckled trout, black drum, redfish and sheepshead all easy to catch right now
Fishing guide Tommy Pellegrin with Custom Charters has been slamming the fish in the Terrebonne Bay area. Since January, he and his son Capt. Eric have caught over 1000 trout and plenty of redfish, black drum and sheepshead.
“The sheepshead are really fixing to turn on at the wellheads as they move in to spawn and you’ll be able to catch them even on artificial during March,” Pellegrin said.
“On Sunday I had the pleasure of bringing Rusty Critselous and his grandson Hudson Brister from Ruston fishing. I wondered how the fish would react with the wind up and the fog thick, but it didn’t take long. I didn’t go to the honey hole because the wind was wrong so I tried some protected reefs and every one we went to had trout on it.”
Many islands on maps no longer exist because of erosion. Now, they are essentially oyster reefs. All of those reefs can hold good fish.
The tide was coming in hard when the fish bite was at its best according to Pellegrin.
“It sure was nice to see the numbers of small trout because last year we didn’t have very many,” he said. “With little Hudson on the boat I brought live shrimp for the first time this year and it paid off for him. I always do what it takes to get the kids catching. It was amazing that the fish could find a 100 count shrimp in stained water so fast.”
The trout were on the reefs and rocks and the reds were on the wellheads. Pellegrin added that the black drum are all over the well heads right now and that he expects fishing in the Terrebonne Bay area to remain good until July. He said this pattern will last till it gets hot.
“Rusty asked about reds for Hudson and how close we were to a limit of trout,” Pellegrin said. “I told him we were at 44 in the box. He said let’s get to 50 and go after the reds. By the time I turned around again we had 55 and shut it down.”
The guide’s first stop at a wellhead only produced drum around 15 pounds so he moved just a little and found the reds.
“At one point Hudson said that his hands and arms were hurting too much to catch any more fish,” he said. “Music to my ears. That is how I know that I have a kid hooked on fishing for life.”
He added, “Again, the Berkley Rattle Shrimp in Coastal Candy was the plastic of choice with live shrimp catching their fair share. The trout fishing is real good right now so don’t wait till summer. Come get you some now.”
For more information about guided fishing trips with Capt. Tommy Pellegrin, visit his website here.