Great Biloxi Marsh action has started

Capt. Sal Fontana caught this 13-pound redfish on a Gulp swimming mullet in a bayou draining from a bay.

Sal Fontana of “Gotcha Hooked” Guide Service predicts that anglers will be “burning up the trout” this month in the Biloxi Marsh.

“Not only is it going to be good, but the action has already started,” he said, pointing to areas like Lake Maroon, Cut Off, Pete’s Lagoon, Brick Lagoon and Goose Flat, which are already producing specks and are only going to get better.

“Really, the action gets good starting in Stump Lagoon and moving on up throughout the northeast section of the Biloxi Marsh,” he said.

“Surprisingly, we’re catching trout in Black Bay again, and with the river as low as it is, we’re even seeing trout showing up over towards Pointe a la Hache,” he said. “And as long as we don’t get a deluge of freshwater, the fishing over there should be like back like old times.”

Fontana said with so many fish showing up spread over so many places, November should be fantastic.

“And it doesn’t matter whether the tide is rising or falling, as long as you fish moving water,” he said.

Bait

Fontana said soft plastics will produce just fine, fished about 30 to 36 inches under a popping cork.

“The tandem-rigged H&H Glass Minnows are dynamite. The Matrix in lemonhead, and VuDu shrimp in glow, those are my best producers, and I always carry the live stuff with me for those days when the trout are finicky,” he said.

Fontana said you always have to be opportunistic.

“Rather than just fishing particular spots, I look for current lines around points, and I look for any sign of bait activity,” he said. “Even if its just minnows in the water or a shrimp jumping; I fish where I see bait, and I fish where I see birds.”

Fontana said redfish prowl the shorelines in the same waters, but he expands his search for the bronzebacks into Lake Borgne around Proctor’s Point; the Pointe a la Hache shorelines where he said the reds are bigger and more numerous, and down to the MRGO Rocks for genuine bulls.

“I don’t particularly like fishing dead shrimp because they come off your hook so easily, so for reds, I mostly fish H&H plastics in the black/chartreuse color, or Berkley’s curlytail Gulps! in the orange color, about 2 feet under a popping cork. The redfish can’t resist them,” he said.

You can reach Capt. Sal Fontana’s “Gotcha Hooked” Guide Service at 504-812-7773 or www.gotchahooked.com.

About Rusty Tardo 369 Articles
Rusty Tardo grew up in St. Bernard fishing the waters of Delacroix, Hopedale and Shell Beach. He and his wife, Diane, have been married over 40 years and live in Kenner.