Cooling water temperatures will soon make live shrimp hard to come by. That’s not stopping Capt. Warren Dudenhefer (504-813-3474) from catching fish two at a time, though. In fact, he says that more anglers will be hollering, “Fish on!” around Hopedale as the weather gets cooler.
Until the shrimp are completely gone, Dudenhefer said anglers could still fish the few remaining birds that are picking over the shrimp that the trout are driving to the surface. In this situation, try a live shrimp under a Cajun Thunder cork.
“The trout are biting on lures and live minnows,” Dudenhefer said. “The exciting thing is that this is the time to catch them two at a time by casting tandem-rigged sparkle beetles. Just cast them out and let them sink about 5 feet under the surface. Then give them a start-and-stop action while retrieving.”
Dudenhefer says that on the coldest days anglers should drop back to the deeper bayous, and slowly fish a live minnow on the bottom with a Carolina rig. This is a great way to land some awesome Southern flounder.
“Even when the water is low and muddy, you can catch fish along the shore with dead shrimp under a Cajun Thunder cork,” Dudenhefer said. “Of course, these will be redfish, and the majority of them will be the perfect size for throwing on the grill.”
As far as specific places to fish, Dudenhefer pointed out Lake Robin, Hopedale Lagoon, Four Horse Lake, the Twin Pipeline and Lake Amedee. All of these areas offer a variety of habitats for trout, reds and flounder to use no matter the weather conditions.