While the trout transition to the inside around Hopedale has long been completed, Captain Charlie Thomason with Bayou Charters (504-278-FISH) says there’s another kind of transition happening right now. “The trout are really starting to fall to the bottom,” he said. “And the fishing is awesome.”
Thomason has been catching most of his trout at the mouths of bayous where they open up into larger lakes and bays. He pointed out the mouth of Bayou Robin where it enters Lake Robin as being a perfect example, and he also mentioned where Bayou Grande enters Lake Calebasse for those that regularly fish this particular area.
“The thing is that the fish are still under the birds, but they aren’t feeding on the surface,” Thomason explained. “If you get out there early, you’ll see just a few birds either diving or sitting on the water right at the mouths of these areas. Those birds tell you the fish are there. If there’s enough bait there to hold some birds, you can bet there are a lot of fish down there on the bottom.”
Thomason has been keeping it pretty simple when fishing the trout on the bottom. He’s sticking with a 3/8-ounce jighead rigged with either a chartreuse fire tail H&H beetle or a new bait he’s been fishing, the Marsh Works 3-inch Bayou Thumper, in the glow or Purple People Eater colors.
“The only thing about these kinds of areas that are holding trout right now is that they aren’t very big,” Thomason added. “Take Lake Robin for example. There are trout galore there, but there’s not much space. I was the first boat there just the other day, and by the time I hit 50 fish, I had one other boat fishing around me. Well, by the time I pulled up my anchor, there were six other boats around us.”
The number of boats hasn’t affected the fishing much, though. Thomason says that as long as nobody is acting like a jerk there are plenty enough trout for everybody to get in on the action.
Visit www.captaincharlie.com for more information about Bayou Charters.
