Capt. Mike Gallo says the early part of October is prime time for Lake Catherine.
“The whole lake loads up with trout this month, and you can either anchor up at a good point or cut and toss live shrimp under a popping cork,” he said. “Or you can do what I do. I like to drift this lake, and I usually throw out a drift sock to slow my drift down.
“I want to make a lazy, slow drift, fairly close to the shoreline, basically within casting distance of the shoreline. I’ll drift until I find some fish, and depending on the amount of action, I’ll do one of two things. I’ll either continue my drift, because these fish are often scattered and you can bump into them almost anywhere on the lake. If I do that and I don’t get anymore hits, I’ll go back and re-drift that area again. If I get a hit or two again, I might drop the trolling motor over and try to stay in that area a bit longer until I get no more hits or I find a good school of fish. The other option is, if you get a couple good hits, quietly put the anchor or PowerPole down and see if you can catch a bunch right there.”
Gallo especially likes the north side of Lake Catherine this month, in the Bay Jaune area, and even in the Grand Cop Pocket area, where he says you can usually always find some clean water if the winds aren’t atrocious.
“The Grand Cop Point area gets choked up with grass during the summer, but by now, the grass starts dying and you can actually toss some bait up in there,” he said. “The best baits are always live shrimp if you can get them, but you can do well in the fall with Deadly Dudleys in the pink champagne color or the salt-n-pepper with a chartreuse tail, fished on a 1/8-ounce jig about 18 inches under a popping cork.”
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Editor’s Note: This story appears as part of a feature in Louisiana Sportsman’s October issue. To ensure you don’t miss any information-packed issues, click here to have each magazine delivered right to your mail box.
