Capt. Chris Danos (504-606-6223) was kind enough to invite me to tag along with a group of great guys from Mississippi who’d booked a charter with him and were willing to let me to join them. Danos charters out of Beshel’s Marina in Pointe a la Hache, but on many spring days he runs towards Delacroix and fishes all the areas around Pointe Fienne, such as Bay Jack Nevette, Bay Ponton, Lake Fausan and Lake John.
“The fishing has been outstanding throughout the spring,” he said. “It’s almost like you could do no wrong. We caught trout, nice trout, just about everywhere. It was easy limits every trip.”
Danos said the action hit the brakes once the weather warmed up and the trout moved farther outside to the saltier spawning waters.
Reluctant to bypass the areas that had just been so productive, and being the winds were much stronger than predicted that day (as usual), we hit all his hotspots in Pointe Fienne trying to locate some trout. We moved around a good bit, but eventually we wound up putting together a nice bunch of the freckled wonders for the ice chest.
“There are still some stragglers in the inside waters, but most of the trout have already moved outside, and by June the inside action is pretty limited,” Danos said. “Now is when you need to burn a little more fuel and head to areas like Stone Island, Iron Banks, Spanish Pass, the Wreck and the pilings of what’s left of the Black Tanks.”
Danos’ top spots
Stone Island – Fish the rocks and reefs around it with live shrimp or soft plastics under a cork for trout. Throw your live or market shrimp 2 feet under a cork close to the rocks for reds.
Iron Banks – Holds trout and bull reds, not many slot reds. Fish the rocks and the reefs on the Pointe a la Hache side.
The Wreck – Fish the bottom with live shrimp or soft plastics.
The Black Tanks – Fish all around the pilings. Use Matrix Shad in “Lemon head” or “Glass Minnow” colors.
Spanish Pass – Fish the reefs with live shrimp 2 feet under corks or use Matrix Shad “Lemon head” or Marker 54 Shrimplets. Look for birds and fish them with double rigs, no cork.
“You’ll catch sail cats and undersized trout too, but there will be keepers in the mix,” he said.
Danos said there’s always the issue of a rising river this time of year, and once the river gets above 8-9 feet, the Mardi-Gras Cut will pour a LOT of dirty river water into the area and chase the trout farther east towards the MRGO.
“That’s when I start running to Lake of Two Trees where I target the reefs and passes between the islands, the MRGO Long Rocks and the reefs in Lake Anastasia,” he said. “Live shrimp fished 2 feet under a cork is the best bet.
“If you just want to target redfish, head over to American Bay and August Bay. Fish banks, cuts, coves and points. Don’t bother looking for clean water because there won’t be any. It’ll be full of river water, but the redfish will be there. Live or dead shrimp under a cork is the ticket.”
