According to fishing guide Sal Fontana (Gotcha Hooked Charters 504-812-7773), anglers only need to know two words to make a successful trip this month:
“Biloxi Marsh.”
“November is shaping up to be an outstanding month,” he said. “The conditions are right; we didn’t get a hurricane this year to mess things up; the bait is plentiful and the fish are definitely cooperating.
“I’ve been fishing all over the Biloxi Marsh since October, and finding good numbers of both speckled trout and redfish.”
Dead giveaway
Fontana said the fish are scattered all over the marsh in the usual places you’d expect to find them in the typical fall patterns.
“Stump Lagoon, Muscle Bay, Pete’s Lagoon, Cutoff Lagoon, Goose Flat, Brick and over to the Lakes of Bayou Marron; all are holding fish,” he said.
Fontana said the lakes and bays are full of shrimp and you’ll likely see birds diving on them all over.
“Naturally the birds are a dead giveaway, the bait is there and the fish are going to be there gorging themselves on them,” he said. “Try to sneak into them as quietly as possible and put some trout in the boat. Naturally you’ll have throwbacks, but you’ll have keepers too, and plastic is all you’ll need to catch them.”
Dead tide, dead action
Fontana said his usual procedure is to fish moving water around points, drains from the marsh into bays and lakes, and oyster reefs. He said it doesn’t really matter whether the tide is rising or falling, just as long as it’s moving.
“For bait, I’ve been using a combination of live shrimp under a cork, and soft plastics in the chartreuse color,” he said. “I’ve been doing good with Captain Lane’s Ghost Minnows, fished 2½ to 3 inches under a cork, and when I don’t have those, the good old H&H cocahoes or beetles in chartreuse will get the bite.
“Redfish action has been holding steady in the marsh ponds with thicker vegetation, and just working along points and cuts and shorelines with the same chartreuse plastic or live or dead shrimp under a cork should put some spot-tails on your line.”
