Specks in usual haunts such as Iron Banks and The Wreck
Weeks of high winds have made it almost impossible for anglers to venture into the open waters of Black Bay, but the winds laid down this morning (April 20) and provided plenty of opportunity to hit popular community holes like Stone Island and The Wreck.
I joined LouisianaSportsman.com user mule_chaser (known to his family and friends as Seth Smith), and we almost had the water to ourselves. That was understandable, given the 10-knot forecast.
“I came out Sunday, and couldn’t get outside,” Smith said. “I had to turn around because it was so rough, and the water was filthy. You could have plowed it.”
Despite the calm winds that greeted us as Beschel’s Marina, we feared the winds had muddied up the waters so badly over the past week or so that little slime would accumulate on Smith’s deck. And for much of the morning it appeared our fears were well founded.
Water clarity at Stone Island was fishable but far from ideal, and it was little better at Iron Banks.
By noon, we had boated only a handful of trout. They were solid keepers, but not the fish Smith was hoping for.
“I usually catch better fish than this,” he said.
One of the two other boats that were in the area was anchored on one spot off of Iron Banks and hammering on the trout, and Smith finally had enough of watching the action.
“Let’s move,” he said.
He quickly had his Bay Stealth pointed farther into the bay, and a few minutes later we pulled up to The Wreck to find we had it all to ourselves.
“I’ve never seen it when there weren’t any boats out here,” Smith said. “Normally there are 20 boats on the crane.”
And the water was simply beautiful. We couldn’t wait to get baits in the water.
He eased the boat to within a cast of the crane, and I was soon fighting a 15-inch trout to the boat.
We each missed solid whacks on our lures, and then Smith scored an 18-incher. The next trout in the boat was right at 20 inches.
The anchor was soon lowered, and we put 10 or 12 18- to 20-inch trout in the chest before the tide died and we headed for the landing.
“That’s why I like The Wreck,” Smith said. “I usually catch bigger trout here. I don’t catch numbers, but they are normally bigger.”
The marine forecast is calling for 10- to 15-knot winds through the weekend, so conditions could be sketchy. But the trip proved that when weather allows trout are in Black Bay for the taking.
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