Turn your attention to this shallow-water lake in Marsh Island
Trevor Huval’s love for fishing, freshwater or saltwater, is the epitome of the popular slogan “Eat. Sleep. Fish.”
At 20, the former Erath High School Fishing Team member, who competed in Louisiana High School Bass Nation tournaments with his dad, Jonathan LeBlanc, as his captain and Aiden Mouton as his tournament partner, fishes whenever he can go, whether it’s in the Atchafalaya Basin or in and around Vermilion Bay. A March trip late in the month found him in one of his favorite places, Oyster Lake in Marsh Island.
Huval, plus his parrain, Ryan Huval of Loreauville, and his cousin, Alex Huval, each notched a limit there while sampling the redfish bite March 25. A month earlier, with high water in the Atchafalaya Basin, he consistently brought back sac-a-lait slabs from the Bayou Pigeon area on the east side of the Atchafalaya River.
That Huval turned his attention to the lake in Marsh Island’s midsection off Bird Island Bayou, one of the many saltwater areas he’s fished since age 5, hardly was a surprise. It should be ripe for continuing action in late April and May, according to the EHS grad (Class of ’23).
“The water’s (nearly) always pretty right there,” he said. “Really, really good. It’ll take a lot for Oyster Lake to get messed up. If you get a good week with no bad weather, Oyster Lake water will be really pretty.”
Top choices
Huval’s approach to trigger redfish bites generally is twofold at Oyster Lake: On a rising tide, target grass mats, roseau cane and points. On a falling tide, find ditches (drains) and fish those areas.
Depending on the water color, he’ll usually use chartreuse soft plastics tipped with shrimp. If the water’s better, he’ll try a pink cosmo or tiger bait Matrix Shad.
“Yesterday we used lemon head (Matrix Shad),” he said. “The water wasn’t the best.”
Usually, the leadhead of choice is either 3/8- or ¼-ounce.
“If the fish are aggressive, I like to use a heavier jighead for my bait to move a little faster and stay around the bottom. If I find it a little tougher, or the fish are pressured more, I’ll fish a lighter jighead,” Huval said, adding he favors a Deathgrip Jighead, which he calls “100 percent the best out there.”
He’ll fish soft plastics about 1-foot deep under a Four Horsemen Popping Cork or on a spinnerbait, with a lemon head Matrix Shad on the latter most of the time. The average depth of the lake is around 2 feet.
Bait shrimp produce redfish but, he said, “I just like the challenge (using artificial lures).”
Bait and moving water
Huval said he prefers fishing the south side of Oyster Lake because there are a lot more drains. Each drain has two points, he pointed out, and there’s a good bit of grass.
Wherever he goes, he said, “If I see mullet jumping out of the water, I’m very confident there’s fish there. If I get to an area that I want to fish, if I don’t see any bait or water moving, I’m not going to stay long if I’m not catching.”
Huval, a generator technician for Axis Newco LLC in New Iberia, said the average size of that area’s redfish is 19 to 24 inches long, or, as he put it, “Some good tournament fish.”
As for other potential hotspots, he said, “They’ve got some decent lakes all along there (Bird Island Bayou).”
He’ll be checking them out.
