Find pockets of slightly cleaner water and catch your limit
April’s arrival means South Louisiana has completely thawed from January’s record snowfall and cold temperatures.
Blooming pecan trees and the passing of March’s temperamental winds means coastal anglers are crowding boat launches again after many put off fishing for deer stands, duck blinds and Mardi Gras floats.
Dirty water from high and rising Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers can have many trout and redfish anglers discouraged, especially those who long for the clean, green and saltier water of late fall and early winter.
However, savvy and seasoned South Louisiana guides and avid anglers know despite the cardboard-box colored, chilly water pouring from major river passes and smaller crevasses, often redfish don’t go very far.
“I look at my prop wash and as soon as I see a little cleaner water show up through the dirty stuff I find a good looking shoreline and start fishing,” said Capt. Todd Seither, who has been guiding redfish and speckled trout trips out of Buras for more than 20 years.
Change course
In the fall, Seither and his fellow guides have the luxury of fishing within sight of the boat launches and rock-lined banks of the Mississippi River, as redfish, black drum, sheepshead and, often speckled trout, move right into the crevasses and drop-offs connected to the river. Nearby marshes fed by the river are generally loaded with mullet, white shrimp and pogies, and consequently, redfish, bass and speckled trout as well.
As late winter and spring water arrives, the forage base changes and the dirtier water forces Seither and others to change course.
“The water in the river is high and dirty in the spring and that sometimes makes people think everywhere near the river is dirty too,” he said. “But there are always pockets of cleaner water and sometimes water just as clear as we found in the fall close to the river even as it’s rising.”
Seither pointed out marshes east of the Mississippi that receive sediment and nutrients from the river are healthier, more intact and have far more submerged grass in them than those west of the river where subsidence and erosion has created a lot of open, shallow water. The healthier marsh and submerged vegetation filter out suspended sediments, leaving cleaner water near grass beds and in ponds off main channels.
Game-planning
Capt. Lane Zimmer takes a similar approach a few miles upriver in the marshes near Delacroix and Pointe a la Hache. Though levees limit the Mississippi River’s interaction with marshes more in Delacroix than Buras, Zimmer’s preferred water is still heavily influenced by the man-made Caernarvon Diversion and Mardi Gras Pass, a natural cut in the Mississippi’s bank that formed around 2011 about 14 miles south of his launching spot.
Zimmer said he pays close attention to river levels when game-planning where he’ll fish through the spring.
“If we’re looking at a record flood, I’m generally avoiding the areas I know are going to be heavily flooded by Mardi Gras Pass,” he said. “But, if it’s an average year, I’ll go towards the pass and start looking for the first areas I can find off the dirty water where it cleans up just a little bit.”
While speckled trout can get picky about feeding and hanging in dirty river water, redfish are far less affected by water temperatures and clarity.
Bait fish
Zimmer said some of his best action on spring redfish is in water others don’t even think about fishing.
“A lot of fishermen don’t realize how much food is coming out of that dirty water from the river,” he said. “All kinds of bluegill and other sunfish, crawfish and freshwater shad are getting dumped into the marsh by spring floods in the river. That bait gets disoriented when it hits brackish water. The redfish gorge themselves on all that food. They aren’t picky.”
Dirtier, colder springtime water doesn’t move the fish far, but Zimmer said it does generally change his approach to bait, lures and presentations. The fast-moving spinnerbaits and translucent-colored soft plastic and shrimp-imitating lures he throws in the summer and fall don’t work nearly as well in cooler, browner water.
“The fish aren’t eating white shrimp any longer and have turned their attention to other food sources, but I still carry some dead shrimp to add scent to my baits or add something with some smell like Gulp just to help redfish find the hook in that dirtier water,” he said. “We fish a lot of corks in the early spring but don’t pop them nearly as much. Bass baits like dark-colored soft plastic crawfish and artificial worms work well too — anything the fish can see that moves slowly.”
Early spring redfish action requires a little different game plan than the one prior to deer and duck season, but there’s no need to completely toss the playbook. A few minor moves into areas with just slightly cleaner water and a tweak to the lure on the end of the line is all that’s needed to make sure spring saltwater trips are successful.
