It’s hard to miss a concrete wall that towers 25 feet above the marshline. It’s even harder to miss it in December when there are 25 boats all catching speckled trout around it.
Stretching over two miles with a 150-foot-wide gate on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), the Great Wall of Chalmette may be south Louisiana’s ultimate community fishing hole.
Danny Hunter of New Orleans Best Charters (985-288-9630) has been fishing the area for over 25 years. He’s fished it before the Wall was built, and after.
“I feel that the construction of the Wall has made fishing in that area much better than before,” he said. “There are deep holes and choke points around it that weren’t there before that attract more fish.”
Hunter said understanding where those holes are and how the choke points regulate current leads to catching more speckled trout in December.
The main channel
While the site of the Wall draws most fishermen in to fish the structure directly, Hunter’s favorite spot to fish is the main channel in the ICW.
“I like to fish it on a falling tide as the bait comes through the lock,” he said. “A lot of times the birds will be working on bait that’s being pushed through.”
Hunter positions his boat near the shoreline and casts towards the channel.
The southern bulkhead
Just to the south of the lock on the ICW side of the Wall, there is a 125-yard steel bulkhead that connects the marsh to the Wall. This bulkhead has an 18-foot opening that allows water to flow to and from Bayou Bienvenue. This gap always seems to have water moving through it. Hunter likes to target this opening on days when there is a light tide.
“On days where the water isn’t moving anywhere else, I find that it’s moving here,” he said.
Hunter said it’s this opening that he finds the most baitfish, especially when the water moves through it.
The Guillotine
While the lock at the ICW gets most of the attention in December, Hunter often will make the jump south of the 56-foot wide opening at Bayou Bienvenue. It’s referred to as “The Guillotine” by the locals.
After passing through the lock, Hunter heads south to where the rocks meet the Wall. That corner holds speckled trout in December.
Hunter’s setup
Hunter’s go-to setup is a 7-foot moderate, fast action rod lined with 20-pound Daiwa J-Braid. For a leader, he uses 20-pound fluorocarbon. At the end of the line, he ties on a drop-shot rig and nose-hooks a Finger Lure made by Blue Collar Baits.
In the spring, summer and fall months, Hunter ties on a tagline that is about 1 foot long, but in the winter, he likes to use a longer tagline that’s tied a bit higher on his main line.
“With a longer tagline, the bait has a longer, more natural fall after each twitch,” he said.
For weight, Hunter uses a 1-ounce bank sinker. He recommends slowing everything down.
“I move the bait much slower in the winter with long pauses between twitches,” he said.
In December, Hunter fishes with plastics the majority of the time but said he always brings along live shrimp just in case the trout are finicky.
