Keeper trout are there for the taking
Despite the fact that the long-time Hot Water Canal winter hotpot is no longer hot, the Chalmette area waters remain a great place for colder weather anglers to catch a variety of highly prized fish. There are at least four boat launches providing access to the waters from Paris Road, most of which carry live bait, and speckled trout, white trout, reds, drum, sheepshead, flounder and freshwater cats are all on the menu.
My old friend Joey Jeanfreau, the owner of Jeanfreau’s Super Market in Chalmette, is an avid year-round angler focusing specifically on the Chalmette waters. He said Lake Borgne has been thick with shrimp since October and the speckled trout are smacking them right now under the birds.
“Naturally, some are undersized, but we’re catching a lot of nice keepers under the birds in Lake Borgne,” he said.
Jeanfreau said the action is especially hot on a falling tide around the Castle in Violet, Bayou Bienvenue at Lake Borgne and Chef Pass at Lake Borgne.
“I’ve been taking live shrimp with me, but under the birds you want to fish plastic,” he said. “That Marker 54 Shrimp has been a really good bait under the birds and it holds up well. Also the Matrix in the Shrimp Creole color has worked well. Under the birds I fish them real shallow, 12-18 inches under a cork.”
White trout
Jeanfreau said Lankers Bayou and any of the canals and drains into the MRGO have also been producing some nice fish, both reds and specks, using live shrimp or plastics fished 2-3 feet under a cork.
“We’re also catching some nice white trout in the deeper water, jigging live shrimp or soft plastics off the bottom around the MRGO at Lake Borgne,” he said. “They’re mixed in sizes, around 10 inches and up.”
Jeanfreau said when the seagulls are not diving, he looks for cormorants.
“If you see them diving, there’s probably white trout under them,” he said.
“Normally I’d be fishing the floodgates in the ICW this time of year. Just let the tide determine what side of the wall to fish. You always want to fish the down-current side where all the bait is flowing out. Find a place to anchor and fish the bottom with live shrimp or soft plastic. The water is deep along the wall, probably 20 feet or so, and the current is often strong, so be prepared with some 1-ounce sinkers to get all the way to the bottom.
“So far this year I’ve mostly caught big channel catfish there and only a few trout. I find the water is fresher there this year than usual, maybe because one side of the floodgates has remained closed. Maybe the trout will show up there in better numbers as colder weather settles in.”
Jeanfreau also likes to fish along the rocks of the MRGO just past the wall headed towards Violet. His tactic there is to anchor nearer to the rocks and cast out into the MRGO. He uses a drop-shot rig with live bait or soft plastics at least 4 feet or more under a cork.
