According to Capt. Keith “Herk” Bergeron of Pair-A-Dice Charters, trout action is fixing to really bust out in May in the Grand Isle area.
“It’s really looking like we’ll have a great May,” he said. “This is generally our best month to fish for trout … and this year should prove it,” he said.
“The trout action is already breaking out all over the bays, so you can fish all over and do good. I suggest you get a livewell full of live shrimp before you head out, and try the water on the west side of the island like Fisherman’s Bay and the Bay Jacques areas, or head to some of the islands like Queen Bess or Independence Island, or over the oyster reefs north of the old Cigar’s Marina. The reefs there were marked by poles, but just look for birds diving in the area.”
Look for birds
Bergeron (985-860-7855) said if shrimp are present, birds will be diving and feeding on the shrimp from above, and trout will be tearing into them from below, so there will be a real feeding frenzy going on.
“If you approach the feeding birds from upwind/upcurrent and sneak in as quietly as you can, you won’t spook the trout. Cast your Vudu shrimp under a cork, and you’ll get hit every cast,” he said. “They might not all be keepers, but you should find plenty that’ll be legal size.”
Bergeron will often take his grandkids and run along the bay side of the island, looking for birds.
“Wherever you find them, fish there,” he said. “It doesn’t get any simpler than that.”
Bergeron said other May and early summer hotspots include familiar spots like Manila Village, Hotel Sid and St. Mary’s Point.
“Dutch Island, just to the north of Grand Isle in Caminada Bay, should be productive, and the rocks on the west and south side of Fifi Island hold trout this time of year,” he said. “But what I’m really looking forward to is when the big trout show up along the beaches of Elmer’s Island, and that should be starting up very soon. I love fishing there with live croakers on a sliding sinker rig, casting up to the first trough along the island. I’ve caught some big fish that way.”
