No twitch, just slow steady retrieve is key for Dularge trout
Mother Nature has been a true hag this year, baking South Louisiana with scalding temperatures well into October.
But November ushers in what Dularge guide Capt. Marty LaCoste said is historically a fishing bonanza.
“It’s usually our best month of the year,” the owner of Absolute Fishing Charters said. “Trout fishing usually takes off.”
That will be a welcome change, as trout moved out early and seemingly vanished — even in the normal summer hotspots.
But cooling temperatures should have the marshes filling with specks.
“The first couple of weeks, birds will be diving,” LaCoste said.
That makes easy work of limits.
“You can work the fish under birds with double rigs and corks,” the veteran captain said.
The pattern will change, however, as more cold fronts move through the state.
“Once we get a couple of cold fronts and the water temperatures fall into the mid-60s, the trout will move into the bayous,” LaCoste said.
That’s when he puts up the corks and double rigs in favor of single plastic cocahoes, which he tight-lines on the bottom.
But he said many anglers make a common mistake, even if they let their baits reach the bottom where the trout are congregated.
“Usually it’s just a slow retrieve,” LaCoste said. “It’s usually not twitching it — just a slow, steady retrieve right on the bottom.”
He said his lure preference is a Matrix Shad threaded on a ¼-ounce jighead.
Best areas will be in 6 to 8 feet of water, at least until the sun climbs.
“When the sun comes up, they will also move out onto the reefs,” LaCoste said.
Focus on those bayous around the major lakes — Sister Lake, Lake DeCade, Mechant Lake — for best success.
You probably won’t catch huge fish, but there should be plenty of eaters to go in the box.
“You could be catching anything from 12- to 18-inch trout,” LaCoste said.