Arrival of cool fronts is key factor, marina owner says
Campo’s Marina in Shell Beach has seen quite a few winters in its time, and owner Robbie Campo said this should be a great December — provided one thing.
“If it doesn’t get too cold too fast, we’re going to have a fall that’s going to be second to none,” he said.
When the weather is mild, Campo suggested anglers fish areas like Lebouf’s Ditch and Lena Lagoon.
Also, the marina owner said the fishing technique isn’t extremely complicated when the weather is relatively warm.
“If it stays mild, you’ll catch fish 3 feet under a cork ‘til the temperatures drop,” Campo said. “Once that water gets below that 53-degree mark — that’s when you’re bottom fishing.”
On the flip side, Campo recommended anglers fish on the bottom in areas near a certain major lake when the weather is cold.
“Lake Eugene is the heartbeat of that marsh,” he said. “All the little bayous off Lake Eugenie, Goose Flat, Bayou Pete and Crooked Bayou are good.”
Campo said the key to having success in those deeper bayous is to fish them on a light tide.
“You can’t fish those with a screaming falling tide,” he said. “It’s always better to fish that stuff when the tide’s just starting to fall, bumping a plastic along.”
Campo said live shrimp is the best bait to use for catching trout this time of year, but he recommended anglers also have some soft plastic lures in the boat, as well.
“More than likely, if it gets cold like it did last year, you’re going to be fishing some kind of plastic bait because we’re not going to have live shrimp,” he said. “Even though the season stays open for us to catch them, if it gets too cold, they’re just going to blow out.
“That’s what happened last year.”
