Recent warm up has speckled trout bite turned on, LaCoste says
Water temperatures that were in the low- to mid-40s last week have now risen into the mid-50s, and the speckled trout are turned on in Dularge, a fishing guide said on Monday.
“It’s unbelievable right now. We’re killing it,” said Capt. Marty LaCoste, with Absolute Fishing Charters. “The fish are hanging out in about 3 or 4 feet of water. Some of the fish are in deeper water, but the majority of the fish right now are over oyster reefs.”
The vast majority of his fish have been caught tight-lining single-rigged Matrix shad in green hornet, he said. Some customers also have had success using Matrix shad in pink champagne under a popping cork.
“Now that the water temperature has come back up into the mid-50s, the trout have just exploded,” he said. “We’re catching limits by 7:15 and 8 a.m. the last couple of days.”
He said he’d also heard good reports from Lake De Cade, where a friend of his limited out on specks Monday.
During the height of last week’s cold snap, LaCoste said the trout shut down and redfish were biting.
“There was nothing but redfish. They were stacked up,” he said. “Everything is dictated by the water temperature.
“Typically trout don’t bite when the water temperature is in the 40s, especially the low 40s. Usually, once it hits that 50 degree mark, they’ll start to bite again.”
With an Arctic cold front forecast to push into south Louisiana this weekend, LaCoste said now is the time to hit the specks out of Dularge.
“It should remain like that until this front hits, so the next couple of days should be just as good as the last three,” he said.
