It’s never good to say that any thing associated with fishing is easy, but catching speckled trout around Bayou Rambo to the east of Leeville is as close to easy as you’re ever going to get. Capt. Chad Billiot with Marsh Rat Guide Service (985-637-5058) hit it a couple days ago before he headed to the FLW Championship in Pensacola, and he found the trout ready and willing.
“Most of the action right now is around the duck ponds and drains around Bayou Rambo,” he said. “A few weeks ago, I was catching a lot of fish that were on their way in, but now I’m picking up fish that are pulling out of the ponds.”
Billiot has been finding hungry trout in the ditches and drains anytime he’s found moving water. He’s also been getting bit just after the fronts as the wind pushes water out of the shallow ponds.
“The pattern has been pretty simple,” he said. “I’ve been doing best fishing a curl-tail Bass Assassin on a 1/32-ounce jighead 18 inches under a Bayou Buck Pogeaux Popping Cork. Chartreuse has been working best when the water is a little muddy, but I’ve been doing better on smoke in the cleaner water because it looks more natural to fish that are feeding on shrimp coming out of those ponds.”
Bird chasers should start finding larger trout in the fray. Billiot said the smaller trout are some of the first to leave the shallow ponds once the water starts cooling.
“I don’t chase the birds,” he said, “but the odds are getting better and better for bigger trout for those that do chase them. They won’t have to wade through near as many throwbacks, and you should find some decent fish.”
Billiot added that while there are some bigger trout to be caught under the birds, he would rather spend his time fishing areas like oyster reefs and on the edges of the ponds. His most recent catch was made up mainly of 2- to 3-pound fish while fishing migration areas rather than under the birds.
