They go together like coffee and chicory and red beans and rice. And where else can you catch so many trout within city limits?
Capt. Eddie Adams (504-975-7902) met me at the Bonnabel Boat Launch just as daylight peeked over the eastern sky. I loaded my gear into his 22-foot Skeeter bay boat, and we headed toward Seabrook. Adams launches at Bonnabel because it is only five minutes from his house, and only a 10-minute boat ride from there to Seabrook. He had loaded the baitwell with the one sure-fire speckled trout attractant for this time of year: live shrimp, all ready to be sacrificed for the sake of some hefty trout.
Seabrook derives its name from the nearby bridge that crosses the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, or as most of us call it, the Industrial Canal.
The bridge was officially renamed the Sen. Ted Hickey Bridge some years ago, but I daresay that if you called it by that name, no one would have any idea what you were talking about. To the locals it will always be Seabrook.
There’s a free backdown launch just beneath the bridge that provides instant access to what the locals refer to when they say Seabrook. The Industrial Canal intersects with the Ship Channel, formally named the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which is a saltwater funnel directly from the Gulf of Mexico. Water flows from the Gulf straight up the MRGO to the Industrial Canal, where it turns and flows unhindered into the lake.
Fish of all sizes gather en masse near the mouth of the funnel to dine on the abundance of baitfish, shrimp and other delectables that flush into the lake, and the oyster bottom helps to hold them there.
And the fishermen? Well, take a look at Seabrook on virtually any weekend, and you’ll probably count 100 boats or more anchored over the deep holes channeled out by the swift moving current. Local fishermen have long known that Seabrook, summertime, and speckled trout go together like coffee and chicory and red beans and rice.
Ten minutes later, we saw that the armada had already begun to gather. Boats of all shapes and sizes were jockeying for position around the outer edges of the deep holes.
Adams maneuvered his boat to a likely looking spot, and let out the anchor.
“The biggest mistake boaters who are new to fishing this area make is they don’t bring enough anchor rope,” Adams said. “These guys are used to fishing in the marsh in 3 or 4 feet of water, and they let out 20 or 30 feet of rope, thinking that’s plenty. Over here, I recommend 100 feet of rope, and at least three feet of chain on your anchor line. The bottom is spotted with very hard oyster shells, and if you don’t have enough rope or chain, your anchor will not grab.”
The middle of the channel into the lake is very deep, plunging to a depth of 70 feet in some spots. The current running through it is often very strong, making it extremely difficult to get an anchor to grab in the deep middle. Besides that, fishing in the channel is prohibited within about 200 yards of the shoreline. It is also illegal to tie up to the bridge itself, the bridge supports or bridge fenders. Fishing inside the Industrial Canal is also prohibited.
Once the anchor held, we strung live shrimp on our hooks, and fished them under a Carolina rig. Adams said you don’t really have to cast far out.
“Depth and current will do the rest,” he said.
If you are a marsh fisherman, it’ll take some adjustment to switch gears and fish Seabrook. I don’t know if you are like me, but ever since the introduction of trolling motors, I get antsy sitting still, anchored in one spot unless I’m catching fish pretty consistently. When the bite stops, I’m ready to troll on.
But at Seabrook, you have to bring your patience. You have to come with a “park and wait” mentality, and not think about moving around, or jumping from one spot to another. It kind of reminds me of rig fishing.
“Don’t worry,” Adams said. “When the fish are really biting, everybody will begin catching them. You don’t have to move your boat all over; the fish will find your bait.”
“Hmmm,” I thought. “The fish will find you. That’s a switch.”
So I settled in to wait, keeping the tension on my line, and awaiting the slightest bump that would indicate a fish. I didn’t have to wait long. A fish attacked my bait and pulled out line that initially made me think I had a big fish on. But he quickly gave up the fight, and I knew I had a cigar trout.
Sure enough, he measured in at 11 inches, and I chucked him overboard to fight another day. I noticed several of the boats around us were catching specks too, all looking to be about the same size.
“These aren’t what we call Seabrook trout,” Adams said. “This area is famous for producing some big fish. Three-pound trout are commonplace, and 5- and 6-pound specks are not unusual. We see them 7 and 8 pounds out here on a fairly regular basis. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next record-breaking speck comes from Seabrook.”
Besides specks, anglers often catch some nice-sized white trout at Seabrook, along with occasional drum, flounder, redfish and bull croaker.
“Those fish will hit live or dead shrimp,” Adams said, “but the specks definitely want it live and frisky.”
Even though they may be fishing for different species, there’s a group of regulars that frequent the Seabrook area.
“I look around and see the same boats out here all the time,” Adams said. “Some of these anglers never fish anywhere else. Where else can you go, fish three minutes from the dock, and catch beautiful trout consistently? And you don’t have to drive far to get to it.”
Adams likes to fish with live, Carolina-rigged shrimp throughout the month of June. He says he prefers to fish a rising tide, but the action is often just as good on a falling tide.
“The key is to fish moving water. No current, no fish,” he said. “Some of these guys fish with sliding corks, and they do it very successfully. They’ll set the depth somewhere between 12 to 20 feet, and attach a split shot weight about 6 inches above the hook.
“You might have to try several different depths before you find the fish, but anglers out here do catch a lot of fish like that. You lose less bait and less tackle because the cork keeps you from snagging the oyster bottom. But having to adjust the cork to find the right depth the fish are suspended at can be aggravating, and I personally prefer fishing with a Carolina rig, and a live shrimp on a No. 2 or 3 kahle hook.
“Usually, as the summer progresses, I’ll try fishing some croakers on the bottom as well, and some of the fish we catch on those croakers are real mules.”
Adams mentioned that the bite at Seabrook isn’t always like your typical summertime speck bite, when they simply pound your bait and try to pull the rod out of your hand.
“In the marsh, they hit you hard, and then fight you on the shallow surface. Here, they tend to hit you soft. It’s a more subtle ‘twitch’ or bump. But when you feel that slight bump, or a pull, kind of like you got snagged on the bottom, set the hook. You probably snagged a trout,” he said. “And here in this deeper water, even a 2-pound trout fights like a 5-pounder.”
Adams has also caught some hefty trout along the airport wall, tossing topwater baits, soft plastics or live shrimp.
“Just troll the wall, and see what you come up with,” he said.
Often what he comes up with weighs three pounds or more.
The catwalk is a walkway at the end of the airport runway, extending out for hundreds of yards into the lake. The walkway is supported by pilings, and we all know what such a long stretch of pilings provides: structure. The fish congregate around the pilings to devour the smaller fish that hide there, and the whole length of the catwalk makes for some excellent fishing.
“Some anglers head straight for the catwalk, ignoring the deep hole altogether,” Adams said.
When we failed to produce anything “Seabrook worthy” of photographing, we pulled up our anchor and putted to the catwalk. Adams dropped the trolling motor, and we began casting among the pilings.
“Once you find the fish, anchor and see if you can stay on the action for awhile,” he said, which is exactly what we did.
Adams dropped the anchor, and we started soaking live shrimp on the bottom. The trout greeted us with immediate hookups, and we quickly dropped a dozen or more in the box. The trout were legal, though smallish. Then, a school of monster sheepshead moved in and ruined the neighborhood. When it became obvious they wouldn’t let us catch another trout, we pulled the anchor and moved on.
Capt. Dudley Vandenborre (985-847-1924) echoes Adams’ appraisal of summertime and Seabrook, and fishes the area frequently enough to be a familiar sight on the water.
Known for his prowess along the lake’s bridges, Vandenborre fishes Seabrook whenever strong winds make the water too rough elsewhere. He prefers to fish it on a south or southeast wind, but southwest and even northeast is usually doable.
“The worst winds for fishing Seabrook are from the north or northwest, and west winds are pretty bad also,” he said.
Dudley says he prefers to fish an incoming tide, when the water is flowing out from under the bridges into the lake.
“You can almost set your watch by it. Once the tide starts coming in, two hours later the fish will turn on. It’s like clockwork,” he said.
For those interested in fishing the area, he offers this advice:
1) “Come equipped with a good anchor and a long chain and rope. You need an anchor that will dig in and grab the bottom. I use a heavy Danforth anchor, with 8 feet of heavy chain attached,” he said.
“The biggest problem out here is people who come with inadequate anchors, not enough chain and a short rope. Their anchor will drag across the bottom, and that messes up the fishing for everybody. I have one anchor I use just at Seabrook, and another anchor for everywhere else.”
2) “Try to anchor somewhere along the ledge in about 20 feet of water. You want to be able to fish over the shells. There is some good, hard oyster bottom out here, and you want to be sure you are fishing over it,” he said.
3) “On an incoming tide, fish with a Carolina rig using a heavy sinker, either ¾ ounce or 1 ounce. This is a key to success,” he said. “A light sinker will not get to the bottom in the Seabrook current. On a falling tide, switch to a sliding cork, and fish it about 13 feet deep.”
4) “For bait, use live shrimp this month, and beginning in July, use a combination of live shrimp and croakers. I also recommend a 40-pound-test leader, about 24 inches long,” he said.
5) “Fish friendly! Seabrook isn’t like other places. Anywhere else, you could never fish as close to other boats as you do here. Be courteous, be friendly, and everyone will have a good time and hopefully, put some fish in the boat,” he said.
If you specifically want to target white trout, Dudley says you can fish the deep hole, on the bottom, using live or dead bait, about ½ mile out from the bridge.
Seabrook will produce an incredibly steady supply of fish from now until October.
Boatless? Don’t forget the walkway under the bridge, accessible to boatless anglers who often line up shoulder-to-shoulder, reeling in trout and redfish when the action is hot.
