Go east for Grand Isle trout

‘The City’ is a popular hotspot

This spring was crazy, with fronts pushing through the state well into April. But things should be settling down as summer approaches, and that’s when Grand Isle trout fishing will really get cranked up, according to Good Times Charters’ Capt. Jake Scardino (504-382-5639.)

“I think it’s going to be a good summer,” he said.

Indications in mid-April were that there should be some very nice fish to be caught.

“I believe there might be more quality than quantity this year because of that freeze,” Scardino said. “The fish we’re catching have been nice trout.”

While he fishes all over the Barataria Basin to put his clients on trout, this guide prefers to head east to places like Four Bayous, Bay Ronquille and a spot known as “the City.”

“People want to know where the City is, and it’s way past Bayou Long in Plaquemines Parish,” Scardino said. “It’s a long run, but when the bite is on it’s a great place.”

He said the City is just a jumble of old camps, pilings and shell pads — and specks gang up there.

Of course, the best fishing will be had when the tide is flowing. And Scardino isn’t picky about which way the water is moving.

“I like any kind of tide that moves — in or out,” he said.

That said, he said sometimes water is cleaner on a given tide direction.

“I do find the clean water in Four Bayous is better on an incoming tide than on an outgoing tide,” he said.

He looks for clean, moving water in the 3- to 6-foot range, and live shrimp are his favorite baits because they flat put fish in the boat.

He often hangs shrimp below corks because his clients like to see the action, but his preference is actually a Carolina rig.

“I find I catch bigger trout on the bottom with Carolina rigs,” Scardino said.

He said he likes to fish downcurrent eddies, but there’s also another very productive tactic.

“With that (Minn Kota) Spot-Lock, I can go upcurrent and just feed out weightless shrimp or croakers,” Scardino said.

That offers a very natural presentation that specks can’t resist.

No matter where he fishes and what approach he uses, this guide is always ready to pull up stakes and find active fish.

“I move around a lot,” Scardino said. “I’ll give a spot 15 to 30 minutes before moving. If I get a bite or two, I might hang around for 30 minutes and see if they turn on. But if I don’t get a bite in 15 minutes, I’m gone.”