Winter makes for tough fishing at the mouth of the Mississippi River, but things are on the upswing this month as redfish invade the exterior bays around Venice.
And Venice Charters Unlimited’s Capt. Brent Roy said getting in on some of the action is pretty straightforward.
“Find clean, green water and bait to catch redfish,” Roy said. “If you can find those things, and a little tidal movement, you’ll find fish.”
He said reds can be in shallow ponds if everything lines up, and then numbers can add up quickly.
“You can catch them on spoons, especially in March,” Roy said.
But, by and large, this is an exterior bay game.
“Everything from Pass a Loutre to South Pass will hold fish,” Roy said.
Areas like Blind Bay are just dynamite, even though the bays aren’t what they used to be in terms of protection — erosion has eaten huge chunks of the roseau marshes.
“Everything is so open now,” Roy said. “There aren’t nearly as many protected bays.”
However, when you find that pretty, clean water with baitfish flicking around, catching redfish should be a shoe-in.
He said most of the time he’ll fish shrimp — live preferably, but dead stink crickets work, as well — under H&H Coastal Rattle Corks.
“I use 30-pound mono leaders, the cheapest stuff I can get at Academy,” Roy explained. “I think they’re all the same when you get to 30 pounds.”
He starts with 1 ½-foot leaders, with ¼-ounce round-headed jigs at the terminal ends. But he’s not stubborn about leader length.
“I vary that according to the water depth,” he said. “If the water is shallower, I’ll go with a shorter leader. If it’s deeper, I might go longer.”
No matter what, he pays close attention to what’s going on: If he discovers a certain jig depth results in more-consistent catches, the veteran guide quickly reworks the other setups.
“If I figure out one or two rods are getting more bites, I hold those rigs side by side and make sure the jigheads are within ½ inch of each other,” Roy said. “Jig depth can make a huge difference.”
Another option is to fish the passes, which can be great options even if the Mississippi River jumps as snow melts begin up north.
“If the river is 11 feet in New Orleans, you can still go to Southwest Pass and tuck in behind the jetties and catch redfish,” Roy said.
While trout fishing is hit and miss, Roy said they do show up when the weather cooperates.
“If we can get four or five warm days in a row, especially if the river is low, we’ll start catching trout in the bays,” he explained. “They’ll come out of their deep (winter) holes and feed.”
