Anglers looking for easy limits of trout without burning a lot of boat fuel should put in at Delacroix this month.
“October means close runs,” Sweetwater Marina’s Jack Payne said. “Trout are in all the inner bays: Pointe Fienne, Batola, Skippy, Four Horse, all those kinds of areas.
“No more offshore runs.”
Payne said the bays in the Delacroix marshes fill with fish that transitioned in from their summertime haunts, meaning anglers can catch quick limits when conditions are right.
“You can catch big ones, small ones — you never know what you’re going to catch,” he explained.
Trout can be caught in a variety of ways, with current being a key, he said.
“You can fish points where bayous drain into the bays, over oyster beds, drifting shallow flats popping corks, Carolina-rigging the mouths of the bayous where they enter the bays,” Payne said. “You can catch them with artificials, but live shrimp will be the No. 1 bait.”
In fact, about the only thing that will shut down the action will be the cool fronts that are certain to roll through the state.
“A couple of days before a front will be great fishing,” Payne said. “You’ve got to wait a day or so after the front for the water to clean up.”
If you absolutely have to go right after a front passes through, the bite will likely be pretty slow — but you can still put some trout in the box.
“Fish on the bottom after a big front,” Payne said. “That’s what I would tell people: Fish on the bottom.”
Of course, specks won’t be the only targets for Delacroix fishermen.
“Redfish will be all over,” Payne said. “Fish points, coves, in the bays — it’s common to catch redfish this time of year.”
For more information, contact Capt. Jack Payne at Sweetwater Marina at 504-342-2368, or visit www.delacroixfishing.com.