Angler land 6-, 7-pound specks Monday at Southwest Pass
Like lots of days recently, Monday’s steady winds kept Capt. Brandon Carter from heading to some of his typical springtime trout hotpots out of Venice.
But some big-time specks cooperated anyway, with one of Carter’s clients — Brian Dean of Dallas, Texas — landing both a 6- and a 7-pound trout while bumping a jig in about 15 feet of water in the rocks at Southwest Pass.
“Actually, where we caught the big ones today, that wasn’t even where I was really hoping to go,” said Carter, with Reel Shot Guide Service. “My initial intentions were to go to a different spot, but the wind had it roughed up too bad where it wouldn’t work. We didn’t catch a lot today, but everything we caught was big.
“There’s fish all around. We’re catching fish back up in the bays, kind of on the outside edge, there’s fish out at the islands … There’s some fish on the rocks. They’re in a lot of places. The biggest factor is the weather. You have to fish the weather — not necessarily spots, but what the weather allows you to do.”
Carter said the specks are spawning now, and the bite has been solid for about the past week. In the last five days, he’s boated five fishing weighing more than 6 pounds, and saw a 7-pounder caught in another boat. Plus, Dean landed the 7-pounder on Monday.
“It’s been good. The problem has been the weather more than the high river. The high river doesn’t bother us at all, it can actually be beneficial because it keeps them concentrated in certain areas,” Carter said. “But the problem this spring has been the weather. It’s been such a windy spring it hasn’t let us stay on them consistently.
“But the days it’s worked out, it’s been big time.”
Carter said the wind Monday was from the north-northwest, blowing close to 20, and was sustained around 18. Dean’s bites came tight-lining a magneto Matrix Shad on a ⅜-ounce jighead.
“The peak for trout is going to be in the next couple of weeks, then after that it’s extremely sporadic around those rocks,” he said. “The next couple of weeks is when they’re there the best and you’ll catch those big ones.”