Today the wind laid down and the water cleaned up from the cool front we had over the weekend. The speckled trout started back feeding as if the cool front never hit. If you remember before the cool front we were catching one hundred trout trips every day using live shrimp under a popping cork. Well the cool front hit Friday night and the wind started blowing around midnight Friday night and blew all weekend until sometime late Sunday evening. Monday was a recovery day in regards to the water cleaning up and the tide coming back in. Nobody really caught any trout Monday but today was a different story as the water returns back to normal the speckled trout start swimming around and they were hungry. It was a early morning bite from daylight to around eight thirty and it was as fast as the cork hit the water. Again still using live shrimp three feet under a popping cork. Lake Hermitage is full of trout however everywhere we went today we caught fish. It is turning out to be a fantastic fall season as not only the numbers are high but the size of the trout are a solid two to three pond trout. I had about fifteen boats lunch out at the cabins today and just about everyone came in with limits of speckled trout some using soft plastic but most using live shrimp. This past cool front moved a lot of the shrimp out with the north wind and less came back in with the tide. That is a very normal thing that happens this time of the year and the latter we get into the fall season the less shrimp will come back in with the tide. Sometime in December we will switch over the soft plastic and stop using live shrimp. That is when the food menu gets really tight and the trout will bite on just about anything. That part of the season will normally last for a few weeks into December and once the really cold nights start setting in on us in January the trout will move out to deeper water for the rest of the winter. It will not be until sometime in the latter part of March before we start seeing the trout start to show up on the oyster reefs near the barrier islands for another summer cycle. Anyhow the fall speckled trout season is in full swing right now and you have to watch the weather reports to plan the best days to got fishing. Remember what I said about fishing the approaching cool fronts. You want to try and be on the water fishing on the days leading up to a cold front and then once the cool front passes through and the wind turns out of the north and blows for two or three days, I tell people to stay home and clean the boat because the trout will not feed during the time right after a cool front. The wind is blowing too hard and the water is dirty from all the broken marsh and duck ponds draining into the bayous and bays. The high pressure always moves in on us after a cool front and how you can tell the high pressure is sitting over us is simply look up into the sky and you will not see a cloud in the sky. I call these days a blue bird day, most people think it is a perfect day to fish but it is the worst. I understand you most folks cannot play the weekends that they have off with the cool fronts and you have to fish on the days you have off but always remember that if you can possibly be on the water fishing on the days leading up to a cool front you want to take advantage of that opportunity.
Taking your family fishing builds memories that will last a life time. I can tell you that I remember just about each and every day my dad took me fishing. It is something about being on the water or just simply in the outdoors that a kid will remember for the rest to his or her life. As adults you don’t think it is such a big deal but as a kid by the end of the day you can right a book on all the things that happen and all the things you saw for the first time. I promise the ever time you take a kid fishing, doesn’t matter if you catch any fish or not, he will remember each and every thing that happen the entire time you were out there on the water. When he or she grows up they will have a passion to go fishing and will be able to pass that inspiration on to the next generation. I get adults on my boat all the time that doesn’t even know how to cast a rod-n-reel and by the end of the fishing trip they are having a fantastic time catch fish. You see it is just all about being exposed to something new. Sometimes you just have to get out of your confront zone and step out into the unknown. That is the scary part doing something that you are not used to doing. Most of the time you will find that you may very will like it and that opens up a whole new world of fun and excitement for both you and your family.
And for the corporate business man that wants to entertain his or her clients. What better way to spend time with you customers then the non stop action of catching speckled trout while on a inland fishing charter. That’s right your time will for the most part be very occupied while on the boat and you will have plenty of time to talk business while back at the cabins cooking your stacks on the BB pit. It truly is the perfect place to have a great time.
