The September speckled trout bite is right on time this year. This is the time of the year that the egg sacks start to dry up and the trout began their transition inward to the shallow lakes, duck ponds and dead-end pipe line canals. We are starting to see the egg sacks going flat and the trout are not bunched up on the oyster reefs where we been catching them all summer long. That is a tell-tale sign that the trout are starting their migration in for the fall season. They will slowly work their way across Barataria Bay as the cool fronts began to arrive. Depending on the amount and the severity of the fronts will determine how fast they travel across the bay. When they arrive here in the shallow waters around the fishing village their egg sacks will be completely dry and they will not lay any more eggs until the spring of next year. They will spend the next four months here on the inside in the shallow waters and feed on whatever they can find. Remember that time of the year most of the live shrimp headed south towards the Gulf of Mexico for the winter. The trout will feed on ditch minnows, small shrimp that did not make it out of here as well as shads and small crabs before they dig down for the winter. Most of the time when I clean speckled trout during the chilly winter months their bellies are empty. I think that is why it is so easy to fish with soft plastics during the cold season. I still like fishing the soft plastic under a popping cork, rather than a cast and retrieve. I don’t know what it is about being able to see a cork go down that gets me excited but that is how I always like to fish. Most of the time when I have clients on the boat they also like to see a cork go down before setting the hook. When the water gets cold I find the bite gets a little softer rather than a strong aggressive bite. You very well may find a fast bite when it gets cold however the bite will tend to be a little softer. I fish the same way during the winter months as I do during the summer months regarding the distance from the bottom. I like for that bait to be about three to four feet from the floor so depending on how much water I am fishing in determines how deep I set the plastic under the cork. Remember that there is not a lot of feed around so it really doesn’t matter what color or style of plastic you use. Some people tell me that they have their favorite color or style and when we get to the fishing spot I can most of the time prove to them that you can just about put some white Teflon tape on the jig head and catch speckled trout. I love fishing during this time of the year because you don’t have to travel so far and you do not have to mess with any live shrimp. Five minutes from the fishing village on most mornings you are on a great bite and having a fantastic time. Remember what I always say about fishing during this time of the year. You never want to find yourself on the water one to three days after some cool front passes through. You want to give it some time for the water to come back in and for the dirt to fall out of the water. Once the north wind lays down and the water comes back to a normal level and the clarity returns to the water the speckled trout will start moving around and will start feeding again. Remember they haven’t eaten for two to three days and they are starving and will just about bite on anything. It is also a wonderful time of the year to entertain customers because the air temperature is normally nice all the way up to January. I find that folks love to fish when it is not hot and they are catching fish. You really don’t need to bring too much ice on the boat because it doesn’t melt too fast. Cleaning the fish is also very easy this time of the year because the fish are cold and there are very few mosquitos during the cold season. As for building memories, anytime of the year is good for that. I enjoy watching folks pull out their cell phones and began to take pitchers of not only the fish we are catching but all the wildlife that they see while on the fishing trip. I always find the time to pull out my camera as well to capture some of the highlights of the day. I like posting them on my web site as well as my Facebook page. It is great exposure on my Facebook and I get a lot of calls for future trips when I post a lot. I always like to send photos of the day back to my clients on Monday morning when they get back to the office so they can have some pitchers of the trip to show their co-workers and they tell them the stories of how the day went. That kind of advertising you cannot buy it only comes from word of mouth. They are happy and glade to share with their friends and I am happy they are telling their story to what very well may be my new customers. I don’t care if you are snow skiing in the mountains are you are fishing in southeast Louisiana as- long as you are in the outdoors enjoying life. At the end of our lives that is the kind of things we will remember when we can’t get around to well anymore. Get out and enjoy life, you will not be sorry.
