Spring Speckled Trout Bite is On

Louisiana’s coastal and  fishing is getting better and better.   Many of Louisiana’s spillways have been closed for some time now allowing saltwater to start moving back in to our marshes and estuaries. Over the past few years the spillways have been open due to high river levels allowing a lot of fresh water intrusion to occur in many of the lakes and estuaries along our coast.  However,many of those spillways have recently closed as river levels have dropped below flood stage allowing saltwater to move back in. The speckled trout bite has been good thus far in Southeast Louisiana. You haven't had to go far to find some nice slabs. We are consistently catching 16-18" trout with a lot more 20"+ trout being caught. Now that the spillways have been closed, we are seeing a lot of trout moving closer into the marshes and bayous making for some excellent trout fishing. With the salinity being ideal along with the persistent easterly winds continuing to push that saltwater in, anglers are chomping at the bit to get out and rip some lips on one of Louisiana’s most popular fish.

Over the last several weeks anglers have not had to do a lot of running to get on a good trout bite. Finding clean, salty water closer in the marshes has made the speckled trout bite excellent so far. Over the next few weeks and months trout will be moving out into deeper higher salinity waters to spawn. Hitting rigs, pilings and reefs in deeper water were producing the best catches.  Within the last 2 weeks anglers have been finding good success targeting speckled trout in the inner bays and marshes near oyster reefs. Now that saltier water is moving back in we expect to see the speckled trout bite continue to improve. It is still best to find clean water. Try to get out of the muddy, chocolate stained water and find clean water and you should be able to find trout pretty easily.  Over the last 2 weeks Hook Dat Fishing Charters has had quite a few days catching over 100 trout a day.  Best results are coming on live shrimp and matrix shad under a popping cork.  Don’t be afraid to try some bottom lures dragging across oyster reefs. We have had some days where the trout would not touch bait under a popping cork and as soon as we switched to a bottom jig and matrix shad, we filled the cooler up!

Read more about Finding Redfish During the Summer in Louisiana or Why You Should Book a New Orleans Fishing Charter For Your Next Outdoor Adventure.