Keith Lusher 10.28.24
All the pieces was excellent. The solar was barely peeking over the horizon. A slight breeze was blowing out of the north. The water temperature learn 73 levels on the Garmin. As we minimize throughout Lake Borgne and drew close to to the shoreline, our heads started to swivel forwards and backwards scanning the horizon. Then it occurred. On the identical time, we each noticed a big flock of seagulls dive-bombing a patch of water exploding with floor motion.
It’s fall in Southeast Louisiana and speckled trout anglers know if they will discover the shrimp, they will discover the trout. The white shrimp migration has begun and for many who know how one can fish it, that is essentially the most thrilling time to focus on speckled trout.
Danny Hunter of New Orleans Finest Charters has been fishing the marsh close to the Rigolets his total life and mentioned it’s his favourite time to chase specks. “For me, that is it! Nothing else comes shut,” he mentioned.
The proper storm
In the course of the white shrimp migration, Hunter fishes your complete marsh stretching from Unknown Cross to Procter Level. It’s there that he finds the “interstate” utilized by the shrimp to exit the marsh grass the place they cover throughout the summer time months. The shrimp are within the juvenile stage and customarily measure 3-4 inches earlier than they transfer to deeper, saltier water to spawn as adults. “These shrimp are hunkered down within the marsh and the shallow duck ponds throughout the late summer time months,” Hunter mentioned. “Then all heck breaks unfastened on them in late September and October after they exit.” Throughout this time a number of components come collectively to create the proper storm. “What you will have is a bunch of issues taking place on the identical time,” Hunter mentioned. “First you will have the speckled trout returning into the marsh from the deeper areas like Lake Borgne and the Mississippi Sound.” Because the trout migrate again into the marsh, the shrimp start to make their approach out of the marsh and into the deeper water. This ends in a collision course for the trout and shrimp. One other necessary issue on this equation is the chilly fronts that begin to blow by within the fall. “When that south wind switches over and blows out of the north, it pushes the entire water out of the marsh and into the canals. This accelerates the shrimp migration because it forces all of the shrimp out of the marsh.
What to search for
When fishing the shrimp migration, Hunter focuses on deep channels just like the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Borgne. These are comparatively deep channels starting from 10-30 toes deep. “I prefer to cruise the canals on the lookout for cuts that drain out of the marsh. So mainly I’m on the lookout for intersections the place a smaller canal connects to the principle channel. That’s the place the water goes to be flowing and the shrimp with it,” he mentioned. Within the fall, all of those cuts have the potential to provide trout, nonetheless, Hunter added typically there’s no have to waste time on fishing any of them due to the seagulls. “If you’ll find the seagulls diving, greater than typically, that’s the place the trout are feeding on the shrimp,” he mentioned.
Fall set-up
Hunter’s setup is a PENN Battle III 2500 spinning reel loaded with 20-pound Daiwa J-Braid X8.
Throughout September and October when trout are feeding closely on shrimp, Hunter prefers utilizing plastic underneath a cork. “I exploit a beaded Undertaker Cork and tie on a 1/4 jig head. On the top, I thread on one thing referred to as a Finger Lure which is a 3.5-inch plastic shad made by Blue Collar Baits,” he mentioned. Hunter opts for a plastic shad over a shrimp lure as a result of he believes it’s necessary that the lure stands out towards hundreds of swimming shrimp. “When these trout are feeding on shrimp the very last thing you wish to do is match the bait,” he mentioned. “A brightly coloured shad is the proper lure to distract these trout in the course of a feeding frenzy,” he mentioned. For many anglers in Southeast Louisiana, dwell shrimp is king on the subject of dwell bait. Nevertheless, Hunter recommends saving your cash. “When every little thing comes collectively like this it’s not essential to make use of dwell shrimp. You’ve got the birds diving.
You’ve got the shrimp skipping throughout the water. The water temperatures are within the 70s. You would most likely catch these fish with a naked hook if it’s shiny sufficient,” he mentioned. Hunter mentioned there’s one other draw back to utilizing dwell shrimp as bait within the fall. “When these feeding frenzies happen, there are normally some ladyfish combined in. When you use dwell shrimp, you’ll waste plenty of time catching these ladyfish,” Hunter mentioned.
Hunter mentioned he’s been catching limits of trout on almost each journey this fall and expects the chew to final till the shrimp have all left the marsh in November. Till then there’s loads of time left to get in on the joy of catching speckled trout feeding on brown shrimp.
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