The author shows off a marsh-caught speckled trout. Photo by Eric Chaney.

The Louisiana coastal region provides what is arguably the best speckled trout fishing to be found anywhere. The Bayou State’s trout are plentiful, grow to impressive sizes and can be found everywhere from the short rigs just off the beach to near the Interstate 10 corridor. One of the most productive areas for finding high-quality fish from late summer into early fall is the vast marsh system from Big Lake all the way to down south of the Big Easy in Venice.

STRATEGY
To bag good numbers of big marsh trout consistently during summer, concentrate on the widest and deeper parts of cuts in a marsh system. The largest concentrations of trout are usually in the first eighth of a mile of these cuts during the dog days of summer, because they have more tidal water exchange on each tidal movement, which keeps these areas somewhat cooler than the shallow backwater.

I’m not saying that these areas hold any more trout than other cuts do, but I’ve caught more larger trout in them than in other locations on the main body of bay systems in summer, so that’s where I go to catch them. Cooler water temperatures usually mean a higher content of dissolved oxygen, which benefits trout both by giving them more oxygen, which they need to be effective predators, and by attracting more baitfish.

Scientists are learning that one of the causes for certain fish species in bay systems not feeding as aggressively during summer as they do in spring and fall is decreased levels of dissolved oxygen. Trout-fishing expert David Kinser believes that the link between trout and oxygen is at its peak in August and September.

“Dissolved oxygen levels in the bayou and bay systems are critically low during this time,” he explained. “Just remember: When you see the mullet gathering at the top of the water with red lips, that means they are trying to get oxygen from the surface. In other words, the water itself is depleted. The areas in which you have more water flow will have a little more oxygen.” These areas experience daily ebbs and flows in oxygen levels, he added, noting that the absolute worst period is at dawn.

“The crack of dawn is when oxygen levels are lowest, and if you start talking with a lot of the anglers on the coast, the bite improves during the day. As oxygen levels improve, so does trout metabolism, which makes them want to feed.”

A good strategy for fishing these areas is to fish a live croaker or finger mullet on a fish-finder (Carolina) rig, which consists of an egg weight rigged above a swivel attached to a leader. Fish these rigs around breaks in the current and in the main channel of the section of the marsh emptying into the bay or cuts going into the marsh.

Make sure to pay special attention to all of the drainages in these marshy areas. It’s important to remember that tides dictate how trout will be feeding. On a fast-falling tide, they move in close to the drainage in tight schools; when the tide’s falling slowly, they might scatter out around the mouth of a drainage or up into the marsh. They’ll do the same thing during the first hour or so of an incoming tide; then they’ll usually move into the cuts. I have always had far more success on incoming tides during summer months. In fact, I usually check the tide charts and mark off the days with the highest tides to concentrate on them.