Big Trout, Tripletail, and an Early Fall Fishing Shift
Welcome to this week’s Louisiana Delta Fishing Report, covering New Orleans, Venice, Hopedale/Delacroix, Grand Isle, Houma, and everywhere in between. Host Andre’ Savoie talks with Capt. Danny Hunter of New Orleans Best Charters about a strong late-summer trout bite in the Biloxi Marsh, a growing tripletail opportunity around Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, and what he expects as September fishing takes shape. Andre’ also checks in with Jerry Cottrell of JBF Kayak Charters about his push for the top spot in the CCA STAR Tournament after entering a 6.16-pound speckled trout caught from a kayak in the boat division.
Capt. Danny explains why August and September are some of his favorite months to fish the Biloxi Marsh, where speckled trout are holding around oyster reefs in saltier water. He has been catching trout under popping corks with Marker 54 artificial baits, then looking for tripletail around crab traps and other floating structure on the ride back toward Slidell. While the Lake Pontchartrain area is not traditionally known for big tripletail, Danny says more anglers are figuring out the fishery and sight-fishing keeper fish over 18 inches. He also describes an abundance of shrimp in Lake Borgne, redfish concentrating along shorelines when west winds pull water from the ponds, and extremely salty conditions that have brought dolphins and jack crevalle into Lake Pontchartrain. As September progresses, sharks can make trout fishing in the Biloxi Marsh more difficult, which often pushes Danny toward big sheepshead around the bridges.
Jerry breaks down his pursuit of a CCA STAR Tournament win after catching a 6.16-pound speckled trout on topwater from his kayak and entering it in the boat division, where he was sitting in second place with only two days remaining. He explains how drought conditions and unusually high salinity are helping trout remain productive across South Louisiana and why he is already seeing signs of an early fall migration. Jerry focuses on major travel corridors such as Bayou Lafourche, the MRGO, large bayous, passes, and other areas that provide quick access to deeper water and the Gulf. Rather than constantly changing locations, he breaks water into small sections and is willing to sit on productive structure for long periods when the conditions, current, temperature, and habitat line up for a trophy trout. He also discusses the bull redfish showing up near the coast, why kayak anglers can take advantage of fish much closer to launch points than many boaters realize, and the return of Louisiana kayak tournament season as cooler fall conditions approach.
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