Fishing Report for May 1, 2008
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A cold front? In May?
OK, so the weather system set to move in late Friday won’t fit the classic definition of “cold front,” but it’s the third straight weekend that a front changed wind direction, wind speed and rough up the seas — this time in the 6-to-8 foot range. The fronts of the last two weekends have put a crimp in a solid run on speckled trout and redfish.
Bluegill, bass, catfish and sac-a-lait catches are rated “good to terrific” in several nearby areas with the best sac-a-lait hauls coming from north Louisiana lakes.
Weather
A 50 percent chance of rain Friday into Saturday comes with 15-20 knot south winds and a shift to the northeast late Saturday. Sunday’s winds will be back from the east/southeast at 10-15 with seas calming to 1-3 feet near shore and dropping from 6-8 feet to 1-3 feet offshore with morning temperatures in the 50s.
The Mississippi (42.2 feet at Baton Rouge) and Atchafalaya (7.7 feet at Morgan City) rivers are on a very slow fall. Remember flood stage is the 4-foot mark at Morgan City and the Atchafalaya will stay above the 7-foot mark through next week. The outlook for the Mississippi is for a fall to the 33-foot mark May 28 at Baton Rouge when the reading at New Orleans is predicted to be 13.8 feet.
The new moon for May comes Monday. The full moon comes May 20.
The coast
The heavy seas will put a crimp into the solid wahoo and yellowfin tuna off the mouth of the Mississippi.
You don’t have to go that far for heavy action: Bull reds are showing up on the points in Coquille Bay and California Bay. Catch 2000, topwater MirrOlures and Zara Spooks are taking the big reds when you find clear water moving over the points. And, after Katrina, those points might be as close as 400 yards from the nearest point of land.
When winds lay like they did Tuesday and Wednesday, platforms in the open bays and lakes and oyster/shell reefs are giving up limits and near limits of speckled trout. Just find clearer water and use avocado, strawberry/white or purple/chartreuse soft plastics.
Lake Borgne, the reefs and platforms behind Grand Isle and Timbalier, the platforms in Terrebonne and Lake Barre and the reefs in Calcasieu Lake have produced solid catches since Sunday.
Breton and Gosier islands’ surf have yielded trout up to six pounds. At The Rigolets, trout are hugging the north side — some river water from the Bonnet Carre spillway is on the south shore. Flounder are being pushed to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, too.
Freshwater
Bluegill are taking crickets and small Beetle Spins in lakes, canals, bayous and rivers from Lake Verret east through the Florida Parishes. Sac-a-lait action is good around Des Allemands and Belle River, but is best up north at Poverty Point and Larto-Saline. Bass like spinnerbaits everywhere.
