CRAWFISH BOIL TO BENEFIT NICHOLLS
May 10, 2018
Ougel inks with Baton Rouge Community College
May 10, 2018
It took a little bit longer than anglers would have liked.
We have a historically cold winter, which featured multiple snow events to thank for that
But finally, the weather is warm, the winds are down and it’s prime weather to catch some beautiful fish – in both fresh, brackish and salty Louisiana waters.
Anglers around the Houma-Thibodaux area bragged of plentiful catches this week-a sign that the cool spring season is over and the warmer, calmer summer season is getting under way.
Weather patterns for this week are the same – with temperatures testing 90 degrees on some days, but winds remaining relatively calm-a promising sign for folks hungry to get out on the water.
It’s really been good.” Houma native Pete Reese said “We had to wait long enough. Usually, we have these 85-degree days in April, but this year; it came a little bit later. But right now; the fish are out there and people are coming out to the water and I think you’re seeing just some beautiful fish being caught. Everything is in place for folks to really have some fun in the next few weeks.”
“I think it’s prime – right now,” Golden Meadow angler Wes Boudreaux added – just before getting into the water last Thursday in Leeville “I plan to go and catch my limit today and if I do as well as my friends have done in the past few days. I don’t think it will take very long.”
In Lafourche Parish where Boudreaux fishes, everything is available right now.
In Leeville, Fourchon and Grand Isle, anglers boast that speckled trout have been hitting more than they have since last summer.
“Beautiful fish.” Boudreaux. said. “The trout are so pretty.”
But anglers say that the redfish are big and hungry, too, which has made for some impressive stories around the launches in the area.
A popular spot right now is along La. Highway 1 off the road in the marshes. Driving toward Grand Isle on Thursday, we spotted more than a dozen trucks of fishermen soaking in the warm weather and sunshine.
The Times stopped and talked to three of the parties. All three said they had an ice chest full of fish.
Others took small vessels and worked through cuts in the grassy areas on the side of La. Highway 1 opposite Bayou Lafourche.
“We’ve had a great day.” said Marrero woman Monica Smith, who was fishing with her husband, who had just started a 10-day work vacation. “We caught a little bit of everything.”
But Lafourche is also home to a few hidden gems.
Bayou Lafourche is what angler Bob Theriot called a “fishing gumbo” right now.
“Like a gumbo – you can throw anything in and it works good.” Theriot said with a laugh.
He said he’s worked live baits, plastic baits and worms in the bayou. The results have been catfish, bass and perch. Theriot said further south in the bayou where the water is more brackish than fresh, anglers are also catching speckled trout.
“The bayou has been good to us right now.” Theriot said. “You can get almost anything in there right now.”
Other successful spots have been the 40-arpent canal in Cut Off, as well as in marshes along Golden Meadow’s Oak ridge Park.
In Terrebonne, things are a little slower than in Lafourche, but signs are showing that it’s about to explode into a frenzy.
In fresh waters, river waters are starting to recede, which is allowing for more fishable water and abundant catches.
Houma native Bill Toups said in the past two weeks, waters have gotten noticeably lower than they were in March and early April.
He said bass are starting to pick back up after being slowed to a halt.
“It s taken a while with the high crests, but that’s becoming a thing of the past” Toups said. “In just a few weeks, if it stays dry and it continues to drop. I think you’re going to see a total 130 turnaround with people really getting big-time fish “
In the southern reaches of Terrebonne down toward Cocodrie, conditions are mirroring southern Lafourche where specks, drum, reds and other fish are being caught in abundance.
Toups said he went on the water earlier this week and snagged a few redfish within 30 minutes. He said his friends are reporting that they’re getting speckled trout with live baits.
“It’s getting there,” Toups said. “I remember doing this interview last month and we were so frustrated. That’s starting to burn off. We are starting to have some luck again.”
