Live bait and topwater are two ways to catch some nice fish, said local pro angler David Rabalais.
Live shrimp, mullet and pogy are all
working beautifully and the cuts off the Ship Canal get better and
better as water temperatures
climb.
The Jetties also are giving up some nice fish when conditions are right. There needs to be a strong incoming tide that brings
in some clean water from the Gulf, which has been happening at times recently.
In addition, when these conditions occur, there is often patches of grass that come in that hold a lot of fish with some nice
tripletail also showing up in the mix. Most anglers are fishing live bait at the Jetties under a cork, but there are times
when the fish suspend when live bait without a cork is the way to go.
Rabalais said the topwater action continues to be good-to-excellent with Super Spooks and Skitterwalk(by Rapala) two great
choices.
The smaller selection of the
Skitterwalk is catching the most fish lately. Soft plastics such as
Berkley Saltwater Gulp! in
Shrimp and Mullet, Sand eels, Egret Lure’s Bayou Chub and
Hackberry Hustlers are all catching reds and trout with mornings
seeming to be the best with soft plastics. When the fish stop
hitting these each morning, it might be time for a live shrimp
or mullet.
Calcasieu Point’s Elaine Huck said the
big news at her ramp is the reds have finally returned. There were
numerous limits
of redfish last weekend with many 25-, 26- and 27-inch reds
caught. She also mentioned good numbers 3- to 4-pound specks weighed
in with even a few 5-pounders. There were also several large
flounder in the 4-pound range.
However, tides slowed down the early
part of the week so fishing has slowed as well, especially during the
morning with afternoons
better.
Hot spots this week include the Ship Channel all the way up to Contraband Bayou. The banks of LNG and Black Lake have also
been mentioned many times as producing fish. Morning tides should improve some the next several days.
With so many anglers fishing this week on July 4, which will involve a lot of changes, we will wait until next week to do
a major update of the Coastal Conservation Association Statewide Tournament and Angler’s Rodeo.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service announced the closure date for the Gulf of Mexico recreational
red snapper season was extended to 12:01 a.m. local time, July 17, which is good news for offshore anglers.
DOGFIGHTS: Week
11 winners of the Calcasieu River Wednesday Afternoon Dogfights were Al
Willis and Richard Wagner with a five-fish limit
weighing 6.41 pounds, which included the big bass of the
tournament, a 2.44-pound kicker. They reported fishing the main river
using topwater selections as well a Brush Hog and took home a good
check of $351.
Robert Weemes and Greg Byrley finished second with 6.21 pounds and mentioned they fished the West Fork using several kinds
of lures (they are not talking) to catch their limit and win $91.
In third was the team of Josh and Paul Byrd who said they targeted the West Fork area using finesse worms to catch a lot of
fish to put together their limit and weight of 5.82.
A reminder that today’s Week 12 dogfight event will feature hot dogs and refreshments at the weigh-in. Nothing better than
a grilled hot dog on the lake.
•••
Please send us your fishing reports. Call 463-3848 or email me at joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com or visit www.joejoslinoutdoors.com