Want to find fish? Find other fishermen

Want to find fish? Find other fishermen - Outdoors Beat - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

Posted by Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune August 07, 2008 10:41PM
Categories: Bob Marshall
BOB MARSHALL/THE TIMES-PICAYUNEWith so many landmarks washed away, “finding the fish” in the growing expanse of Barataria Bay often means finding where the other boats are anchored

The old salts of coastal Louisiana fishing will tell you the most important skill to master is “finding fish.”

They will tell you how they began perfecting this skill when they were just fin-high to a cockahoe minnow by fishing at the sides of legendary anglers, men who forgot more about the sport than you’ll ever learn. They will tell you about reading the water for signs of bait, for subtle shifts in tidal movement, for habitat patterns, for matching moon phases with wind direction.

All true.

But they almost will never mention the easiest way to find fish, a secret even the greenest of rookies can master: Just find the other fishermen.

That secret was being exposed recently in the southern reaches of Barataria Bay, where a group of boats began anchoring around a handful of pilings. A half-hour earlier only two boats were riding the waves, casting live bait toward a handful of pilings. Within minutes they seemed to be exerting some type of gravitational pull on other boats, forcing them to radically change course and begin homing in on the piling.

Soon, the two-boat flotilla was a fleet of 10. An angler in the latest arrival tossed a live shrimp on a Carolina rig into the water, and before he could tighten the line, felt the pull of a speckled trout.

He had just perfected the art of finding fish by the oldest and easiest method known. But now he had a question: “Hey,” he yelled over to the boat next to him, “what’s this spot called?”

Well, it is called Independence Island. Not that there has been any island visible there for the past 20 years. That piece of marsh turned to open water long ago, and the pilings that once reminded anglers of the camps that stood there have long since been knocked down. But while the marsh is gone, the shells and oyster reefs that once supported the island continue to be a draw for speckled trout and reds during the summer months. The latest NOAA charts show that “shoal” as the rough outline of a banana running north to south for about one-third of a mile. So anglers who can find the sunken Independence Island between April and September have a pretty good chance of finding fish.

The story has been the same this summer, but with a decidedly different twist.

“Independence and the other reefs in Barataria Bay are just starting to turn on — and that’s about two months later than usual,” said Sidney Bourgeois, manager of Joe’s Landing in Lafitte.
“Normally, we start seeing trout showing up there as early as late April, and almost always by mid-May. But this year everything has been late, real late.”

Some anglers think the clock has been pushed back by the amount of fresh water flowing through Davis Pond. Others think the reason has more to do with the stiff winds that have hounded the bay this summer. Regardless, the bay finally seems to be rounding into form — and the old islands that are now reefs are the best spots to fish. The reasons for that — conventional wisdom goes — is that they tend to offer shelter for bait, which attracts the specks and reds.

If you are new to the area and have never marked these spots on a GPS unit, finding them in the ever-growing expanses of Barataria Bay can be difficult.

Unless, of course, you can perfect one of the oldest techniques for finding fish: Just look for the other boats.

Getting there
GPS coordinates: N 29º 18.616, W 89º 56.172.

For non-digital anglers, turn due east at marker 16 in the Barataria Seaway, or head 75-degrees for 1.6 miles east-northeast from the eastern side of Queen Bess Island.

You’re talking about a 40-minute run from Lafitte, about 15 minutes from Grand Isle.

Gearing up
The best choice for late summer is always live bait, so make sure you have a functioning live well, some weighted corks, and the gear for Carolina rigs: swivels, sliding sinkers and leader material. Live shrimp will bring the most hits, but live croakers and pogies will result in bigger fish. Bring plenty of terminal rigs, because you’ll be losing gear on the bottom.

Lures that will work include plastic cockahoes (glo, tuxedo, black/chartreuse tails), Deadly Dudley (Blue Moon), DOA shrimp (glo), Gulp! Shrimp, menhaden and sand eels. If the water is murky, try fishing the plastics on a Carolina rig.

Other necessities include a good anchor, plenty of sunscreen and water — and a sharp eye to watch for thunderstorms that can approach quietly in the late summer haze.

Fishing it
Don’t head this way unless you have a tidal range of 7/10ths of a foot to 1.5 feet, and wind less than 10 mph. Incoming or falling tide will work, as long as the water is moving. And the best action will be in the first two and last two hours of the day — especially during a full moon.

Although the pilings are a good landmark, the reef is spread across a much wider area, and the fish can be anywhere. Approach from the down-tide side of the pilings, placing your anchor about 30 yards from the center.

After the boat has settled, begin casting live bait as far past the pilings as you can. If you’re on the bottom, let the bait settle, then begin moving it back to the boat with the current by using small lifts with the rod tip. Let the bait settle for a minute after each hop. When you get a strike, try to remember where the bait was, because the trout tend to hold in specific spots.

A sliding weighted cork is a good option. Start with the hook set about five feet under the cork. Use a split shot about a foot above the hook to keep the bait down. If you have a good tidal range, let the current move the bait back toward you, making sure to reel in the slack as it comes. Otherwise, pop the bait and reel.

Remember, the fish can be almost anywhere on the reef, so if you’re not having much success in your first spot, move the boat and start over.