The most important component to consistent speckled trout fishing is SALT!!!! Over the past decade salty waters of South East Louisiana are now considerably diluted. Due to many different reasons once very salty waters are now fighting against a lot more freshwater intrusions. The number one cause is the swollen Mississippi River and also the Pearl River. The Mississippi has been pretty low the last two years but prior to that it was out of control. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened a record amount of times in one decade. It is opened and pours into the Lake Pontchartrain Basin causing a massive fresh water influx and shoving the speckled trout out of the area. When the River is this swollen to open the spillway it also causes a lot of issues for the Venice and Breton Sound area. A passage in the River called “The Mardi Gras Pass” is exactly like a spillway effect and when the river is high it floods out places like Black Bay and American Bay which are part of Breton Sound. Although the Mississippi River has been inside its banks the last couple years we have battled a high Pearl River. When trout fishing used to peak in April, May and June we now seem to be continuously fighting freshwater issues during those times. So what do you do when this happens? Well if you watch a lot of our DockSide TV’s we transition over to red fish or bass earlier than we would like in the summer or even put the boat on the trailer and take long drives seeking out saltier waters. If you want to stay in state looking for salty summer specks simply go to the Grand Isle area or get ready to make long boat rides. I personally choose the option of a long car ride in trade for incredibly short boat rides. The Florida Panhandle is where I like to head.
Over the last several years you have seen us make a series of DockSide TV episodes in the Perdido Key area right on the Alabama, Florida line. My favorite thing about this area is the fishing proximity to any boat launch. I just fish out of an 18′ skiff so having access to 25 plus inch trout within a mile of several boat launches calls my name every year when our waters are too fresh. One year when the spillway was opened twice in one spring I stayed in Perdido for 28 straight days fishing almost every day learning the area. The other best part of fishing this area is how productive top water fishing is. This estuary has giant trout lurking on every corner and eager to smash a topwater plug like our Matrix Mullet from Matrixshad.com
There are some similarities to how the trout act in Florida vs Louisiana. Grass is key on the Panhandle just like it is when we fish trout in the fall in Lake Pontchartrain. These big trout love lurking over eel grass beds in 2-6 foot of water. As far as structures trout favor on the Panhandle I would say Dock fishing is number one. There certainly is not a shortage of wooden pilings stretching across the inland waters of the Panhandle. The dock poles hold tons of barnacles which turns into a bait fish habitat then follows the big specks. Just like the Pontcharain basin bridges are everywhere and also great speckled trout spots. On these bridges heavy jig heads on your favorite Matrix Shad is a great choice. The water on the Panhandle averages about 4 foot of visibility so make sure to drop your line size to 10-12lb test and make sure to use fluorocarbon line.
Get very early starts as pleasure boaters take over around 10 am. Have your favorite top water tied on and sling it over shallow grass flats near docks at daylight. Then around 8 am look for deeper grass beds and switch to the Matrix Minnow or Ripshad and fish these jerk baits over the grass, “Rip Rip Pause”. If you stay out there till 10 am then go deep and fish your favorite Matrix on a heavy Golden Eye under a bridge or over an artificial reef.
