Some like it cold

The Great Outdoors

[Comment Below]

By Ryan Rhodes

Okay, so it’s definitely fall now. With fall comes the opening weekends of all the more popular hunting seasons, which seems to simply overshadow every other aspect of the outdoors. It’s at this point that people seem to go to the wetter part of the outdoors, and some very good fishing action goes unnoticed.  

The Lake Borgne/Rigolets area traditionally has some of its best action during the days of fall. This year is no exception. The cold water in the area makes fish, especially speckled trout, very predictable. The water’s cold; fish are cold blooded; deep water gets too cold for them to handle, so they want to be closer to the sun. Do you see the pattern here?

Avoid fishing in deep holes, but look for shallow flats or drop-offs right before them. Specks will tend to school up in less than 10 feet of water and hang near the surface to warm up. Not to mention bait fish and grass shrimp tend to hang out in these areas as well. 

You might also get to sleep in a little longer now. For any kind of aquatic life to get active now, the sun needs to warm up the water a little bit. So getting to the dock before sunrise is probably not the best idea; you’ll end up wasting a lot of time staring at a still cork. 

Speaking of corks, live bait is not a necessity in this area right now. It’s kind of become a rule of thumb around the Rigolets that the fish want live bait, and they’re picky about it. That’s not completely true, since I catch fish on artificials all the time there, but it is true that some days they just won’t bite on anything without an active heartbeat.

Well, now with the water being a little bit colder, everything is more sluggish, including the bait. Live bait won’t look any different than a piece of plastic in the water now. Also, make sure when you’re working the bait, to work it a little slower and more sluggish than usual, since this is how actual bait would be acting now and since fish are likely sluggish too and looking for an easy meal. 

As for colors, use your common sense. Pick colors that will stand out in the type of water and look natural for this time of year. Red with sparkle green, peach color sparkle and light orange sparkle are some good examples.  

Try these methods around areas in the Rigolets and the banks of Lake Borgne. Also, Miller’s Ditch, Unknown Pass and even the bridges of Lake Pontchartrain are good places to fish right now.

Originally Published: Issue 712 - November 12, 2008

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