Coastal Fishing
Concepts
From Winter to Spring
by Capt. Charlie
Thomason
Bayou Charters
(504) 278-FISH
As a professional angler there are many times
of the year that you get to encounter many awesome events that nature has to offer. But none of
these events or times of the year are beat by nature’s movement from Winter to Spring. As the
ambient temperatures begin to rise and the days
become longer nature sets in the change of the
landscape and all species. March along the Gulf
Coast is a month where birds begin their
busy days building nests, alligators
start sunning themselves on
the banks and fish start
the migration from their
deep winter bayous
out towards the
shallow bays and
lakes. I always
look at nature as my
signal for the movements
of the fish I seek on a daily basis.
When I begin to see the yellow pollen from all of
the live oak trees covering my truck and it seems
that every few days the fog sets in making our
trips out to the fishing spots somewhat challenging I know that the speckled trout are on their
movement from the interior passes and bayous
out towards the bays and lakes to meet up with
the movement of shrimp. Now these shrimp are
not our summer shrimp that are making a migration towards the inner marshes but the leftover
shrimp from last year that never had the chance
to flee the cold days during the fall migration out.
These shrimp are what the speckled trout are trying to locate so they can begin eating since the
thin days of winter. This will scatter the speckled
trout so drifting along oyster reefs or mouths of
passes are the best bet for fish to be congregated but if you’re lucky enough you could see
gulls diving on the shrimp that are fleeing from
the jaws of hungry speckled trout. If you see this
event make sure not to pass it up, many times
these fish during the early spring will be larger
sized and very aggressive. Limits can be caught
rather easily under the gulls with just a simple
Jighead and your favorite artificial bait.
If you get a chance to check out a video that I
did with Todd Masson and his son Joel Masson a
couple years ago you will witness another awesome way to fish for larger fish from Pre-Spring to
Spring.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw3t5gOF8
S4) That is using one of my favorite baits. The
Brown’s Corky “Fat-Boy” is a suspending soft
plastic bait that has not only the presentation of a
larger baitfish but also has
the slow falling movement that larger speckled trout just can’t pass
up! This bait is tied on
your line via a loopknot and casted out
Paul Brown's Fat Boy
over oyster bars,
Series Corky 3-1/2"
reefs and beds where
Suspending Jerk Bait
the larger fish tend to
stage this time of the
year. Twitching this bait slowly and methodically is the proper way to present it but as always
changing the presentation might be needed due
to weather conditions on that particular day. My
favorite colors are the Purple Chartreuse Belly
and Opening Night for these baits I use the Purple for darker days/ lowlight conditions and the
Opening Night for clear and bright days.
www.captcharlie.com
Capt. Charlie Thomason will be adding a weekly segment of his
highly rated television show, Coastal Fishing Concepts, on
New Orleans WDSU News Channel 6.
Capt. Charlie says, “I am so excited to be back on WDSU each week
offering the New Orleans area anglers true tips, techniques, and tactics for inshore fishing.
The concept based shows will target local fishing techniques to help
everyone become more productive on the water.”
First segment will air on Wednesday,
March 2nd during the 4:30AM and 5:00AM newscast.