Between Cut Off, Galliano, and Golden Meadow right now, especially back in the ponds and lagoons where there are clusters of broken grass islands, wintertime conditions are beginning to settle in. All—or at least most—of the fishing action is now in the marsh. Fish that were scattered across the outside coast just a month ago have made their move to “the inside. And that’s where we must have been Thursday when we videotaped “The Fishin’ Game Report,” because after putting the boat in at the Golden Meadow Public Launch and traveling a short ways to a nearby cluster of shallow-water marsh ponds, we began catching fish right away. “If the weekenders follow the tips we’re gonna give them,” John confessed, “they’re gonna be into some of the best inside fishing they’ve had all year. And some of the easiest.” John began reciting a grocery list of fishing tips that he said he’d “guarantee” would produce some nice catches come Saturday and Sunday. 1—Plan to fish at the height of the tidal period when the current is at its best flow. 2—Use a boat equipped with a trolling motor because you’re gonna have to navigate between grass islands, in and out of one pond after the other. 3—Proceed slowly and go quietly. Shallow water transmits sound well and can spook the fish, especially the reds lying in wait along the shorelines. 4—Bring along two rods and reels, one rigged for tight-lining and the other for cork fishing. And by the way, the drop from the cork—the leader, in other words—should be between 10 and 12 inches. The water you’re going to be fishing in will be shallow. So anything longer than that won’t float the bait—it will cause it to rest on the bottom. Not the technique you want. 5—Speaking of bait, you’ll be able to use both plastics and natural bait, preferably live. John’s recommendation for this weekend is either live Cocahoes or the smoke-flake colored split-tail beetle. Those are the baits we used Thursday to call all of our TV-show fish. 6—When tight-lining, go with the beetle. You’ll be pulling it through a lot of submerged grass and roots. A live Cocahoe would last long doing that. And forget about snapping and popping and twitching. All you want to do is “straight retrieve.” Vary the speed until you find the one that produces catches. Use this approach for fishing speckled trout out in the center of the ponds and lagoons. Oh—and make sure you measure anything that’s not a sure-fire keeper. There are hordes of juvenile trout back in the marsh, a harbinger of great trout fishing come next Spring. 7—When fishing under a cork (which you might try for trout before going to tight-lining), you can use either the smoke beetle or the live Cocahoe. What you do is cast the terminal rig as close to the bank as possible then work it out a ways. General “Rule of Thumb” is once you get off the shoreline about 15 feet, wind it up and cast again. Any red lurking in that habitat will strike the bait within 10 seconds. Cork fishing is what you should use predominantly to fish redfish. And this time around popping is the right technique—you need to get the fish’s attention. One more thing: measure the small reds you catch (and you will catch some small ones that will eventually be legal next Spring) and ease them back into the water gently. 8—Finally, back to the trolling motor. Use it. Anchor only when you and, maybe, another angler on your boat both hook into reds at the same time. Spots like those are worth extra casts. Work over those areas really well before moving on to the next spot. So that’s the big picture for this weekend—fish Golden Meadow marshes for some really good weekend action! Period! If you know where you’re going, if you’re familiar with the Golden Meadow, Galliano, and Cut Off back-marsh, then head on out on your own, in your boat, with your fishing buddies. If all this is new and strange to you and you need help finding your way around and finding fish, feel free to call Capt. John at Hawkeye Fishing Charters and set up a trip with him. His numbers are 985-632-6988 or 985-637-1103. Of course, as always. . .it’s first come first serve and fall fishing charters book pretty solid pretty quickly. Next week, I need to make another run through Delacroix Island. Things ought to be showing signs of winter there, too. I’ll let you know what it’s going to take to catch fish at Delacroix the minute we get back to the dock. Tell then. . . Tight lines and good times to ya, Frank Davis
