By Frank Davis
Posted Thursday, May 12, 2005
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I guess the best way to summarize what the speckled trout fishing conditions are this week just below Cocodrie is to quote a super-excited Johnny Glover.
“Frank, I went out the day before yesterday to the islands, and even though it was windy and kinda bouncy I got me a really quick limit of some of the prettiest trout I’ve seen all year! One to three pound averages, with a good mix of 4 and 5-pounders added in as lagniappe. And you know what? I started fishing about 6 and was back at the marina eating breakfast by 7:30! This kinda action is just getting started down here!”
Glover reported an almost identical situation that most anglers and fishing guides are experiencing all across coastal Louisiana right now. Warm and sunny one day, windy and chilly the next!
 Frank shows off a big catch from Cocodrie from a previous trip. He says they're out there just like this picture right now.
“Frank, we noticed that they turned on big time Saturday and Sunday,” the driving force behind Coco Marina emphasized. “All the charter boats came back with fish to boast about. See, we’re back on our summertime schedule at the marina now, so the full compliment of 8 boats had gone out. Well, when they got back to the dock a little after 1 o’clock, every captain told me the same story—between the marina and Lake Pelto, wherever you could find some relatively clean water, they tore up the trout over the oyster reefs!”
And would you like to know what these monster-size fish were hitting? Top-water baits! A whole variety of topwater baits! Mirr-O-Lures, Top Dogs, Zara Spooks. You name ‘em! Actually, they fished the topwater baits rather unconventionally—they rigged them with short trailer hooks dangling off the last set of trebles.
“You talk about catch trout?” But Glover quickly ended this account by adding that then the temperature fell.
And the winds picked up. He said it was like calling a hunger strike! Even working far to the west, the boats could find scant clean water; and the bites were even scanter yet. Based on how the weather began Monday and Tuesday of this week, with a downright nippy chill in the air, the pro staff at the marina expects the situation this week to mimic that of last week.
“On a normal day,” Glover went on, “we got water temps down here running 70 degrees. But you just wait till it gets up to 72 and stays there—all hell’s gonna break loose! Mark my words!”
In a nutshell, the Cocodrie action at present includes both trout and redfish on the inside (redfish eagerly taking Carolina rigging with live Cocahoes) and massive hauls on cobia offshore.
“Head out between Timbalier Island and Coon Point,” Capt. Scott Dufresne revealed, “and then run offshore about 10 miles from the beach and you’ll see something amazing—300 to 400 cobia occupying the area and traveling in schools of 30 to 40 fish. And we’re not talking skinny fish, either. Most run in the high 60’s and 70’s.”
Glover noted that in the recent Isle of Capri Offshore Fishing Rodeo, the top three cobia on the Biloxi, Mississippi, tote board, each ranging in the high 60’s, all came from below Cocodrie. He anticipates that the fishing (and the fish!) will hang around until about June 15.
Article written by fishing expert Frank Davis at www.frankdavis.com
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