Fill in the Blank

In south Louisiana trout fishing is….

We’ve all been there, we’ve all tried to describe it and for many of us across the coast, particularly in South Louisiana, we can finish that sentence with a lot of words. However, often times what we fail to do in our description is adequately convey the passion that simple sentence can create. In addition, it probably varies from angler to angler across the coastal states that have speckled trout roaming their waters. For instance it may differ in Texas, where trout fishing is a test of skill and angling ability, or in Florida, where trout fishing may take a back seat to snook and tarpon fishing in the keys, glades or the flats. Despite your upbringing and angling ability or frequency, if you’ve chased speckled trout and enjoy catching them, you’ve undoubtedly had to fill in the blank.

For the anglers in South Louisiana, 2 years ago, that sentence may have ended with “in trouble.” As I’ve written in a blog post titled “Louisiana Speck 5 Years Later” featured on Vanishing Paradise’s national webpage. I concluded from a report by the National Wildlife Federation that speckled trout recruitment for the 2010 and 2011 year groups were significantly hampered by the effects of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster. As a result, I felt as if this almost totally contributed to the reduction in trout harvested in 2013 and 2014. It also didn’t help that we had 2 of the harshest winters on top of this disaster, which I’m sure didn’t play into the avid trout fisherman’s favor. Fortunately, Mother Nature decided to give Old Man Winter a pair of Simms and a brand new Revo SX, and as expected the trout fishing is right back on track. I still think 25 trout/day/person is totally ridiculous, but hey that’s another blog post. 

Speaking of which, my dad of all people, a baby boomer born in the 1940’s, who grew up in a time when the limits were limitless in S. LA., and he and his buddies judged their angling success like Jesus and his disciples, as to whether they caught so many fish the boat would barely stay afloat. So, when he became the top tagger of speckled trout in the state of Louisiana in 2015 I was beyond proud. So to him that opening sentence, probably ends with “a resource we need to manage due to my selfishness when I was younger.” In all seriousness, I have to give my pops some serious props. As I mentioned last January, my dad had set his sights on becoming the Top Tagger in the state of LA for 2015 and he achieved that feat. He did so in astonishing fashion. For starters he was the only angler, participating in the program to eclipse 2000 trout, 2086 to be exact. He did that over 85 trips…now I’m not too good at Math being from New Orleans and everything, but I can add, subtract and even divide a little, but that comes out to 24.54 trout/trip. That means in the 12 weeks my dad decided to go fishing, he caught a LA limit every trip. In addition, he’s already had 56 recaptures and more importantly provided invaluable data for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to help study and manage the resource. I wouldn’t say he’s made up for all that catching and keeping when he was younger, but he’s working on it. Shoot, he’s already tagged another 650 trout this year, which is better than the pace he set last year….repeat?!?

Can you tell who's better? I'll give you a hint...

Now it’s my turn to finish the sentence. As you can probably tell by my blog, podcast, Facebook page and Instagram account…I love to trout fish J I’ve written a few to many blog post covering my emotion about these fish, to the point where my wife kinda jokes about the only girls she’s worried about me cheating on her with is 30+”s and has specks on her back and eats plastic lures. I’ve described about as in-depth as possible the feeling of “The Tap” when a trout hits a jig, and I’ve even tried to artistically detail the environment in which they can be caught (hard shell/oyster reefs/sandy or muddy bottom).  All that said, I really can’t remember the first time I caught my first trout, but I can remember me and my buddies swimming in the surf after we caught a limit of trout wadefishing in Bay Joe Wise. I can’t remember the first time I saw a trout shake its head, but I can remember waking up to “Dixieland Delight” by Alabama that would play on my dad’s alarm clock. I also can’t remember the first time I felt “the tap” but I can remember letting my son Ramsey steer the boat to a set of rocks by the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, MS and watch him catch his first trout. You see, for me, trout fishing isn’t only about the notable characteristics, the characteristics which draws us to these fish. In fact the more I reflect on that sentence I find that its way more important than that. I recently heard a quote lately in a fishing video posted on the Simms website and it said, “For me the deeper I get into fishing, the fish becomes secondary to the experience.” So to close out this blog post, all I can say is that growing up in South Louisiana, trout fishing is....Life.

Tight Lines and God Bless!

Chris

Me, My Pops and My Bro - Chaland Pass, Empire, LA