January 2016 Volume 17 • Issue 187 | Page 25

Strategy The best plan is to fish a normal winter pattern (see last month’s M&B BIGFISH Finder article) until the river dictates otherwise. Speckled trout are deep in most of our coastal marshes. Redfish are everywhere. Big redfish are on the edges of the marsh. IF the river gives us a problem, your best bet for a few winter speckled trout is likely to be in the Louisiana Marsh and the Biloxi Wildlife Management Area. Other Options: Bank of the Mississippi for catfish: The high river will likely mean good catfishing along the banks of the Mississippi. Offshore: Winter fishing offshore is fantastic when Mother Nature’s winds are manageable. Take Note: When the Bonnet Carre Spillway is opened, much of Louisiana’s lakes and coastal waters lose salinity and get too dirty to fish. Add other man-made and natural openings from the river into our coastal marshes and it is clear how the low salinity and dirty water can affect our speckled trout fishing. Clean, salty water is key; and as this diagram shows, one of the last places that will hold good water is on the eastern end of the Louisiana Marsh.