The BigFish Finder
Trolling
VS.
Poling
Catching trout and reds when the rod is in your hand
or the gunnel’s holder!
by Capt. CT Williams
BIGFISH TV • FOX 8 News
(504) 244-3474
www.theBIGFISH.net
You are definitely from Louisiana if,
when winter fishing, you would rather catch 25
twelve-inch speckled trout that fight like popsicles and all fit in a five-gallon bucket than a
boatload of beautiful, hard-fighting, great eating redfish, black drum, and sheepshead.
You and I both know those people, you
might be one of those people. If so, then
hang with me. This article is for you.
Generations of Louisiana anglers are bred
to pursue one fish and one fish only, the
speckled trout. That being said, you would
think any and every technique to catch these
fish would be perfectly understood and utilized. The popping cork is certainly king, tight
lining jigheads with artificial baits is widely
popular, and there are a few enthusiasts who
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know when to pull out the hard plastic baits
dious. The fact is, when trolling, the percentlike topwater, twitch, lipped, and suspending
age of fish you catch is not improved significantly by the increase of anglers in the boat.
baits. Drop-shot rigs (a new name for an old
Still or drift fishing is a different story, the
rig) are popular again, and dead shrimp on
more bait in the water, the more likely the
any rig is common in our state’s cold months.
Using these techniques, we
drift oyster reefs and flats, work
deep channels and their drop-offs,
and “peek” our boats into the
marsh for holes and pockets where
trout might hide. Yet there is one
technique, which has proven successfu