Recent rains have muddied the ship channel and have made the northern portions of the fishery less productive. Water temperatures are running from 55 to 56 degrees. Some reports suggest trout fishing has slowed down some but the redfish are still being caught. Skeeter pro, David Rabalais, suggested fishermen target the east and southeast bank to avoid some of the wind as well as the water quality is better there. Another area with decent water quality is West Cove (north bank) which is away from the rivers and off the ship channel.
Rabalais said that even with off colored water, if someone wanted to catch fish he suggest they head to the east bank and work the area just off the bank and target minor points for redfish. He suggest Gulp! in New Penny and Nuclear Chicken. In addition, Rabalais mentioned that without additional rain, the lake should clear up quickly.
Local fishermen, Nick Chehotsky, who operates Gulf Coast Tackle, says fishing id still decent despite dirty water conditions. He says several anglers he talked with are limited out on trout without a problem and best baits include Berkley Saltwater Gulp! shrimp in new penny, molting and nuclear chicken as well as Stanley Wedgetails. He suggest to work these baits on a quarter ounce. jighead under a poping cork to get more attention in dirty water. Also,he says vary the length of the leader until you find the depth the fish prefer.
A hot bait bait that is an outstanding fish-catcher right now is the origional Corky Mullet and Corky Devil. Chehotsky stated these baits have been catching numbers of large trout. He also stated the redfish are still stacked up on the south and east banks, making it easy for anglers to limit out fast. Top redfish baits are the Redfish Magic Spinner and Gulp! Crabs in molting and amber glow.