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If I were him I’d abandon that area. The river is at 4ft and has been falling for a minute now. IMO, he’s pissing in the wind. Might as well stay home and watch paint dry instead of launching out of Hopedale.
If Rory Rorison isn’t catching trout out of Shell Beach/Hopedale, then nobody is.
My opinion: there’s not as many fish as there once were in Breton Sound’s hey day. There’s just not. Actually, that’s not opinion, that’s fact. The trout population is like half of what is used to be, probably worse. That’s why we lowered the limit. Not to oppress the masses, or because that’s how government operates, but because the speckled trout have been literally decimated. That and Louisiana’s habit of constantly throwing every legal fish on ice isn’t helping.
But it is my opinion that fish are going to push the bleeding edge of river water, whether it’s rising or falling. And the river ultimately is a better home for them. There’s more food, better water, etc. So why would they stay in Breton/Chandeleur Sounds?
This is why I’m big on learning the process to finding fish, safe routes, etc. and branching out to new places rather than just hitting the same old milk run expecting a different result. That process is painfully outlined in excruciation detail in Inshore Fishing 101. It’s just up to the angler to discover/learn/use that. I filled the proverbial pond and can only show it to horses. Whether or not horses choose to drink is up to them.
Anyway, if there’s fewer fish and more water, then you’re going to have to cover more water to find them. Like, not just drive further but literally launch somewhere else. See my fifth paragraph.
Last winter I fished from Slidell to Venice to Dularge, and I am telling you that the best fishing was in Venice (when the river cooperated). When everyone else was dicking around on the Trestles or at The Wall, myself, @Boyce @neilnmel and others had the river to ourselves, or had fewer boats to put up with.
If I were your brother, I’d be looking hard at Black Bay, Stone Island, East Bay, Southwest Pass, etc.
