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Okay, this makes sense. Thank you for sharing that, I think we are making headway here.
You are pissing in the wind with that jerkbait. Might as well as throw a marshmallow glued to a kite.
Yes, you can catch them on a jerkbait at the Trestles and I have, but nowhere as well as a jig will. You’d need something that suspends/sinks and has a larger bill than that one. Otherwise the fish aren’t seeing it.
An 1/8oz is way too light unless the current is non-existent. Even then, I don’t go that light, not even on the south side of the tracks where it’s shallower.
It sounds like you were getting to the bottom, but I’d be throwing at least a 1/4oz on the shallower south side of the tracks, and a 3/8oz if the tide is ripping. It’ll get to the bottom faster and I will get more casts to get more presentations, which equals more bites over the long run.
In the deeper stuff (12-13ft) if the tide is ripping I’ll go up to a 1/2oz. Especially at the Hwy 11 bridge.
Baits like that Slam Shady are really buoyant compared to the material that Matrix Shad is made out of. Plus it’s more mass, so it won’t sink as well. That’s not a bad thing, it just means it performs differently. It’s a tool, just like a screwdriver vs a hammer. A screwdriver is a good tool, but it doesn’t drive nails very well.
Final note, you’re throwing spinning tackle. A jig really is implemented best on casting tackle. The best analogy I can think of is driving a stick vs automatic transmission. The stick requires more skill/experience but it’s ultimately a faster/better way of getting max performance out of a car. This analogy holds up better when comparing the stick vs auto of yesteryear. Auto transmissions have come a long way, but spinning reels have largely remained the same. You’re bringing a knife to a gunfight.
So, I am guessing that for every 1-2 presentations you get, someone like myself or Chas are getting 3-5. That adds up over a few dozen pilings.
To see for yourself, consider these videos of me fishing the Trestles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexJ3vKiQmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcXypBM9sTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpodDXyBQlo
After that, I understand the Trestles are close. It’s not a bad spot to fish and there are fish there right now, but it is also very pressured. Most of the dumb fish have been caught and taken home in an ice chest. I would look hard at the Rock Dam, Elmer’s Isle, Grand Isle, Pointe aux Chene, Bay Lanaux in Port Sulphur, Graveyard in Delacroix or even the powerlines right there at the boat launch in Kenner by the casino. There’s way less pressure and more options at those places. Just keep those areas in your back pocket for when the Trestles eventually fizzles out in the next 30 days.
“Oh, also, at first when I was using the heavier jig head I was getting all kinds of algae on my lure,”
That’s weird. Was it green? Sounds like snot grass, which doesn’t grow in water that deep. So my guess is that it drifted in from somewhere else, which I have seen before. Your lure was probably snagging it in the middle of the water column on the way down.
Lastly, some days are just harder than others. I wasn’t out there so I ultimately don’t know, but if you saw people catching then that’s your yardstick.
