OutdoorHub
Youngster Masters the Art of Catching Speckled Trout
Ask any fisherman and they’ll tell you that catching speckled trout isn’t something you master without learning how to pattern the fish. Water temperature, tides, lures, and water clarity all play a part in determining the success of the fisherman. These are all factors that often take years to master.
Bill Hines of Slidell, LA, has been fishing for speckled trout since he was 10 years old. Hines grew up fishing a certain bridge in Lake Pontchartrain called the Trestles. The train bridge stretches 5 miles over the lake and connects the north shore to the south shore of the estuary. The Trestles is known for its production of large speckled trout in the fall and spring seasons. “My father used to rent a small boat at Tites. That’s when I started learning how to fish with market shrimp on a Carolina rig,” he said. Tites was a boat launch located at the foot of the Hwy 11 bridge (Trestles).
As the years passed, Hines purchased his own boat and continued to learn more about catching speckled trout at the Trestles, albeit with minimal success. “I can remember making a trip with my friend and we caught a two-man limit; he caught 48 of them to my 2,” he joked. As the years passed, Hines continued fishing the bridge and slowly learned the nuances of catching speckled trout at the bridge. “Fishing the Trestles was tough! Sometimes the specks liked a fast retrieve, and other times they liked it slow. Sometimes they were on the pilings and other times they were way off of the bridge,” Hines said. “It took me many years and a lot of patience to learn how to fish that bridge.” These days, Hines has kids of his own whom he’s started teaching his technique of fishing the Trestles.
The post Youngster Masters the Art of Catching Speckled Trout appeared first on OutdoorHub.
