Constant storms that blasted the Midwest in the fall didn’t really abate in the winter and lined up like train cars in the spring, causing record flooding that had farmers reaching for their insurance claim slips rather than their tractor throttles. All that water has been racing down the Mississippi River for months, turning many of South Louisiana’s bays the color of Grandma’s beef stew and making them unsuitable spawning grounds for the state’s speckled trout population.

Fortunately, the Gulf of Mexico is full of salty green water, and the fish will always keep moving until they find the right conditions. Once there, they group up and get busy propagating the species.

But that means anglers who have grown accustomed to catching speckled trout closer in are a bit inconvenienced. They’re having to get up earlier and run farther to put some delicious fillets in the box, and that was certainly true for Justin Bowles and me on our most recent trip.

We took advantage of good conditions to scoot all the way out to the extreme eastern tip of Louisiana and try our luck at a series of islands more commonly frequented by Mississippi anglers than those from the Bayou State.

We weren’t sure what we’d find, but didn’t have to wait long to see once we arrived. Fish were clobbering our TKO Shrimp and Matrix Shads, and we even picked up some bonus table fare on the way in.

Like the video? Please give it a thumbs-up, and subscribe to the Marsh Man Masson channel on YouTube. Also, leave a comment below or on the YouTube page. Have you ever fished Isle au Pitre or other islands outside the Biloxi Marsh? In general, are you having to run farther to find speckled trout this summer due to the extreme levels of fresh water?