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Publish date: January 31, 2022

It was mid morning and Jerry Bourg eases his 20' aluminum boat right up to the seawall behind Ricky's Motel. He looks up at me and grins before reaching down in the boat to grab the handles of his ice chest. He grunts as he lifts the heavy ice chest up to the top of the seawall. I walk over to see what's in the ice chest as Jerry proudly opens it up for my viewing. The ice chest was almost full of some very nice Speckled Trout. This is not unusual for Jerry, I have watched him many times as he consistently produces great catch's of Speckled Trout and Redfish, from the marsh's that go on forever around Grand Isle. Where did'ja catch'em Jerry, I asked and he points to one of the small islands right across the bay no more than a quarter mile from the motel. Caught these on live Croakers, says he, free lining. I knew the rig he was talking about, you just tie a hook on the line and let the live Croaker run free. This method is a killer way to catch big Speckled Trout. Jerry is one of the best marsh fishermen I know, yeah I know, all his brothers will take exception to that, but I see him win their little rodeo pots all the time.

Over the years I have been fishing with Jerry as he fishes with his Brother Ricky and I have been impressed at his methods. You're likely to see Jerry's boat parked in a patch of grass in the marshes but Jerry want be in the boat, he may be 200 yards from the boat fishing in one of the many small ponds that are everywhere in the marsh grass. Jerry's method here it to actually stalk the Redfish by wading or walking to the grass ponds and casting his bait into these holes, it actually looks like he's fishing in a grass field. For the life of me, I don't see how these Redfish get into these holes, but if you get out into the marshes you'll see there are small streams of water running into these holes. During the spring is when the tides are at their highest and that is when these areas produce the best.

I ask Jerry one day just what was his favorite rig and bait for fishing Redfish in the marshes. He shows me how he slides an egg sinker onto his line and then ties on a barrel swivel, the swivel keeps the sinker off the top of his hook. Next he ties on a leader about 30" long and then his hook and that's it. His favorite bait is live Cacohoe minnows.

There are literally thousands of miles of marshes around Grand Isle and you could fish for a lifetime and never fish them all. To successfully fish the marshes you need a shallow draft boat and one you don't mine getting dirty. You'll be surprised where you catch some of the Redfish in these areas, what you have to do is just fish until you get the hang of the type areas the Redfish hold up in. When you began to catch fish look around you, what are the conditions there, what is the tide doing, what time of year and day is it, all of these things play a roll in you catching fish time after time. I like to take my cast net and catch some live finger Mullet and use them for bait, if the Redfish are there they will eat them up. I also like to use cut Mullet as this is a favored food of the Redfish. Think about it for a moment, what would the Redfish be feeding on in an area like this, small Blue Crabs, shore nuff, they will pounce on them and you will see the swirl of there tails as they take the crab. Other things they are feeding on in these areas are live shrimp, but Redfish aren't too picky, they'll eat'em dead also.

Marsh Redfish will also take artificial baits such as gold spoons and they will mangle a spinner bait. One of the things I love to do is sight cast to tailing Redfish with a top water plug. I have found my best top water fishing is during the winter when the water is cold in the gulf and the larger ponds and lakes but the water will be several degrees warmer in the back holes of the marshes. The Redfish will lay up in theses warmer waters and I have caught many large Redfish and trout on a Bagley's Jumping Mullet, fished in these warmer water holes. There's nothing that will stir your heart more that to watch a big Redfish follow your top water plug pushing a wake as he comes. Get out there and try you luck and catch some of these marsh Redfish.

Jerry passed away several years ago and this article is in his memory, he was quit the guy

Good Luck folks

James Allen