Inshore Fishing Tips for Speckled Trout and Redfish in Mississippi’s Biloxi Marsh
John E. Phillips 04.17.13
“April is one of the most productive months our area has for speckled trout in the spring and summer,” charter fishing Captain Sonny Schindler explains. “The weather is usually good, and the trout start really getting active as the water warms up.” When the water temperatures reach or climb near 70 degrees, that’s when the speckled trout turn on in the Biloxi Marsh where Schindler fishes.
For many years, Schindler and his partner, Matthew Tusa, didn’t realize that the Biloxi Marsh homed underwater grass beds. When they found the first couple of underwater grass beds in the marsh, they realized that big trout should hold there in April. “We’ve now discovered more than 20 underwater grass beds in the Biloxi Marsh, and during April these grass beds can produce some outstanding speckled trout fishing,” Schindler reports. “From the Three Mile area all the way down to Comfort Island is where you’ll find the grass beds in two to four feet of water, depending on the tides.”
Schindler prefers to fish the grass beds in four-foot-deep water because the deeper beds seem to hold the most big trout. The correct water temperature of 70 degrees, grass beds in two- to four-foot-deep water and the migration of the baychovies (local name) are the three factors that must come together to make April speckled trout fishing in the Biloxi Marsh red hot this month. “The baychovies (local name) come into the marsh by the billions,” Schindler explains, “and when the baychovies show up, the trout gorge themselves on these small baitfish. A 12-inch trout, a legal-size catch, will weigh a pound more when it’s feeding on the baychovies than it will weigh before or after the baychovies arrive.”
In most sections of the Upper Gulf Coast, if you see seagulls diving on bait, you can assume that schools of speckled trout and redfish beneath the bait have pushed the baitfish to the surface. If you spot little birds that look like swallows, known as terns, diving on bait, usually Spanish mackerel or ladyfish have chased them to the surface. However, in the Biloxi Marsh, Schindler finds the grass beds and the baychovies by looking for terns.
“When we see a large flock of terns diving on bait, we’ve learned to go to the terns, and those terns often will be feeding on the baychovies,” Schindler says. “The terns have also shown us where the grass flats are that hold the big speckled trout. In years gone by, we completely disregarded a flock of terns diving, because we never caught speckled trout under them. But in the Biloxi Marsh, we’ve learned that the terns point the way to big trout and outstanding grass bed fishing. The trout on these grass beds will often be mixed schools. You may catch 10 trout that are all 12 inches long, and then on your next 10 casts, the trout you catch may be 18 inches or better. Matthew caught his biggest trout ever–a 7-1/2-pounder–last April fishing over these grass beds.”
To catch the trout over the grass, Schindler suggests fishing a 3/8-ounce jighead with grub colors like opening night, cotton candy, or any clear grub with a little sparkle in it. Then up the line, 18 inches from the grub, Schindler adds a popping cork to his line. “If you get to the grass flats before first light, just as the sun begins to brighten up the day, the trout will totally eat up top water lures like the She Dog, the Zara Spook, the Zara Puppy and the Skitter Walk,” Schindler reports. “I really believe that when these baychovies show up in large schools on the grass flats, you probably can cast out a hot dog, and the trout will eat it. I had a party last year that caught 30 or 40 nice trout using a fly rod and fly tackle.”
Last year, Schindler had a big trout blow up on the bait and break his line, while fishing a chartreuse-and-black She Dog. However, after a few minutes, apparently the big trout worked the She Dog loose from its jaw, and the bait floated up to the surface. “We watched as trout after trout tried to take that She Dog sitting still on the water,” Schindler recalls. “So we motored the boat over to the bait. I retrieved my bait and started catching trout again on that same She Dog.”
When a big bull red moves out on the grass flat and takes your jig, it will run back and forth through that flat, spooking all the trout. When this occurs, Schindler lands the redfish and leaves that grass bed to go fish another grass bed for an hour or two. Then he can return to the grass bed where he’s caught the redfish. “Redfish are plentiful this time of year, but in my opinion all they do is mess up the trout fishing,” Schindler explains.
To catch a limit of speckled trout in April, head to Bay St. Louis and the Biloxi Marsh for outstanding inshore fishing. For more information on Sonny Schindler, call him at (228) 342-2295, email sonnyschindler@yahoo.com, or visit http://www.shorethingcharters.com/.
To learn more about Mississippi fishing, get John E. Phillips’ eBook Fishing Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and Visitor’s Guide. You can go to www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the name of the book and download it to your Kindle and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
