Weekend Locks for Jan 4-5

2025 is picking up where 2024 left off!

The speckled trout bite is as good as I’ve seen since 2016.

They’re even catching trout at the Causeway, which has been unheard of in January’s past.

This weekend may be a bit of a challenge between the weak tidal range and the scattered showers that are forecasted.

The tide’s going to be falling all day, with Saturday’s range at 0.3 and Sunday at a meager 0.1

Let’s get to the locks!

ICW

Fishing in the ICW has been lights out since November and once again, the canal is going to be your best shot at putting a limit of specks in the boat this weekend.

Instead of heading straight to the wall, here’s a different approach for you. Start at Bayou Thomas and sniff around in there for specks then jump out into the ICW.

East winds 10-12 forecasted on Saturday.

Those winds are going to blow down that canal, moving the water. (0.3 tide)

Hit the ICW all the way to the wall.

Believe it or not, there are still birds diving out there.

Look for canals or small drains that intersect with the ICW.

If you like blue cats mixed in your box, then live shrimp is the way to go.

To be honest, we’ve hit that time of year when plastic is outperforming shrimp - plus, the marinas are now struggling to keep their tanks stocked.

Besides, plastic is going to produce a cleaner box of specks.

Matrix, Speck-Drum, and Blue Collar Bait work best on a jighead will all work - bold, bright green and chartreuse colors have been hot this past week. (reply to this email if you have any other local lure companies that make swimbaits)

If you’re drop-shotting, go with a smaller bait like a Fluke Jr.

If you can’t finish off your limit in the ICW check out the MRGO Rocks and the Michoud Canal.

White Kitchen

Last week I had White Kitchen as my lock and it’s going to repeat this week.

The sac-a-lait are grouped tight and holding tighter with this cold weather.

Remember, White Kitchen is shallow so you’re not going to be doing any deep jigging - it averages 6-feet deep.

Finding structure is the name of the game in “The Kitchen” this weekend.

LiveScopers, move to the front of the line!

The lake isn’t like the rivers where there’s tons of laydowns, treetops, and trash on the bottom, but there are a few brush piles in there.

I know corks aren’t typical for January, but it’s shallow enough to use them — just rig them deep between 4-5 feet.

Bobby Garland's 2-inch Baby Shad in the Diamond Mist colors has been the ticket.

It won’t hurt to bring a bucket of shiners to help you find where the fish are, then you can switch over to plastic when you find them.

Watch out for the wind this weekend. You may have to hug the entire eastern shoreline on Saturday (E 10 MPH) and the southern shoreline on Sunday (S 14 MPH).