Last week's arctic blast brought some of the coldest weather since 1989. Back then, several days of continuous sub-freezing temps resulted in widespread kills of redfish and speckled trout. On Friday, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries addressed concerns of another fish kill.
"Typically water temperatures below 40 degrees for any more than a day begin to cause problems for spotted seatrout, whereas red drum are slightly more tolerant and will begin to experience problems in the mid-30s,” explained LDWF fisheries biologist Jason Adriance. “The rate at which the water cools is also important. If fish have a chance to acclimate and move, the potential for survival is better.”
It's been an abnormally cold season since early December, and that may be the saving grace for specks. Even so, there's been very few trout caught by the handful of anglers who went out the last couple of days. Even though it's believed they're stacked up in holes. On the other hand, redfish catches have been off the charts. Many limits were caught yesterday in just a couple hours.