As lower Lafourche recovers from Zeta, some anglers return

In this Oct. 30, 2020 file photo, a bait shop and neighboring building is seen damaged by Hurricane Zeta in Golden Meadow, La.  Hurricane Zeta left much of lower Terrebonne and lower Lafourche parishes in shambles when it made landfall on Oct. 28.  (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)
In this Oct. 30, 2020 file photo, a bait shop and neighboring building is seen damaged by Hurricane Zeta in Golden Meadow, La. Hurricane Zeta left much of lower Terrebonne and lower Lafourche parishes in shambles when it made landfall on Oct. 28. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

HOUMA, La. - Hurricane Zeta left much of lower Terrebonne and lower Lafourche parishes in shambles when it made landfall on Oct. 28.

Lower Lafourche, including Leeville, was hit especially hard.

But Terry Serigny with Terry's Live Bait in Leeville said things are slowly coming back.

"It's a slow process, but we are getting there," Serigny said. "We have power back now and we have been hitting it hard. We had a lot of support from people all over the place and we want to thank them. We had some stores donate cleaning supplies. We had people come down and cook for the linemen and we had some (regulars) come down from places like Albany and Hammond to help us clean up down here."

LOWER TERREBONNE

Good fishing.

Bill Lake with Bayou Guide Service said the speckled trout in the area is as good as it gets.

"If you are not catching trout right now, you better sell your boat," Lake said. "It's like a trout explosion. The fish are just showing up everywhere. Lake Decade, Lake Mechant, Sister Lake, Lost Lake, it doesn't matter where you go. Everybody is catching fish, hundreds of fish a day. It doesn't get any better. The redfish are biting too."

Lake said getting out for the first two hours of daylight has been key.

"The fish are feeding on shrimp and pogies and we haven't had that real cold weather yet that pushes the fish into the bayous and deeper waterways so they are still out in three foot of water," Lake said. "The fish are everywhere on top of shell reefs. As long as they have shrimp, they will be plentiful. When we start getting these real cold fronts with the big winds, the shrimp will get pushed out to the Gulf and then the fish will move into deeper bayous to start feeding on minnows and mullets."

Best baits: VuDu Shrimp under a cork for trout, Humdinger spinnerbait and gold spoons for redfish and cracked crabs on Carolina rigs for bull reds.

BAYOU BLACK

Average fishing.

Robbie Breaux with Bob's Bayou Black Marina said most of the action around the marina has revolved around the start of duck hunting season, set to begin this weekend.

"We are packed already," Breaux said Wednesday. "We are getting ready for that storm of people coming this weekend. That's really the only thing on people's minds right now."

He added the diehard bass anglers are still having success catching big bass on points where water is dropping out of the marsh.

Best baits: Chartreuse, blue and white Humdinger baits for bass and night crawlers for goggle eye and lake runners.

LOWER LAFOURCHE

Good fishing.

Seringy said anglers are catching speckled trout and redfish in inside waters.

Best baits: Live minnows.

GRAND ISLE

No fishing.

The fishing action on the island has been limited as recovery from Zeta continues.

Best baits: N/A

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