Mississippi Gulf Coast’s Fantastic Summertime Fishing with Captain Kyle Jarreau
Day 2: Captain Kyle Jarreau Tells about the Big Speckled Trout and Numbers of Them on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast
Editor’s Note: Captain Kyle Jarreau, a guide for Shore Thing Charters based out of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, is one of the finest chefs on the Upper Gulf Coast. He can turn a mess of speckled trout, redfish and flounder into cuisine that will have fishermen fighting for second helpings. This week, Jarreau will tell us how he catches speckled trout, redfish and flounder on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. I always look forward to going to Biloxi, Mississippi, staying at the Isle of Capri Casino and Resort, and fishing with Shore Thing Charters Captain Sonny Schindler, also with Shore Thing, has been my guide and a friend for several years. He’s always glad to see me coming. We have a good time fishing and fellowshipping while I’m there, and as I’m packing-up to leave, he’s always grinning and saying, “Now, when can I book you to come back?” Shore Thing Charters is growing and has added more guides and a new, spacious, luxurious lodge on Cat Island that boasts some of the finest fishing on the entire Gulf Coast. On this trip, I primarily fished with Captain Kyle Jarreau, who was a fishing guide when I met him and became a friend before I left.
 Question: Kyle, how do you fish for speckled trout?
Jarreau: We have two methods of catching speckled trout. We use a Carolina rig and live croakers to get the trout to start biting. Since speckled trout are school fish, often once you can get the trout to start biting in a certain area, they’ll continue to bite whatever baits you throw to them. So many times, we’ll start with live croakers and when we get the trout fired-up on live bait, we’ll switch to artificial lures like the Glass Minnow.
 Question: How do you fish the Glass Minnow?
Jarreau: I fish the Glass Minnow two-different ways. I like to fish it under a popping cork, which can be deadly effective. I usually tie the Glass Minnow 18-inches to 2-feet under the popping cork, depending on the depth of the water I’ll be fishing. I’ll cast-out the popping cork and the Glass Minnow and make the bait sit still for about 30 seconds. Many times the trout will take the bait when I dead-stick it (let the bait sit still in the water). Next, I’ll pop the cork to imitate the sound of speckled trout feeding on the surface. When speckled trout hear the sound of other trout feeding on the surface, they know there’s bait in the area, and if they go to that sound, they can find baitfish. When I pop the cork, I’m actually jerking-up the bait, because when the cork tips over, moves forward and pops, the Glass Minnow jumps-up and falls. The trout usually will take the Glass Minnow when it’s falling back after I pop the cork.
Question: How do you set the hook on the trout once they take Glass Minnows?
 Jarreau: Speckled trout have soft mouths, and you can’t try to rip-off their lips like you do if you’re setting hooks on bass. This is one of the first mistakes most bass fishermen make when they come to salt water to catch trout. If you jerk too hard, you’ll either tear the jig out of the trout’s mouth or cut a hole in the trout’s lips. Then the jig will fall-out of the trout’s mouth. I suggest anglers use a light-wrist action to set the hook and not get their arm, back and leg muscles engaged like they do when they strike a big bass. You’ll use more of a sweeping motion to set the hook on the trout like you’ll use if you’re using the drop-shot method of bass fishing.
Question: What are your favorite colors for the Glass Minnow?
Jarreau: Electric chicken is probably my favorite. I like dark lime, and the pumpkinseed with the blue tail is also a productive color.
 Question: Do you only catch speckled trout with the Glass Minnow?
Jarreau: No, I don’t. Just about every fish that swims in salt water will eat the Glass Minnow. Besides speckled trout, I’ll catch redfish and flounder on the Glass Minnow. This is probably one of the most-universal baits for fishing all species of inshore saltwater fish. But besides the Glass Minnow, we also fish live bait, like shrimp, croakers and mud minnows and pogies. We can target certain species of fish, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to catch only that species. For instance, in a school of speckled trout, we may also catch redfish, flounder and other species. In a school of redfish, we might pick-up a big speckled trout. So even though we target once species at a time, we could catch 3-4 different types of fish in the same area at the same time.
To learn more about fishing in salt water, contact Captain Kyle Jarreau at Shore Thing Charters at (228)324-5990, or visit www.shorethingcharters.com, or email him at jusaddwater@aol.com. For more information on fishing in Mississippi, call 1-886-SEE-MISS (733-6477), or go to www.visitmississippi.org.
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