The Trout

[Riley Smith]

One evening I was working in the wharf area doing something with Andrea, a co-worker. It got close to quitting time and we were done and it was too late to start anything else. As you might suspect, working on ANYTHING over the water concerning hydrocarbons takes much longer and is more involved. A lot of actions need Coast Guard approval, so there is red tape galore, in addition to the normal stuff. At any rate, Andrea and I were done for the day and she said, "Let's take a look underneath 6 Berth and see if we can see some fish!"

Great idea in MY mind! The berths are arrayed along the bayou and there is also an inside berth for tugs and barges. So we stopped the truck and meandered out onto the berth. The loading arms that hook to the ships and barges on the top platform were stowed, as the berth was empty at the moment. One level down, with the top platform shading the sky, you could see into the depths much better and it is nice and cool under there. We leaned on the handrail staring into the green water searching for fish. No telling what you'll see, but what WE saw that day was nothing initially, and we spent a few "cool off" moments staring at the water. All of a sudden there appeared a glimmer and shine, a little too deep to tell exactly what it was. There were shadows too, and within a few moments a whole school of fish had risen into view from out of the depths.
 
SPECKLED TROUT! And not just your normal little school trout, either. The whole school was trophy sized fish!  My mouth was agape and I was drooling when we left and I had vowed to Andrea I was bringing the boat back. That was about a two hour expedition from then though. And true to my word, I hitched the old skiff up as soon as I got home and corralled the two boys into the truck with fishing rods. And away we went.

 The old boat was a wooden crab skiff some fellow in Moss Point had built. There were several things I would have done differently while building it but it was stout ( read heavy) and waterproof and at that time, that's all it took. We fired up the ancient 18hp Johnson and headed to 6 Berth once we launched on the Bayou. And proceeded to not get a single bite on the expensive live shrimp I'd bought. Bah Humbug! Naturally with small kids, this didn't go over well and so I decided to move to the product dock, as a berth on the outside was open. I considered it too dangerous to fish the inside. Maybe we could fish for a while with out a tug or ship causing major disruption and making us flee. There is a sand bar there under the pipe racks and the water falls off immediately to 40-50 ft deep.

 And so we immediately began to get bites and I was constantly baiting hooks for the kids. Finally Justin caught a good flounder and couldn't get it off the hook, after gripping constantly about fishing with a bull minnow and not a shrimp. I had a shrimp fishing under a cork and wasn't watching while unhooking the flounder for him. When I did look up, my cork wasn't visible. I reeled in the slack and realized it was a good bite. I could see the cork racing under the water about two feet deep. I set the hook and the fish almost took the rod out of my arms pulling back.

 WOAH! This one is for REAL I thought, as it ran, making the drag scream. At first I didn't think I could stop the fish but I got it turned about thirty yards out and began gaining line. It helped the fish swam toward the boat and using the rod I applied as much pressure as I dared and got it much closer. It then rose to the top, saw the boat, made a gigantic splash and swirl, and took off on another run. What I saw made me freak. It was the biggest dang speck I'd ever laid eyes on. I actually thought I'd hooked a bull redfish or a shark. And yes, the capture was in serious doubt because neither of the kids had ever netted a fish. It was far from over.
 
 You can give serious schooling in a very few seconds if it matters and it mattered. I told my oldest to stick the edge of the net in the water and I'd lead the fish toward it and when I did and told him, he should just scoop the huge fish up. And I cautioned him, " BOY, DO NOT SCREW UP!" Meanwhile fighting against the huge trout while this schooling was in session and wondering how much was sinking in. And believe it or not, it worked perfectly and the fish hit the bottom of the boat after long minutes of heart racing antics.

A speck is a pretty fish, with silver sides and a rainbow sheen just below the olive green color on the spine. Below the spine are spots the length of the fish and they fade out as they get into the silver of the sides. There is white around it's mouth and it's lips will be bright yellow. It's sort of rainbow trout colored and there are two sharp fangs on the upper lip that it uses to grip it's prey along with hundreds of tiny, razor sharp teeth inside its mouth. This one was the most awesome specimen I'd ever seen and the girth was AMAZING. A beautiful fish.

 Nowadays (after 9/11 and other associated atrocities) you can't get near those docks and it's lots harder to fish that area. A few years ago, the state record speckled trout was caught 1/2 mile south of there. I didn't weigh the fish but it was longer than a 48 qt ice chest and THICK!  I didn't even take a picture but the image of that huge fish is still stuck in my mind half a lifetime later. And I consider a big speck on the line one of the finer things in life.