Beat the Heat in August
Species: Speckled Trout, White Trout
I have to admit August isn't a month I look forward to when it comes to scheduling fishing trips. Highs in the upper 90s aren't exactly the best that southeast Louisiana has to offer. But when I get the chance to fish with Mike Gallo of Angling Adventures of Louisiana, something I've done more times than I can count over the years, I always end up taking home Ziplock bags of stuffed with fillets and learning something new. No hotel shuttle required. Spots & Dots Lodge puts you steps from the boat and comfortable enough to forget you're on a fishing trip I met Captain Mike and his two clients, Dan Couvillion and Dan Jr., at 5 a.m. at his Spots & Dots Lodge, which sits right on Salt Bayou in Slidell. Mike has a great setup there and keeps the place immaculate. The lodge can sleep large groups comfortably, and it's the perfect answer for anyone who wants to skip the drive from a hotel to the launch before daylight. At Spots & Dots, you walk down the steps and you're on the boat. Idling down Salt Bayou with Captain Mike Gallo as the day gets started As we idled out of Salt Bayou, Gallo laid out the plan for the day. "We'll be using plastics this morning. I'm pretty sure we'll find the trout, and have a few white trout mixed in," he said. Gallo opened up the engine, and we shot across Lake Borgne as the sun peaked over the horizon. A light breeze held steady out of the south, and even with the heat already building, it kept the morning comfortable in a way August in Louisiana rarely is. It's one of the reasons Gallo pushes an early start this time of year: beat the sun, and you beat the worst of the heat right along with it. Once we settled onto our first spot, a grassy point with good current moving across it, the bite turned on fast. Dan and Dan Jr. had clearly fished with Gallo plenty of times before, and it showed: every missed hook-set or short fish drew a jab from the other. The old man had me laughing at one point when Gallo reeled up his first gafftop catfish.…