68 Mississippi Sportsman^ | April 2015
H
ave you ever known someone who seems to
have a sixth sense when it comes to catching
fish? They seem to have them dialed in all
the time, even if they haven’t been on the water in a
few weeks.
I know a few fishermen like that: Jimmy Barnes of
Sportsman’s Junction Outdoor Adventures (www.
sportsmansjunction.com).
When Barnes hits the water, it’s like all of his
senses kick into overdrive, including that sixth one
— and they’re fed into a computer that tabulates
all the data to aid in pinpointing where the trout
should be at that moment in time.
Barnes is a bit older than me, so I picture the com-
puter in his mind being one of those made from a
series of gears, levers and mechanical switches that
click, flip and whir.
April is the beginning of prime time on the coast.
We’re coming off two or three months of windy,
rainy, aggravating weather that make trout hard to
find, and we want to stay inside.
But the water is starting to warm and there’s
cynoscion nebulosus love in the air.
“(April) is when we will catch most of the bigger
trout we will catch for the year,” Barnes said. “Since
it is the start of the spawning season, five factors
play into what we are looking for when fishing for
trout, especially the bigger females.”
Bait is a year-round factor, but during the spawn
the right salinity, current, current breaks and deeper
water are keys.
“No. 1, the spot has to be known to
maintain a good food supply,” Barnes
said. “No. 2, the water in the area has to
have good salinity — at least 15 parts per
thousand; again this is mostly impor-
tant for best chances of catching some of
the bigger females.“Number 3, the area has to have good current for
the females to lay their eggs in to be carried out into
the Gulf. Number 4, there needs to be a decent cur-
rent break for the trout to lay in to ambush whatever
food source they are on —mostly finfish at this time,
but they still will eat shrimp.
“Number 5, we like spots with some 8-foot or
deeper water nearby.
The man-made reefs such as Gene Taylor Reef are
prime locations in April and May, Barnes said.
“It always has a ton of forage around it, maintains
steady salinity levels under most conditions, hasTip the scales in your favor
for trophy trout
ABOVE: There are some
real gator trout swim-
ming along the coast. You
just have to know how
to target them. BELOW,
RIGHT: Jimmy Barnes,
who knows a thing or
two about catching big
speckled trout, said this
is one of the best fishing
months of the year.tidal talk
Sam Davis
Sam Davis is a freelance
writer living in Ocean Springs
with his wife Carmen and two
sons, Joey and Thomas. He can
be reached at samdavis2@
gmail.com.