70 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015The battle of Midway,
one of the most-decisive naval battles in all of World War II,
was fought just six months after Pearl Harbor around a small
atoll almost between Hawaii and Japan.
Our Navy was crippled by Japan’s surprise attack on Dec. 7,
1941, and the Japanese Imperial Navy developed a scheme to
catch the American carrier fleet off-guard so they could finish
the job they started at Pearl Harbor.
In May 1942 the Japanese set their plan in motion, intending
to lure U.S. aircraft carriers into a trap and bomb them into
oblivion. But what the Japanese didn’t know was U.S. Naval
Intelligence had broken their communications code and
learned their exact plans, down to precise movements, dates
and times — so when the Japanese fleet showed up, we were
the ones waiting to spring a trap.
In the resulting battle, the U.S. Navy sank all four Japanese
aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser, destroyed 248 of their aircraft
and killed more than 3,000 Japanese.We lost the carrier Yorktown, a destroyer, 150 aircraft and suf-
fered 307 casualties.
Military historian John Keegan called the battle of Midway “the
most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.”
The Japanese never recovered from those losses and U.S.
Naval dominance increased throughout the war.
So what does that have to do with fishing?
Here in Southeast Louisiana, our Midway is in Barataria Bay in
the area halfway between Grand Isle and Lafitte, where with far
less at stake we can get on the water and fight our own battles this
month with the sizeable speckled trout that infiltrate the area.
Charter Capt. Keith “Herk” Bergeron (985-860-7855), called me
recently with a surprising invitation.
“You want to come down to Grand Isle and catch some speck-
led trout?” he asked.
“Now? It’s a bit early in the season, isn’t it?” I responded.
“No, this is the time to go to get in on some nice trout,” he
replied. “You just have to know where to go.”
Since Bergeron is a full-time guide and resident of Grand Isle,
I figured he knew what he was talking about. So I drove down
the next morning and waited for him at Bridge Side Marina.
After launching his 24-foot Blue Wave Pure Bay, we headed
out for Midway.The Battle of MIDWAYCapt. Herk Bergeron knows that this time
of year the trout are following bait moving
south down the Barataria Waterway.