When the Love Bugs Show Up, the Trout Ain't Far Behind

My grandpa used to tell me, "When you can't see through your windshield because there are so many splattered love bugs, the trout are about to be crazy." Well, the love bugs are covering my windshield right now. So if you've been thinking about booking a trip, this is your sign.

If you've spent any time around the marsh in south Louisiana, you've probably heard some version of it. When the love bugs swarm, the specks start bitin'. No scientific paper backs it up. No biologist from LSU ever wrote a thesis on it. But the old-timers figured it out a long time ago, and here at Pelican's View, we see it play out every single spring.

Here's the thing. It ain't magic. It's nature's calendar.

Those love bugs start showing up thick around late April and May, and then again in the fall. They don't come out until the air warms up and stays warm. And guess what else happens right about then? The water in the marsh warms up too, and those speckled trout start easing out of their deep winter holes and pushing into the shallow bays and lagoons. They're hungry. They're getting ready to spawn. And they're looking to feed.

That's why the sign works. The bugs and the trout are reading the same weather report.

By the time late April and May roll around, we're in peak transition. Trout start staging up around the barrier islands and outer beaches. The brown shrimp start running into the estuaries. Everything in the marsh kicks into gear at once, like somebody flipped a switch. You'll walk out of the camp in the morning and see love bugs stuck to your truck, your hat, and every square inch of your windshield, and I'm telling you right now, that's the day you need to be on the water.

It's the same reason folks say the trout bite when the azaleas bloom. Nature don't lie. When the water hits that magic 70-degree mark, the whole marsh wakes up.

So next time you're scrubbing a layer of love bugs off your bumper at Pelican's View, don't cuss 'em too hard. Thank 'em. They're telling you something your tackle box has been waiting to hear all winter.

Get the boat ready. Tie on a plastic. And go fishing.

Ready to get on the water? Book your trip here: https://www.pelicansviewlodge.com/contact

Tight lines,

Ryan