new to fishing saltwater. lake charles area
 

looking to make my first solo saltwater trip next week. taking a friend of mine. i will be around prien/ ship channel. whats a good bait to use. i heard use some chartreuse or pearl gulp minnows on a jig head. i work on the citgo docks and see a ton of boats fishing the point that goes from channel to the lake, but are they catching fish?

Those would be good bait to start off trying. Try fishing along the channel dropoffs and the points. If the boats you see stay there very long, they are probably catching something.

If you have a cast net, catch some live bait. There should be "schools" of them swimming around.

In the last 3 days the salinity has really come up, so the Speckled trout should be in the area.