<![CDATA[Fishing reports from Lake Pontchartrain, Bayou Bonfouca, Tchefuncte River, Bayou Liberty, Rigolets, Pearl River, Bedico Creek, and more!

<![CDATA[Fishing reports from Lake Pontchartrain, Bayou Bonfouca, Tchefuncte River, Bayou Liberty, Rigolets, Pearl River, Bedico Creek, and more! - Northshore Fishing Report]]>Wed, 01 May 2024 22:56:13 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Lake Pontchartrain Imroving]]>Mon, 05 Aug 2019 22:38:20 GMThttp://northshorefishingreport.com/northshore-fishing-report/lake-pontchartrain-imroving

Keith Lusher

Bill Baute fishes the Causeway and Northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain frequently but has been limiting his trips because of the poor water quality in the lake. Bill says that all changed when he was sitting on the porch of a Restaurant in Mandeville eating lunch.

“I saw schools of mullet on the surface when I looked east and the same when I looked west. I felt there had to be reds there!” he says. Bill woke up the next morning and launched his boat at Mandeville Harbor around 8:00 in the morning. He decided to try the Causeway first so he trolled Mirr-O-Lures for a few minutes but couldn’t manage any hits. He then made a move past Fontainebleau State Park. “Once I past the Pier at the park, I headed to shore and started throwing a chartreuse jointed hard jerk bait. Then it was ON!” says Baute. Bill finished his limit around 10:00 a.m. and stayed to catch two more just for the fun of it.

Sam Coco Jr lives in the Oak Harbor Subdivision in Slidell and fishes from land weekly. Sam says for the past few months it has been tough fishing in the canals that meander through the neighborhood. “I haven’t caught any fish in here since April,” he reluctantly admits. However on Sam’s last trip he ended up catching two redfish and says “Things are changing here in Oak Harbor. I've seen a lot of bait and it looks like it’s attracting the red fish,” he says.

Bayou Lacombe Perch

Lory and Jason Ledet

Jason Ledet and his wife Lory rarely get the chance to go fishing together because of obligations with the kids. The couple found themselves with a free weekend so they woke up early and headed over to Bayou Adventure to pick up a tube of live crickets. By 6:40 they arrived at their first spot and Jason snagged 2 quick sac-a-lait using a silver Bobby Garland jig. The sac-a-lait bite died out quick so they headed to a dead-end canal to drift the shoreline and the action picked back up. “She was wearing those bluegill out and also she caught the biggest goggle eye I have seen in a long while,” says Jason. The couple finished up by noon with 1 goggle-eye , 10 bluegill, 1 shell cracker, and 4 sac-a-lait. Jason says the water was beautiful and the light breeze kept them cool on Bayou Lacombe. Jason adds “It’s going to be a good dinner here soon!”

Robert Perilloux joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk about his latest trip to the Tulane Rig in where he caught redfish and drum.

Keith interviews Peter Bertucci about his recent bass fishing trip on the Tchefuncte River where he found bass busting on shad.

Chad Hartzog of Liar's and Lunkers Bass Tournament joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk about the upcoming Kids Fishing Tournament at Lock #1

]]><![CDATA[Laws of the Lock]]>Sun, 28 Jul 2019 03:19:13 GMThttp://northshorefishingreport.com/northshore-fishing-report/laws-of-the-lock

Keith Lusher

When it comes to bass fishing the Northshore is home to a wide variety of unique tributaries. From the marshy inlets that span Manchac to the muddy flowing Pearl River Delta, for bass anglers looking for something other than a typical reservoir or river bass fishing experience, this area offers just that.
One of the most unique of all the waterways found on the the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain is the Pearl River Navigational Canal. What once was used for a shortcut for shipping has been the focus of anglers in search of bass, perch, and crappie. The canal stretches from Bogalusa to the West Pearl River but when it comes to water movement, the canal is the complete opposite of what you’ll find on the swift moving West Pearl. The reason why is that the waterway contains 3 locks that limit the natural flow of water south.

Lock #1 on the Pearl River Navigational Canal

Chad Hartzog has been fishing the canal for over 30 years and says the 10 mile stretch between Lock #1 and Lock #2 is the popular destination to fish for many reasons.
“On the southern end of that stretch of the canal they have a lot of vegetation to fish. On the northern end there’s a lot of wood and deeper water with steeper banks. So between punching grass or fishing wood or deeper water there’s a little bit of everything for bass fishermen,” Hartzog says.
Chad is the tournament director for Liars and Lunkers Bass Fishing Club and has seen his share of big fish come out of Lock #1 so while the number of fish caught may not be that many, the size of the fish that the canal produces makes it one of the top spots to fish on the Northshore. Like most rivers and bayous, Lock #1 can be difficult to fish in the heat of July but Chad says there are 4 important rules you can follow to finding bass at the lock.

1. Find grass - “On the southern end of the canal there’s a lot of vegetation. Matted up coontail, hyacinths, duckweed, and lily pads are all growing thick around this time of year. This forms canopies that the bass like to get under and cool off a bit. My favorite way to target those fish is to use 50 lb. braided line and a 1 oz. tungsten sinker pegged above a 5/0 strait shank flipping hook with a beaver style or craw style bait. Green Pumpkin or Red and Black is the winning ticket as far as colors go.”

“On the southern end of the canal there’s a lot of vegetation that grows thick around this time of year.

2. Fish further from the bank - “I love beating the bank just like anybody else but the fish are deeper in July. Try positioning your boat twice as far from the bank as you normally would and make longer casts fishing slowly back to the boat. Once you get a few bites you can zone in on what depth the bass are holding. Position your boat over that depth range so that you can make long casts off of the front of your boat letting your bait will be in the strike zone longer.”

a fallen tree protrudes into the canal presenting the option to fish structure in deep water

3. Find deep holes - “Use your electronics to find deeper holes. The canal averages about 8’-10’ in the middle but they do have some deep holes that go down to 15’-20’. Targeting those holes with deep diving crank baits can be very productive this time of year.”

While all of the tributaries along the Northshore are either affected by tide or by natural water flow, it’s important to remember that the Pearl River Navigational Canal is not. Chad says that water movement at Lock #1 only comes from wind or rain. “It makes a world of difference. If there’s a little breeze blowing or an afternoon shower it breaks up the surface of the water and makes the fish more aggressive,” Hartzog says.

In the latest studio update Chad Hartzog joins us by phone to discuss the Liar's and Lunkers Kids Fishing Rodeo. Also Chad gives three tips to bass fishing at Lock #1 in Pearl River. Sign up for NFR Premium and gain full access to the NFR Studio!

]]><![CDATA[Lake Pontchartrain Recovery]]>Tue, 16 Jul 2019 01:56:38 GMThttp://northshorefishingreport.com/northshore-fishing-report/lake-pontchartrain-recovery

Keith Lusher

The Army Corps of Engineers expects to begin closing the spillway north of New Orleans the third week of July. This year has been a record setting spring for the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway as it’s the first time in history that it’s been opened twice in one year.
The effects are being seen as Lake Pontchartrain anglers have all but given up on trying to catch anything in the Lake in late June. Even the go-to fishing spots in Lake Borgne and Lake Catherine have been impacted as the muddy Mississippi River reduced salinity readings to 1.0 PPT (parts per thousand).
In recent years we’ve seen the area bounce back relatively quickly as strong southeast winds push clean salt water from the Gulf of Mexico into Lake Borgne. It wouldn’t be uncommon to hear reports of speckled trout being caught as far west as the Causeway just 2 months after a closing.
That was then and this is now. The MODIS map that NASA updates daily shows just how far the muddy water has intruded into what is normally clean salt water. Muddy water can be seen into the Chandeleur Sound. This is the water that is key to flushing Lake Pontchartrain and Borgne during a normal summer subsequent a spillway opening.
Harry Banchet is a Marine Biologist for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and says the one thing that concerns him is the mortality rate of oysters east of the Mississippi River. “A month ago the mortality rate for oysters wasn’t bad because the water temperatures weren’t very hot. Now with the hotter temperatures here and the freshwater still in the area, we’re starting to see extensive mortality with oysters,” The biologist says. Blanchet notes that oysters are the perfect indicator to monitor water conditions. “All other species can move away from the freshwater but oysters can’t move so if the water conditions are poor for an extended period of time, they die,” he says.
Andy Jones of Wicked Charters operates in Lake Pontchartrain and has seen numerous spillway openings throughout the years. Jones says we may have to wait a little longer than normal to see things back to normal in the lake. “What we’re seeing is unprecedented in the history. We’ve never seen the spillway opened twice in one year and it’s never been opened for as long as we’ve seen this past few months,” Jones says. In years past Lake Pontchartrain anglers have depended on strong southeast winds associated with a tropical storm to hasten the recovery but Jones says it might take a little more than that. “Everybody says we need a good storm to flush everything out, but to be honest, I don’t know what it’s going to take this time. With the closing of the MRGO and the dynamics of the lake now, we may have a tough battle ahead of us,” he says.

]]><![CDATA[Sign of the Times]]>Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:04:57 GMThttp://northshorefishingreport.com/northshore-fishing-report/sign-of-the-times

Keith Lusher

With the explosion of private property signs popping up across the Northshore, it’s hard for fishermen to know what’s legally posted waterways and what’s not. Chris Basey of Covington was fishing a bass tournament in the Lower Pearl River and says he was infuriated when he spotted a “Keep Out” sign on top of a Louisiana Wildlife Refuge sign. “It took me by surprise. I rode around to check the other LWF signs to see if that one was real and it checked out,” Chris says. Of all the refuge signs that he checked, they all had one thing in common, they were all contained concrete pillars.

Brad Kemp of the US Fish and Wildlife Service says they see it occurs more than you think. “I get it all the time out there on the Pearl. People are are very territorial. You take somebody that’s been hunting a certain public area and they feel like it’s their spot,” he says. Kemp reminds people that all Federal and State Wildlife areas are public and open for the sportsmen of Louisiana to use and that posting any other signs on state or federal signs will be dealt with accordingly. “It’s interfering with the public access to enjoy public land and that’s a pretty good charge,” he says.

Made in the Shade
George Seymour of Slidell didn’t expect to catch many fish on his latest trip to Bayou Liberty. In fact, fishing wasn’t a priority on this day. George needed to perform some maintenance work on his trailer so he backed the boat down at the Bayou Liberty launch and worked on his trailer for a while. After completing his objective he had some time and decided to take a boat ride on the bayou. “I did a little exploring to the north while the trailer was drying off and found a tree shading a big spot,” he says. George decided to try for some perch with a jig under a cork and soon found himself catching fish one after the other. His time was limited so he left the shady spot and returned the next day with worms and says, “It was nonstop for 3 hours! I threw back some that were too small and threw back even more because I didn't want to clean them,” he jokes. George managed 24 keeper bluegill mixed with lake runners, 1 catfish, and 1 goggle-eye.
George says the tree will be on his list of favorite spots to fish on Bayou Liberty. “Money might not grow on trees but apparently perch do!” he adds.

Lake Pontchartrain Algae Bloom
As seen in previous years, numerous local media outlets report of “possible toxic bacteria” that “may” develop as a result of the influx of river water into Lake Pontchartrain. However the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation hasn’t found any presence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB’s) in the Lake or any other waterways. The LPBF monitors the lake weekly and says they have been on high alert for potentially harmful algae and will continue to monitor and advise the public if any precautions need to be taken.

Robert Perilloux of Mandeville joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk about his latest trip to the Tulane Rig in where he caught redfish and drum.

Chad Hartzog of Liar's and Lunkers Bass Tournament joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk about the upcoming Kids Fishing Tournament at Lock #1

Keith interview Peter Bertucci about his recent bass fishing trip on the Tchefuncte River where he found bass busting on shad.

]]><![CDATA[Venice Meat Haul]]>Thu, 20 Jun 2019 02:14:56 GMThttp://northshorefishingreport.com/northshore-fishing-report/venice-meat-haul

Keith Lusher

With the influx of freshwater in Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding areas making saltwater fishing tough, my annual offshore red snapper trip couldn’t have come at a better time. For the third year straight my daughter and I joined Wanda Stewart of RodnReel.com on her annual fishing trip into the Gulf of Mexico for what I like to refer to as our annual “meat haul.” With the tightening of red snapper limits and shortening of the season we’ve seen the past few years the resurgence in red snapper numbers has been impressive and the trip has yet to fail on providing a limit of snapper and other delectable offshore species.
As the morning sun peeked over the Venice horizon, I felt confident that we would once again duplicate past efforts. Captain John Coulon of Delta Blue Sport Fishing was at the helm of his blue and white custom built, 47-foot steel vessel known as “The Cougar.”
As we traveled out into federal waters I had a chance to talk with Coulon about how his season was going so far. “It’s been tougher than normal to be honest but we’re still managing limits of snapper plus other species of fish,” John said. My curiosity was piqued as to why this year was any different than the previous and John told me that there are fewer platforms to fish this year as the oil companies are moving their operation further out into the gulf. But with a sideways smirk he looked at me and said “don’t worry we’ll stay out till dark if we have to,” he says. As we approached the first rig I couldn’t help but notice the muddy water that was in direct contrast of what we usually see when 9 miles from shore. John waved it off and said that it was from the high river but the water column quickly switches over to salt after a few feet of freshwater since that water is less dense than salt water.

Ashley Coulon prepared cut pogies for our first stop

As we tied up to the rig the crew on the Cougar was once again hustling to keep us supplied with fresh cut pogies and shrimp. Everyone dropped their lines and settled in in anticipation of a stout red snapper bite. But it was the red snappers smaller cousin, the Vermilion Snapper that was biting. Vermilion snapper have a maximum weight of 6 lbs. as opposed to red snapper which grow to 35 lbs. We managed a total of 16 vermilion’s within a half hour until the dreaded first shark was reeled in. John says after those sharks move in the spot usually stops producing because they chase away the sport fish. He was right as the next 3 fish were sharks.

This snapper never made it to the surface alive after it was bitten in half.

John cranked up the engine and we headed a little further out to the next rig. This rig provided the same results as the last one but with one added bonus. We were able to boat 2 cobia which was a first since I’ve been going on the trip. The sharks again moved in to run us off but we were slowly putting a nice box of fish together, all that was missing was the red snapper.

Wanda Stewart battles a red snapper

We didn’t have to go far to find what we were looking for however. A rig with approximately 60 ft. of clean green water from the surface to the bottom. Immediately we started hooking up with red snapper and our trip switched gears. There were red snapper coming in the boat quicker than I’ve witnessed ever on the Cougar. The crew could barley keep up. At one point My daughter and I both set our hooks at the same time and successfully landed our fish which was a special moment for me. Within an hour we suddenly found ourselves with a limit of snapper, over 20 vermilion’s and 2 cobia. John turned to everyone and said “Let’s go get some redfish!” and with a quick run to a stretch of rocks we found ourselves reeling in bull reds faster than we caught the snapper. At one point I counted 5 anglers on the boat hooked up at the same time. After a limit of redfish we headed back to the marina and John and his crew quickly carved up the fish and bagged the meat for us to take home. Finally tally: 32 Red Snapper, 22 Vermilion Snapper, and 16 redfish. Once again or trip on the cougar was a tremendous success I want to thank John Coulon of Delta Blue Sport Fishing and Wanda Stewart of RodnReel.com for a fantastic fishing trip and memories that will last a lifetime!

]]>