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Bayou Lacombe Catfish
 Keith Lusher
The month of March in South Louisiana can be drastically different on any given day because of the cold fronts that blow through. These troughs can cause upwards of 30 degree temperature swings from one day to the next. Corey Labostrie has been bass fishing on Bayou Lacombe and having great success with the recent warm-up we’ve had. On his most recent trip he put away the crank baits and plastics and threw a pack of chicken livers in the ice chest.
Corey puts his canoe in at the bridge on Lake Road in Lacombe
“On day’s like this you just can’t bass fish,” he says. Corey launched his canoe off the side of Lake Road at 8:00 a.m. and was greeted with a stiff 20 mph wind out of the north. It was a cold raw day with a forecasted high of 49 degrees. LaBostrie paddled to a spot where a small cut drained out into the main bayou and anchored there. He casted out two lines with a sliding weight and a small piece of chicken liver threaded on a hook.
LaBostri reels in his biggest catfish of the day
It didn’t take him long to jump into action as one pole slammed down and almost went overboard. “You can’t fall asleep out here. These cats will make you pay!” he says. Corey fished for 3 hours and caught 13 catfish with the biggest one weighing 12 pounds.
Catfishing in Lake Pontchartrain is the best we’ve seen in decades and it isn’t limited to the lake only. Anglers are seeing these fish work their way up into the tributaries on the Northshore from the Tickfaw to Bayou Bonfouca. The Spawn is On!  Ray Miller caught these slabs near the shoreline in the Tchefuncte River
March is here and with it comes the sac-a-lait spawn on the Northshore. Ray Miller made a trip to the Tchefuncte River and wanted to see if the fish have moved into the shallows. He started at sunup in a little canal close to the 4th St. launch with his friend Neil Landry. “It didn’t take long before our corks started going under at a steady pace,” Miller says. Ray and Neil were using black and chartreuse jigs on a 1/32 oz jig head under a small cork. “The fish were almost on the bank and if you blinked the cork would go under,” Ray said. They ended up with 15 sac-a-lait with the biggest being 14 inches. Miller recommends getting out now before the fish move back into the deep sections of the river.
Tournament Results
 Jimmy Dorris
The 10th Bass Assassins season kicked off on Bayou Lacombe. Twenty six anglers showed up to fish despite the cold temperatures. The water was cold, muddy, and low. It was looking like it was going to be a tough day for everyone however the tough conditions didn't dampen the spirits of the anglers as everyone was eager to get out on the water. Fishing turned out to be pretty good as evident by the weigh in. There were 7 fish over 4 pounds brought in. Jimmy Dorris bested the field with only 3 fish totaling 9 lbs. 12 oz. The fish that made the difference for Jimmy was his 7 lbs. 11 oz. kicker. This fish won the big fish division as well for Dorris. In second place was Timmy Dickens with a 9 lbs. 5 oz. limit. Chris Evens took home third place with four fish totaling 9 lbs. 1 oz.
The Liars and Lunker's kicked off the 2021 Spring/Summer Series with a tournament on the East Pearl River. Twenty two teams entered the event and competed for cash prizes and points. The bass were spawning and conditions were right for plenty of fish to be caught. At the weigh in, nineteen limits were weighed in. The overall victory went to two bassin' brothers from Bogalusa, Caleb and Christian Beaudette who brought in a 5-fish limit wishing 14.88 lbs. They also took big bass honors with a 4.86 lb. lunker Second place went to Steele Sessions and Tyler Allgood with a 5-fish bag weighing 14.20 lbs. Rustin Beaudette and Cole Helton took third place with a limit weighing 13.94 lbs. 
Christian and Caleb Beaudette
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 Keith Lusher
I created NFR.com in the spring of 2012. Since then it has helped link Northshore fishermen to valuable information and has filled the void of absent information on the web about fishing on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Northshore Fishing Report has morphed into a brand name and can be found not only on the web, but on radio and newspaper. As NFR grows I will continue to work hard at keeping NFR local focusing on local anglers, reports, seminars, and fishing tournaments in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parish. I hope you enjoy the website and If you have any questions please email me at: Keith@NorthshoreFishingReport.com
Look for the Northshore Fishing Report publication every Thursday in The Slidell Independent Weekly Newspaper!
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Captain Andy Jones of Wicked Charters joins the studio by phone to talk Causeway fishing and the improved saltwater bite in Lake Pontchartrain.
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