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Castnet Catfish
 Keith Lusher
It’s no secret that the catfish bite along the Northshore and in Lake Pontchartrain has exploded in the last few years. The freshwater intrusion caused by numerous spillway openings from 2016 to 2019 has helped the catfish thrive in the rivers and bayous that feed into the lake. Andy Jones of Wicked Fishing Charters has been fishing Lake Pontchartrain for over a decade and said he welcomes the fish. “They have been a nice addition to the already various assortment of fish that we catch in the lake, Jones said. “The blue cats that we pull out of the lake make for fantastic tableware as well.” On his latest trip, however, it wasn’t catfish that the Wicked Charter team was after. Jones was taking a few of his clients out for what he calls his “Kracken Hunt” or big fish trip.
 Mackie Belmont hauls in a net full of catfish in Bayou Lacombe
The team launched at the end of Lake Rd. in Lacombe and headed towards the lake. Mackie Belnott was the deckhand and started tossing the cast net in order to capture a few mullet to use as bait. He was riding on the bow of the boat and saw a school of what he thought was mullet. He spun and tossed the 8-foot monofilament cast net over the school of fish and as he started pulling in the net he knew he had made a big mistake. “Belnott turned to Jones and said “I think a made a big mistake.” He retrieved the net to the boat and when he lifted it there were approximately 25 blue cats ranging from a 1/2 pound to 1.5 pounds. Jones and Belnott dropped down on the bow and tried to untangle the catfish but to no avail. As the fish stiffened their spines the entire net was interwoven into the giant ball of catfish. “After a few minutes we decided to started cutting them loose,” Jones said. Luckily the team had a backup net that they were able to use to catch a few mullet which later was used to catch 5 bull sharks. For those interested in catching blue cats Jones said he recommends the mouth of Bayou Lacombe! “That net just caught the edge of the school of fish, the school was probably 10 times bigger that what we caught,” he said.
 Ethan Koobs with a catfish caught in 30 feet of water
Manchac’s Back on the Map
With the conditions improving in Lake Pontchartrain, anglers are seeing fishing return to a place where it once was before all the spillway openings. Ethan Koobs of Port Vincent made trip down Hwy 42 to Manchac in search of freshwater catfish. He started fishing north of the Manchac bridge using worms, shrimp, and gizzard shad, all of which worked great according to Koobs. “The catfishing is on fire just north of the bridge,” he said. “ Get towards the bank and fish the deep holes and drop-offs with 30 feet of water. The blue cats have been very active.” Koobs ended his day with a box of catfish with his biggest being 20 pounds. Tim Cluney of Hammond made a trip to Manchac to fish the pass for catfish. He was using dead shrimp on the bottom and said he caught a fish on his first cast. “I knew it was going to be a good day when I caught a 3-pound blue cat on my first cast,” he said. Cluney sat in one spot for 3 hours and ended up filling his ice chest with catfish. The fish ranged between 1.5 pounds and 5 pounds. Cluney said the fish were still biting when he left. “I’ll be back for more on my next day off,” Cluney said.  Laitin Gauley tosses over a net en route to an ice chest full of crabs
The fishing is not the only thing heating up in Manchac. The crabbing is starting to pick up. Bert Gauley lives in Maurapas and made a trip to the lake to see how the crabs were running. “We baited 18 nets with turkey necks and did pretty good,” he said. Gauley ended his trip at noon with 67 large crabs. With the salinity improving and the dry conditions, this year looks to be a good season for crabbing in the lake.
With no spillway openings in the past two years, the lake looks to be setting up for an incredible fall and with things improving in eastern Lake Pontchartrain it’s safe to say the Manchac is back! 
Tournament Results
The Double Nickel Bass Club held their Classic on Tuesday. 21 anglers showed up to fish the event which saw anglers spreading out in all directions from the West Pearl to Cowan Bayou and beyond. Lot's of fish came to the scales today but in the end it was Bill Dorris who won the Championship with a 3-fish limit weighing 8.28 pounds. Dorris also took the big bass division with a 4.90-pound bass. In second place was James Harris with a limit that weighed 7.58 pounds. In third place was Jerry Bullock who brought in 6.70 pounds. Food and drink were served after the weigh-in and wards were handed out for accomplishments throughout the year. Jerry Bullock won the best stringer of the year with a 11.36-pound bag he weighed in during a spring event. Ralph Dunn won the Angler of the Year Award and Bill Dorris took home the Championship Plaque. |
 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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Max Patrucco of Slidell joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk about his latest kayak trip in which he caught sheepshead at the Trestles.
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