With the opening of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway, many Lake Pontchartrain anglers were of the opinion that the spring trout run that the lake is know for, may be in jeopardy. When Ponchatoula angler Justin Bowles ventured to the bridge, the last thing he thought he would catch was a trout. “I’ve been watching the Modis satellite and I knew that there was a good pocket of good water on the Northshore around 3 miles out, so I thought it was a nice day to head out and run the boat,” he says. Justin noticed boats trolling like they typically do around this time but never thought much of it until he started seeing them reeling fish in. “We didn’t see anybody jigging out there , everybody was trolling and they were catching fish. We saw them trolling and pulling in fish,” Bowles says. Justin ended the day with 17 big speckled trout and says the water clarity seems to be coming back.

February is here, and at first glance the only see you might notice is muddy water and cold temperatures, none of which are favorable for fishing with one the exception to a certain kind of fish that we like to refer to down south as sac-au-lait! Martin Duvic has been fishing the Tchefuncte River for sac-au-lait since 1991 and says the fish are definitely there if you put in the time to find them.

There’s an old saying, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Tony Cyprus Jr. of Mandeville says “When Lake Pontchartrain hands you chocolate milk, catch redfish!” With the opening of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway, catching speckled trout in Lake Pontchartrain has become more of a challenge than convincing my 10 year-old that Mardi Gras was cancelled this year. But Tony Cyprus Jr made a trip out of Bayou Cane and says “The water looked every bit like the muddy Mississippi.” Tony’s made his way out to Goose Point without any results but it was on his way back that his luck changed. “As I made my way slowly and methodically back towards Cane, basically fishing the shelf between Goose Point and Cane, a beast of a redfish inhaled my lure!” he says. After a few minutes of fighting the monster, Tony’s line broke. “I could tell the red was turning his head to snap line with the razors on both sides of his big ole bowling-ball sized head,” Tony says. After re-rigging, Tony worked his way back to Bayou Cane and hooked up with another redfish. “I carefully fought the beast, hoisted him into net, and dropped him in box. He darn-near opened the box with his strength,” Tony says. The fish weighed in at 13 lbs. and 30”. 


Jeff Kreller is another avid speckled trout angler that refuses to hang his head because of recent water conditions. “Nobody wants to fish the Lake because of the spillway! You want to cry about how the water looks?  Call your momma and she'll listen, cause I ain't gonna,” Kreller says. Jeff fishes out of a kayak and launched at the old Tite’s launch at the foot of the Hwy 11 Bridge and says he saw a lot of birds around catching baitfish but couldn’t find any trout. “I couldn't buy a trout!  Not even from a commercial line runner (troller) I spoke to out there, but I did find reds! Strong, big, & fat reds that had my drag screaming and my yak ramming into the pilings! Fun stuff for sure,” Jeff says. Reports of drum being caught have been more plentiful as of late but Jeff says he didn’t catch any drum. “I didn't run into any drum, but line runner said they've been doing decent with them. I would suspect that if one were to pull a Rat-L-Trap or hug the pilings with some really stinky bait, they'd find even more heavy pullers than I did,” he says. Jeff reminds the saltwater anglers, “The Lady's (Lake Pontchartrain) a little tougher right now, but there's things to be found if you try!”

NorthshoreFishingReport.com has release it’s fishing forecast for February and the opening of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway has taken it’s toll on numerous fishing hot-spots in Lake Pontchartrain. Numerous 1-star reports litter the forecast because of the muddy, fresh water that the Mississippi River has dumped into the lake. Lemo’s Reef, the Trestles, Causeway, and Lake Borgne have all been a challenge to fish in February with chocolate milk colored water stretching as far as the Challmete Wall and the ICW. Anglers are finding more success in the rivers and bayous that spill out into the lake. Bass and sac-au-lait reports are typical for this time of year with the sac-au-lait bite starting to improve more and more each day. The Tchefuncte River is starting to heat up and those crappie fisherman who have done their homework are being rewarded. Deep dead-end canals lined with piers and fallen trees are your best bet for finding the big slabs that the river is known for around this time of year. 


Wintertime Fishing
Fishing in February can pose an array of questions that bass anglers have. The drastic changes in the weather, combined with the muddy water, poses real problems for bass anglers looking to find a pattern. Northshore fishing guru Jeff Bruhl has a few tips for anglers who are targeting bass in the rivers and tributaries that pepper the region north of Lake Pontchartrain. “On bright sunny days, bass may patrol grass mats for food. The mats heat up like a roof on a house which is home to insects, frogs, and bait fish,” Jeff says. For this style of fishing, Jeff says there is no better lure to use than a jig. “By far the best wintertime bait is a jig and pig. Crawfish are a primary food source because of the little crustaceans that hatch in the late fall. The Pearl River and Tchefuncte River have plenty of bottom crawlers for bass to target,” Bruhl says. The Covington bass angler recommends a fast action rod. “In our area, extra fast or fast action rods with  medium heavy blanks is a good starting point. Abu Garcia’s Veritas or Villain lines work well. Add 65 lb. Spiderwire or 25 lb. 100% Fluorocarbon, a peg, and a snelled Berkley Fusion heavy cover hook to the mix for a dynamite setup for winter bass,” he says.


Spillway Closing
With the closing of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway, all eyes are now on the NASA’s SSEC Modis Satellite map which allows viewers to see the areas that are first to clear up. An important factor will be the winds in February. 

​North and west winds will be crucial to flushing out the lake of the muddy, fresh water that has infiltrated the clear brackish estuary. James Smith of Hammond fishes the Manchac area all the way to the Trestles and says “I think we may have dodged the bullet with the spillway. If we can get some good hard fronts to come through here and push the rest of this muddy water out, then I think we’ll see those winds switch over to the south and southeast come spring,” Smith says. The latest satellite view shows a sliver of water on along the Northshore still holding relatively clean water. The unusually short time span that the spillway has been opened looks to have spared the Lake from complete saturation of silty water. 


Biloxi Marsh
A great option for speckled trout and redfish anglers that normally target the Lake is the Biloxi Marsh. Those who choose to make the run across Lake Borge can often find a few fish to help quench their thirst for the bronze and speckled beauties. But Buddy Hereford says that the marsh hasn’t produced like past years.” The fish seemed to have abandoned the areas that I fish in the Biloxi Marsh from Lake Borgne to Stump Lagoon. This year the temps have stayed in the low 60’s and mid to low 50’s, but the bite is gone just the same,” he says. Buddy says if you must go, there are some spots that you may just get lucky fishing. “If the ‘gotta goes’ hit, the deep canals toward Bob’s Lake or Bayou Loutre may have fish as it looks like the shrimp from Lake Pontchartrain are finally making a push through Lake Borgne and the marsh surrounding it,” hereford says. ​