Keith Lusher Jr Buddy Hereford of Slidell made a red fishing trip to Bayou Biloxi and says the amount of bait in the water made it tempting to throw his cast net. “There was bait everywhere! I almost succumbed to a cast net full of 2” mullets in the live well, but decided to stick it out with a gold spoon,” Hereford says. Buddy couldn’t manage any takers with the spoon so he switched over to a Lemonhead Matrix tipped with Halloween shrimp, 12” under a popping cork. That did the trick. Buddy managed a limit of reds by 10:00 but he wasn’t finished there. “Plan B was to head to Lawson Bay to try some islands for specks but the red action was too good to pass up so I made my way through miles of canals and broken marsh, he says. Buddy caught and released four more keeper reds and a couple of undersize ones. The highlight of the trip was when a redfish decided to hit Buddy’s cork instead of his lure. “I made a nice cast into a small pocket and after a few pops of the cork; I started reeling back to the boat. Then and a red rocket almost went air born and inhaled the cork! He made 2 good runs before it was decided this was not what he wanted for lunch. I have had lots of reds hit the cork instead of the bait, but never had one hold on that long,” Hereford says.
Halfway to the fishin’ hole
Halfway to the fishin’ hole
Roger Sissac Roger Sissac’s planned to make a run out to the mouth of Carr Drive in Slidell to try and put a few bass in the boat. Halfway to his destination, his motor started buzzing which is often is a warning that the engine is overheating. Roger checked the oil and the water pump and couldn’t figure out the problem. So he did the next best thing he could do at the time. He started fishing! “I was almost to my fishing grounds so I started fishing,” he says. Roger started casting into a cut that came out of the marsh. “I started fishing with a green Shu-Shu at the mouth of a cut and picked one keeper bass. Then I went to the next cut where I got several hits and caught two keeper bass,” Sissac says. Roger soon forgot about his motor problems as he started to target structure along the canal. “Next I fished the bulkhead and pilings and picked up two more keepers and finished up my limit fishing the pilings along the road,” Roger says. Before heading in he decided to fish the same cut where he caught his first bass “I trolled to the first cut I tried earlier and bam! The fight was on! I thought I had big bass but it turned out to be a nice red,” he says. Roger tossed him in the ice chest and decided to call it a day with a limit of bass and one redfish.
Hot Water Canal Going Cold
While winter time fishing is far from everybody’s minds these days, a significant announcement was made by ENTERY that will affect a canal that a lot of saltwater anglers frequent during the winter months. ENTERY announced that the canal known by locals as the Hot Water Canal, will go cold in the winter of 2016 due to a 30 million dollar upgrade to its electric power transmission. The Chalmette facility currently uses water to cool the machinery and discharges it back into the canal resulting in warmer water temperatures. Steve Smith lives in Slidell and fishes the canal in January and February routinely. “That canal stacks up with redfish every winter so I am curious to see how the cooler waters in there affect it. Hopefully the fish will continue to be in there despite the water temperatures returning to normal,” Smith says.
Three Rivers Blueway
St. Tammany Parish Government, in partnership with the Louisiana Land Trust, the City of Covington, and the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, has been working on a proposed Three Rivers Paddling Trail. The project area includes the vicinity where the Tchefuncte, Bogue Falaya, and Abita Rivers converge. The overall goal of the project is to develop a blueway, or water trail, that is enhanced with launching points, signage and areas of interest for kayakers, canoeists, and paddle boarders as well as providing environmental conservation to the area. While still in the planning stages St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister says “We hope this project will serve as a model for future blueways projects across our Parish and will highlight our abundant natural resources and beautiful environment.”
Hot Water Canal Going Cold
While winter time fishing is far from everybody’s minds these days, a significant announcement was made by ENTERY that will affect a canal that a lot of saltwater anglers frequent during the winter months. ENTERY announced that the canal known by locals as the Hot Water Canal, will go cold in the winter of 2016 due to a 30 million dollar upgrade to its electric power transmission. The Chalmette facility currently uses water to cool the machinery and discharges it back into the canal resulting in warmer water temperatures. Steve Smith lives in Slidell and fishes the canal in January and February routinely. “That canal stacks up with redfish every winter so I am curious to see how the cooler waters in there affect it. Hopefully the fish will continue to be in there despite the water temperatures returning to normal,” Smith says.
Three Rivers Blueway
St. Tammany Parish Government, in partnership with the Louisiana Land Trust, the City of Covington, and the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, has been working on a proposed Three Rivers Paddling Trail. The project area includes the vicinity where the Tchefuncte, Bogue Falaya, and Abita Rivers converge. The overall goal of the project is to develop a blueway, or water trail, that is enhanced with launching points, signage and areas of interest for kayakers, canoeists, and paddle boarders as well as providing environmental conservation to the area. While still in the planning stages St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister says “We hope this project will serve as a model for future blueways projects across our Parish and will highlight our abundant natural resources and beautiful environment.”
