Keith Lusher Jr On your next commute over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, take a look over the guardrail. What you might see will make that trip to work even more difficult to bear. Every year it happens. The word “fishing,” takes on a whole new meaning for those anglers who target trout without casting a pole or setting a hook. It’s trolling time! 16-year old Holton Martin is a junior at Mandeville High School and recently made a trip with his dad, Heath, to the 24-Mile Reef. It didn’t take long for the team to find what they were looking for. “We started trolling just south of the 4-mile hump and headed north, between the bridges. I don't think it was two minutes into our first drag when the first rod took a nosedive!
Holton gives a thumbs up after reeling in this 3.5 pounder! I pointed it out to my Dad and he reeled in an 18" Speck!” Holton said. With the lower salinity readings in the lake, speckled trout have been on the smaller side so far this year, but there is something about trolling the bridge that brings out the big speckled trout. Holton’s next fish proved to be even bigger! “We were a little south of the 4-mile hump and I saw the rod bend. I told my dad to reel it in, as I was the one driving, but he said he wanted me to get this one,” Holton stated. The youngster didn’t waste any time pondering the request. “I jumped off the wheel and grabbed the rod. It felt heavy and it took out some drag but I finally turned her head and got her to the boat. It was the biggest of the day – a three and a half pound trout!” he said. Holton says all the fish caught that day bit the chrome Rat-L-Trap’s they were dragging and he is itching to get back out to fish the bridge as soon as he can. “I can't wait to head back and give trolling another try,” Holton said.
Trestle Trout
Talk to any Lake Pontchartrain fisherman and they’ll most likely tell you that winds are crucial when making a decision to fish anywhere in the lake. Slidell speckled trout angler Buddy Hereford awoke one morning and based his entire trip on the wind readings. “I woke up at 4 am looking for a wind report. The Causeway was at 7 mph, Shell Beach was 3 mph, Mandeville was 3, and Slidell was calm so that looked good to me,” he said. Buddy launched at Bayou Liberty Marina and headed out to the Trestles to fish the east side of the bridge. “I was casting for 6:38 am and the first speck hit the box at 6:49 am,” Hereford said. From there Buddy worked the pylons monotonously picking up specks at a slow, but steady pace. Then the unpredictable winds over Lake Pontchartrain made their presence felt. “It got to be a pain keeping the boat positioned correctly so I moved to the west side and casted away from the bridge but only managed one speck. I started to make a run for the south end of the Trestles to find calmer waters but after the third BAM, I decided I had enough rockin’ and rollin’,” he said. Buddy ended the day at 10:15 am with 13 speckled trout and says the fishing got tough after the winds picked up “I missed a lot of bites due to not being able to see the bite. By the time I would feel something - it was the fish trying to spit the plastic,” Hereford added.
Trestle Trout
Talk to any Lake Pontchartrain fisherman and they’ll most likely tell you that winds are crucial when making a decision to fish anywhere in the lake. Slidell speckled trout angler Buddy Hereford awoke one morning and based his entire trip on the wind readings. “I woke up at 4 am looking for a wind report. The Causeway was at 7 mph, Shell Beach was 3 mph, Mandeville was 3, and Slidell was calm so that looked good to me,” he said. Buddy launched at Bayou Liberty Marina and headed out to the Trestles to fish the east side of the bridge. “I was casting for 6:38 am and the first speck hit the box at 6:49 am,” Hereford said. From there Buddy worked the pylons monotonously picking up specks at a slow, but steady pace. Then the unpredictable winds over Lake Pontchartrain made their presence felt. “It got to be a pain keeping the boat positioned correctly so I moved to the west side and casted away from the bridge but only managed one speck. I started to make a run for the south end of the Trestles to find calmer waters but after the third BAM, I decided I had enough rockin’ and rollin’,” he said. Buddy ended the day at 10:15 am with 13 speckled trout and says the fishing got tough after the winds picked up “I missed a lot of bites due to not being able to see the bite. By the time I would feel something - it was the fish trying to spit the plastic,” Hereford added.
