Keith Lusher Springtime fronts passing through are an obvious sign that spring is here. Roger Sissac and his friend Trentis White have been perch fishing in the Eden Isles Canals in Slidell and having good results. But on their latest trip, mother nature challenged them. They made their way to the first canal with 100 crickets. “Things started out very slow so we moved, and we moved, and moved some more,” Roger jokes. The team was struggling to find fish when all of a sudden the skies opened up!
Roger Sissac and Trentis White “We looked like two drowned rats out there. The atomatic bilge pub came on and didn’t stop until the storm passed,” Sissac says. When the rain stopped Roger decided to try another canal because he didn’t want to go home empty handed. “Finally! We started catching! It was slow but we stayed in the same spot until we has 35 bluegill,” Roger says. The team was fishing with crickets rigged 2’ under a small cork. Roger adds, “We don't need another trip like this! We decided next time we're going to watch the weather closely before leaving.”
Muddy Lake Pontchartrain
With the opening of nearly half the bays on the Bonnet Carre Spillway, Lake Pontchartrain is slowly being filled with cold, muddy water from the bloated Mississippi River. Anglers are still finding clean saltier water on the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain from the Causeway Bridge east. Anglers can monitor the water clarity and the progression of the muddy water at a website provided by NASA. The SSEC MODIS Today resource provides satellite imagery taken from space. The map below taken from the MODIS map shows the effects of the spillway opening in Lake Pontchartrain.
Muddy Lake Pontchartrain
With the opening of nearly half the bays on the Bonnet Carre Spillway, Lake Pontchartrain is slowly being filled with cold, muddy water from the bloated Mississippi River. Anglers are still finding clean saltier water on the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain from the Causeway Bridge east. Anglers can monitor the water clarity and the progression of the muddy water at a website provided by NASA. The SSEC MODIS Today resource provides satellite imagery taken from space. The map below taken from the MODIS map shows the effects of the spillway opening in Lake Pontchartrain.
This satellite image courtesy of the SSEC MODIS website shows the southern portion of the lake with muddy water.
Private Waters
The private waters issue that sportsmen are dealing with in Louisiana is unarguable the biggest threat to recreational anglers that we’ve seen in decades. What started in West Louisiana, has slowly creeped east. Cuts and canals that line the ICW being deemed as private is an obvious sign that the problem is growing. Bob’s Bayou Black Marina in Gipson is scheduled to close it’s doors next March because of the 300-yard stretch of waterway that leads to the Shell Barge Canal and the Intercostal is scheduled to be blocked off to the public according to Ben Weber and Daryl Carpenter of the Louisiana Sportsmen’s Coalition. The LaSC is spearheading efforts to garner support for HB 391 on March 12 by Rep. Kevin Pearson, a Republican who represents District 76 in St. Tammany Parish. The bill would guarantee public access to certain tidally-influenced waters. LaSC representatives say they are working through the proper channels and requesting that some adjustments be made to the bill but even in its current form, HB 391 is a massive step in the right direction for the thousands of anglers and tourists who recreate on the waters. For more information on the legislation, or for information on how to contact your legislator, go to www.joinlacs.com.
