Keith Lusher The Baseball World Series has come and gone and for most folks who fish the Trestles, gone are the hopes of catching those 3+ lb. trout that the iconic fishing landmark is known for in October. Devin Ricks of Covington says not so fast. He’s been waiting for the water temperatures to drop to signal the start of the big trout bite at the Trestles. “The trout usually start showing up on the bridges when the water temperature drops under 70 degrees,” Devin says. On his latest trip, Ricks and a friend launched in Bayou Lacombe and made there way east to the Carr Dr. canal in Slidell. “A cold front had past through the day before and the wind was blowing out of the northwest so the north shore was protected,” Ricks says. The team pulled into the mouth of the canal and was the first boat to arrive. “We started fishing in the canal and I caught a trout that was almost 2 lbs. and then we both caught a few bass after that,” Devin says. The wind started to pick up to 15 mph from the northwest and the shivers that ran through his body reminded him to check the water temperature. “It was cold out there! I checked the water temperature and it read 67 degrees so we made the decision to make a run to the Trestles,” Devin says. We got in between the Hwy 11 bridge and the Trestles. It was a hard falling tide so we worked the north shore on the down current side of the bridge and didn’t even get a bite. There were other boats on the same side and they weren't catching anything either,” he says. Then Devin received a text from another friend that was fishing the bridge. “Another buddy sent me a picture of some big trout he just caught on the opposite side of the Trestles and I was like ‘goodness gracious look at the size of those trout he just caught on the other side’, so we decided to make a move to up current side,” Ricks says. There were only a few boats fishing the west side of the train bridge when the team pulled up to there first spot. “We got on the other side and pulled passed the draw bridge.
Devin Ricks We got up to the first firebreak and I caught a redfish. As soon as we got past the firebreak we started catching big trout, I mean these were big trout! Every trout we caught we had to get the net for,” he says. During the chaos Devin recalls one fish that clued him in as to what the trout were feeding on. “I caught a trout and it was around 3 lbs. and after I swung him onto the bow I looked down and saw him spit out an 8” mullet!,” he says. The wind and the current made a tough morning and Devin says it was the cause of a lot of fish being left in the water. “It was rough and I was fighting the trolling motor the whole time. We could have caught more fish. I’d get them at the side of the boat and they would shake the hook. I was getting mad out there because of the wind and the current,” Ricks says. The team was using Lemonhead Matrix and Devin says the current and wind was so bad that he had to use a 1/2 oz. jig head. “By the way the current was going, we had to throw off of the bridge and let the bait come all the way back to the bridge,” he says. Like most fishing trips, Devin says there was a “one that got away” story to tell. “I reeled my bait up to the boat and we both saw a huge trout follow it all the way up to the boat. I swear this trout must have been 4-5 lbs. he followed my bait all the way up to the boat and then he swam back down. So my friend threw his line back down and he hooked it! He fought the fish all the way up to the side of the boat and the line popped,” Ricks says. The trip may be an early indicator of what seems to be a pattern of fish showing up a month later all across the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
