Keith Lusher With the speckled trout bite all but ceasing from Lake Pontchartrainin in July, Robert Perilloux of Mandeville, decided to make a trip to Lake Borgne to try and put a few specks in the boat. Robert launched at Southshore Marina on Chef Highway at 6:45 with his wife and children and headed for the rigs at Alligator Point but only caught a small croaker. He decide to try different areas around each rig and honed in on the trout. “Once I figured out where the trout were I tied off to the rig and started steadily pulling them in.
Robert Perilloux reels in a speckle trout caught near a Lake Borne rig It wasn't every cast but steady enough fishing to keep the kids into it,” he says. Robert was using live shrimp on a drop-shot rig and says the action was steady for the most part. The water quality in Lake Borgne has taken a hit with the recent rains and Robert adds the there hasn’t been much improvement in the past few days.
“The water was a greenish color and about 10" of visibility.”
Bottom Feeders
One option for anglers during the summer months is fishing for drum under the Twin Spans. The structure offers shade from the sun and shelter from the rain but more importantly, produces drum! Greg Pier made a trip to the twin bridges where he caught fish, however the fish he caught weren't what he had planned to catch. “I fished for four hours at the Twin Spans and Highway 11 bridge looking for bottom feeders and boy did I find them - the slimy ones, not the delicious ones. Market bait on a 1/2 oz. jig head produced about 87 hardheads. No sting rays, no puppy drum - 87 hardheads,” Pier says. Greg fished numerous spots along the Twin Spans and the northern end of the Hwy 11 bridge and adds, “If you fish using market bait and you don't have a catfish flipper, do yourself a service and go get one. It's one of the few things I wouldn't leave the dock without.
Hammond Catfish
One way to stay out of the heat during the summer months is to fish in the shade. Todd Oalman of Ponchatoula made a July cat-fishing trip where he fished under the Highway 55 bridge in South Pass. “I used dead shrimp and cut perch on the bottom. The tide was falling and the water was stained with 2 feet of visibility,” Oalman says. At the end of the day Todd had boxed 6 catfish in the 2 lb. - 4 lb. range.
Big Fishing
Miguel Gorordo of Slidell, loves catching big fish. “I love the fight, whether its drum, redfish, or sheepshead, I love those big fish,” he says. Gorordo made a trip with some friends to Lake Borgne. They launched at Island Marina of Lake Catherine. Their first stop was the L&N Bridge. “We stopped off at L&N Bridge to see if we can snag on to some big drums but there was nothing there,” Gorordo says. The team soon left and tried for another big fish. “We worked a couple crab trap lines looking for triple tail but unfortunately we didn't find any,” Miguel says. The crew headed for Half Moon Island and that’s where they found their big fish, however it wasn’t Redfish, drum, or sheepshead that they found. “We finally got to our spot by 8:30 or so and started fishing the shorelines. When BAM, BAM, BAM! We found trout! Nothing was under 2 lbs. and the largest was just under 5 lbs,” Gorordo says. What’s even better is the bite came on plastics. “We were throwing Shu-Shu Marsh Minnows in every color but the Gunmetal and Frostbite colors where the killers of the day,” he says.
“The water was a greenish color and about 10" of visibility.”
Bottom Feeders
One option for anglers during the summer months is fishing for drum under the Twin Spans. The structure offers shade from the sun and shelter from the rain but more importantly, produces drum! Greg Pier made a trip to the twin bridges where he caught fish, however the fish he caught weren't what he had planned to catch. “I fished for four hours at the Twin Spans and Highway 11 bridge looking for bottom feeders and boy did I find them - the slimy ones, not the delicious ones. Market bait on a 1/2 oz. jig head produced about 87 hardheads. No sting rays, no puppy drum - 87 hardheads,” Pier says. Greg fished numerous spots along the Twin Spans and the northern end of the Hwy 11 bridge and adds, “If you fish using market bait and you don't have a catfish flipper, do yourself a service and go get one. It's one of the few things I wouldn't leave the dock without.
Hammond Catfish
One way to stay out of the heat during the summer months is to fish in the shade. Todd Oalman of Ponchatoula made a July cat-fishing trip where he fished under the Highway 55 bridge in South Pass. “I used dead shrimp and cut perch on the bottom. The tide was falling and the water was stained with 2 feet of visibility,” Oalman says. At the end of the day Todd had boxed 6 catfish in the 2 lb. - 4 lb. range.
Big Fishing
Miguel Gorordo of Slidell, loves catching big fish. “I love the fight, whether its drum, redfish, or sheepshead, I love those big fish,” he says. Gorordo made a trip with some friends to Lake Borgne. They launched at Island Marina of Lake Catherine. Their first stop was the L&N Bridge. “We stopped off at L&N Bridge to see if we can snag on to some big drums but there was nothing there,” Gorordo says. The team soon left and tried for another big fish. “We worked a couple crab trap lines looking for triple tail but unfortunately we didn't find any,” Miguel says. The crew headed for Half Moon Island and that’s where they found their big fish, however it wasn’t Redfish, drum, or sheepshead that they found. “We finally got to our spot by 8:30 or so and started fishing the shorelines. When BAM, BAM, BAM! We found trout! Nothing was under 2 lbs. and the largest was just under 5 lbs,” Gorordo says. What’s even better is the bite came on plastics. “We were throwing Shu-Shu Marsh Minnows in every color but the Gunmetal and Frostbite colors where the killers of the day,” he says.
Miguel Gorordo caught this trout on a Shu-Shu Marsh Minnow in the Chromis color
