Keith Lusher Jr For those saltwater anglers worried about a repeat of last year’s high river levels that wreaked havoc in Lake Pontchartrain, The latest reports from the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation won’t do anything to calm your fears. The organization gathers information such as rainfall totals, salinity, water quality, and river levels in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin and incorporates them into a map called the Lake Pontchartrain Hydracoast Map. The data in this map can be compared from week to week or year to year. Some interesting data collected this month shows that the river levels on the Pearl River are even higher than that of the levels measured at the same time last year. This is not good news for saltwater fisherman who missed out on last year’s normally great spring run in the Lake. Above average river levels in the Pearl affects the salt water that normally comes up from Lake Borgne. The latest river gauge measured the Pearl River at 17.02 ft. while last year’s levels showed the Pearl at 13.48 ft. Saltwater in the lake is crucial to the estuary and with the closing of the MRGO, it is vital for the fisheries to see average or below river levels on the Pearl. Ironically we have seen salinity levels a tad higher than samples taken last year at this time. For instance, the latest water samples taken from the Causeway showed salinity levels at 3.1 ppt., while last years showed a reading of 2.0 ppt. In comparison, normal sea water has a salinity level of 35 ppt. (ppt = parts per thousand)
Spotted Bass
There are numerous ways to tell the difference between a spotted bass and a largemouth bass. One is the noticeable tooth patches on the tongue. Spotted bass or Kentucky bass have two patches of teeth in the middle of its tongue in comparison to a largemouth bass which has one. The unmistakable black stripe that a largemouth bass sports along its side is darker and more consistent than that of a spotted bass. But Peyton Waller and his dad Jimmy may have discovered the most glaring difference on their recent trip to the Tchefuncte. These fish school like nobody’s business! The father and son team fished throughout the day picking up a largemouth here and there but it wasn’t until they got into the spotted version that they really started putting fish in the boat. “We came up on some lily pads and I threw a buzz-bait and before long we were catching spotted bass left and right. My dad threw a swim-bait and almost every cast we caught a strong fighting spot,” Peyton said. Peyton and Jimmy finished the day with 35 bass total much of which were spots.
60 lb. Catfish caught in Tchefuncte
Todd Oalmann The Tchefuncte River has produced numerous monster catfish this winter but perhaps none of them the size of the one caught this past week. Ponchatoula resident Todd Oalmann usually catches catfish using trot-lines but on his last trip switched over to limb-lines and was greatly rewarded! “Big bait equals big fish! I fished a few bush lines by the shipyard trying to get a big one. I got lucky and this one bit the bream I had for bait. The bream was a good 8-9 inches big. I free lined it near a drop off and he bit the line - when he surfaced he was barely hooked so I stuck my hand in his mouth and boated him,” Oalmann said. After the trip, Todd tried to weigh the beast. “I got him home and tried to weigh him on two scales but they only went to 30 and 50 pounds so he bottomed them out. I had to weigh him on my deer scales,” Todd said. The tabby cat weighed in at 60 lbs. when all was said and done. For those looking to catch catfish on the Tchefuncte, Todd says, “The river is muddy and the water is cool. Catfishing should be good for the next few weeks. Now is a great time for bush or jug-lines.”
