Keith Lusher Jr Some of the top fisherman from the Northshore gathered for the Northshore Fishing Report Fall Fishing Seminar this past Thursday night and while the debate raged on about certain subjects like fishing line, barometric pressure, and what lures work best, one thing was agreed upon by everyone. “If you’re talking fall fishing. We are in the best time right now for fishing the marsh and bayous across the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. If you want to go fishing, you have to do it now! You can’t say ‘Well I’ll go when I’m finished painting this room or adding on to the house,’ you have to get out there now,” says Forrest Green of Lacombe.
George Seibert, Jeff Kreller, Mr. Green, Lawrence Lemoine, Roger Sissac, Daniel Sissac On Green’s last fishing trip, he says he couldn’t get away from the speckled trout even if he wasn’t trying to catch them and a lot of it has to do with the shrimp in the water. “I went way back into Cypress Bayou on Bayou Lacombe and did some white perch fishing. I ended up with 3 white perch and 5 speckled trout. Why? There’s shrimp back there the size of your hand,” Green says. In the past few weeks anglers have seen water high water levels all across the Northshore, and Green says thats what you need to look for. “When the water is so high it allows all the fish to go where the bait goes,” he says. But the seasoned fisherman from Lacombe also ads that the high water won’t last forever. “When these cold fronts come through and the water plunges back out - the baits going to be the first thing to get out of there and the fish will follow. Between now and the middle of November, the Lake is going to be full of fish. The marshes are going to clear out and the shrimp are going to come out and get in the lake. When these Northwestern winds come and push everything out then you’ll see the fish come into the lake,” Green says.
Daniel Sissac fishes the marshes in the Slidell area this time of year and says it’s not only the shrimp, it’s the spawn that has something to do with it. “The trout are following the menhaden and the shrimp deep into the marsh right now but trout spawn twice a year so they do migrate into and out of the marsh because of the spawn,” Sissac says.
While the marshes and bayous on the Northshore are alive right now, the conversation quickly moved to the areas that will turn on this upcoming month. Lawrence Lemoine says this is the month when the bridges and artificial reefs typically heat up. Lawrence says from now until winter, these fish will be in prime feeding mode on these structures. “These fish sense when the cold weather is coming and they know that they have to put on the fat. It’s just like when you’re deer hunting - If you kill a deer today, compare it to a deer you kill a month from now. That same deer will have two inches of extra fat on it and its because they know the cold weather is coming,” Lemoine says.
Live shrimp is always a great option in the fall for putting trout in the boat but George Seibert of Fishmeister Charters reminded the audience that the time for fishing with live shrimp will soon come to and end. “These fish are going to start getting lethargic and they will try and conserve energy during the winter and when you fish with live shrimp, the shrimp will dig down into that mud to hide. So if you’re fishing with a Carolina rig and that shrimp buries himself, that trout isn’t going to move around to find that shrimp because he just wants to sit there and wait for something to come by. That’s why plastics work so well - you’re pulling the bait right in front of him instead of making him do the work,” Seibert says.
Daniel Sissac fishes the marshes in the Slidell area this time of year and says it’s not only the shrimp, it’s the spawn that has something to do with it. “The trout are following the menhaden and the shrimp deep into the marsh right now but trout spawn twice a year so they do migrate into and out of the marsh because of the spawn,” Sissac says.
While the marshes and bayous on the Northshore are alive right now, the conversation quickly moved to the areas that will turn on this upcoming month. Lawrence Lemoine says this is the month when the bridges and artificial reefs typically heat up. Lawrence says from now until winter, these fish will be in prime feeding mode on these structures. “These fish sense when the cold weather is coming and they know that they have to put on the fat. It’s just like when you’re deer hunting - If you kill a deer today, compare it to a deer you kill a month from now. That same deer will have two inches of extra fat on it and its because they know the cold weather is coming,” Lemoine says.
Live shrimp is always a great option in the fall for putting trout in the boat but George Seibert of Fishmeister Charters reminded the audience that the time for fishing with live shrimp will soon come to and end. “These fish are going to start getting lethargic and they will try and conserve energy during the winter and when you fish with live shrimp, the shrimp will dig down into that mud to hide. So if you’re fishing with a Carolina rig and that shrimp buries himself, that trout isn’t going to move around to find that shrimp because he just wants to sit there and wait for something to come by. That’s why plastics work so well - you’re pulling the bait right in front of him instead of making him do the work,” Seibert says.
