The Northshore Fishing Report

Tickfaw Lunker

3/2/2017

Keith Lusher

The bass spawn is in full swing here on Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. Bass tournaments are reporting numerous big fish being caught from The Pearl River to Manchac. Jason Pittman and his Trenton, recently competed in the Florida Parishes Bass Anglers Tournament on the Tickfaw River. Trenton was throwing a compact spinnerbait when a bruiser of a fish hit. “It totally took me by surprise because the fishing slowed down by mid morning. We were just going down the bank when the fish hit right by the boat - I started freaking out seeing how big it was,”

Trenton shows off his tournament winning fish

The 17-year-old says. Trenton called for the net after making the decision that he wouldn’t be able to boat-flip the fish. “Dad jumped down into the bottom of the boat to get the net and actually missed the fish the first time he put the net in the water. I freaked out even more after seeing that but on the next try he got it in the net,” Trenton says. After the action resided, the father and son stopped and admired the size of the fish. “When we finally got the fish in the boat, we both stopped and stared in awe of the size of it,” he says. The covington teen says they estimated the fish was around 5.5 lbs, but after checking on the fish later on in the day, he told his dad that it may be bigger. “Right after noon, I opened the live well to check on the fish and I saw the fish next to the others. I told my dad that I think that fish was over 6 lbs,” Trenton says. It wasn’t until the weigh-in that the two tournament anglers learned the actual weight of the fish. “Weigh-in came around and there was a 5.8 lb. fish that came to the scales so we had a chance to gauge ours according to the size of that one and when we took ours out of the bag we both knew that we had a fish that was way bigger than 5.8 lbs,” Trenton says. The fish was weighed and the reading of 7.16 lbs flashed on the screen. “Everybody just stopped and their jaws dropped. It was a really incredible experience to catch something that big on the Northshore,” Trenton says.

Trestles Producing Trout

Warren Rivera is all smile with a mess of trout caught at the Trestles

The winter speckled trout bite at the Trestles dissipated when water temperatures started dipping into the 50’s in late January. It was obvious that warmer than normal temperatures was the cause for the extended bite last month, but now, those warmer than normal temperatures are responsible for cranking up the bite once again! Warren Rivera lives in Eden Isles in Slidell and is a regular at the iconic speckled trout destination. On his most recent trip, Warren says he started trolling the bridge at 10:00 a.m. and from the start, the specks were bitting. “I was trolling on the west side of the Trestles, just south of the draw bridge. I used a Blue/Chrome 1/2 oz. Rat-L-Trap on lead-core line and caught several with mono line,” Rivera says. Warren ended the day with 17 trout that all measured from 14” to 21” in length. The tide was falling with a 10 MPH wind out of the E/SE. “There were plenty of boats out there and everyone seemed to be catching fish. I spoke to a couple of boats who had caught their limits of specks,” Warren adds.

Cold Water Catfish

2/24/2017

Keith Lusher

The sac-a-lait scene here on the Northshore has hit full stride. Anglers are finding those delicious slabs moving into the shallows to spawn with the warmer weather. But what if you’re looking for more than a fish the bites on a jig the size of a ink pen cap? February is arguably the best month for catching big catfish in the rivers, bayous, and inlets from Lake Pontchartrain.

I've never seen anything that big come out of the Oak Harbor canals"

Ed Cheron of Slidell, lives in Oak Harbor and says he was just trying out a new fishing knot when he ended up catching a 27 lb. freshwater catfish. “I was Board so I decided to work on tying monofilament line to braided line for leaders. After my first knot I decided to test it out in the canal behind my house. On my second cast...BAM!!!! This bad boy rolled on that lemon head like it was a filet mignon,” Cheron says. Ed fought the fish for 20 minutes and then a neighbor helped him get it on the dock. Ed says this was a fish that he will never forget. “I’ve never seen anything that big come out of the Oak Harbor canals. It was definitely a cast to remember,” he says. On a side note, the knot held.

Dillon Quamme and Laitin Gauley had plenty of success on the Blood River

Blood River Sac’s
Robert Gauley of Maurepas, has found a way to make his work day go by quicker. His son Laitin and his friend Dillon Quamme, headed out to the Blood River to try their luck with catching sac-a-lait while Robert was at work but Robert says he felt like he was in the boat right along side of the friends because of the updates he received via cell phone. “It was almost like I was there! He would text me where they were on the river and if they were catching anything. Then in response, I would drop a pin on a map and tell him to try certain areas,” Gauley says. His son even texted Robert a few videos which really made him feel like he was there. “He even made a couple of videos of the corks going down and landing fish!” he adds. The friends ended the day with over 25 sac-a-lait with a few perch mixed in. Laitin used a brown and orange jig 16” under a cork, while Dillon used a solid black jig under a cork. Both caught the same amount of fish.

Crab Ban In Effect
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Blue Crab ban went into effect on Monday, February 20th and will continue for 30 days. Under the ban, the blue crab season will be closed on commercial take and the use of commercial and recreational crab traps for 30 days. The new measures are expected to promote spawning while managing the present crab population. During this period recreational crabbers will still be allowed to use crab nets and lines.

Tchefuncte River Ray

2/13/2017

Keith Lusher

Ray Miller of Madisonville is an admitted sac-au-lait addict. “Oh yeah, I got it bad,” Miller says. The 67 year old fisherman says he started fishing for sac-au-lait at an early age and got really good at fishing the lakes in Henderson Louisiana, but since moving to the North Shore in 1998, catching crappie on the Tchefuncte has taken him to a new skill level. “That was a rude awakening for me. It was almost like I had to learn how to fish for sac-au-lait all over again. The Tchefuncte River is an adventure to say the least,” Miller says. One of the biggest adjustments for Ray was getting used to the tide that affects the rivers here on the North Shore. “In Henderson we we didn't have to deal with tides so after moving here and fishing the Tchefuncte, I knew I was going to have to get used to dealing with moving water,” he says. Ray talks about a recent trip in which the tide played a crucial part in finding fish. “We were fishing in the river and there was zero tide. Nothing! After 2 1/2 hours we only had 2 fish in the boat. Then the tide started to move and we stopped at one more spot.

Ray Miller shows off one of his many "slabs" caught this day on the Tchefuncte River

We were fishing a drop-off where it went from 14’ to 23’ and we started catching fish. On our way back we fished the same spots that we fished when there was no tide and we caught fish at all of them,” he says. Like most predatory fish, sac-au-lait feed when the bait presents itself and Miller says a moving tide helps stir the baitfish up. “There’s one spot where if it’s an outgoing tide I’ll catch them on one side of the brush pile and if it’s an incoming tide I’ll catch them on the other so it just depends on where it moves the baitfish,” he says. Miller has been fishing the main river but says it’s almost time to start move back into the dead end canals. At the end of February you really need to start working back into the canals. The fish move back into the shallows to spawn so the dead end canal will start producing,” Ray says. With the abnormally warm winter, anglers are reporting sac-au-lait chock full of eggs all across the North Shore which suggests the fish may be in the shallows earlier than normal. Ray says it’s a simple rig that he uses to fish the canals along the Tchefuncte. “I fish with a 1/64 oz. jighead. Something that’s going to sink really slow. I put a really small cork about 2’ above that and I’ll pitch it close to the shore and pop it and just let it settle. They’ll get excited when they hear the pop and then they’ll see the jig drop down slowly,” says Miller. As far as what color jigs to use. Ray says it’s all about what type of water he’s fishing. “If it’s clear water, I like the Monkey Milk color by Bobby Garland. If it’s muddy like it’s been recently, I like to use a mixture of orange, chartreuse, and white,”he says. When it comes to what type of day to fish, Ray says he tries to stay away from the sunny days. “I love to get out there when it’s an overcast day. If I have to fish on a sunny day I’ll get out there really early in the morning when the sun isn’t at a high angle,” Miller says.

Trestles Slowing Down!

2/1/2017

Keith Lusher

The phenomenal speckled trout bite at the Trestles that anglers have experienced last month seems to be over with the long lasting cold fronts that we have seen in late January and early February. Jeff Web of Mandeville made a trip to the iconic train bridge and says the water was cold and dirty. From the start of the trip, Jeff says his optimism started to diminish. We launched around 12:30 p.m. at The Dock. We met a nice couple pulling in and they had two specks from their morning trip. As we were heading out we passed a couple of guys heading in with nothing,” Jeff says. The family started trolling along the east side of the bridge. “It wasn’t a bad run to the bridge, but the west wind made it almost impossible to fish from the west side of the trestles. We mostly trolled chrome, green and blue rattletraps from 1:00 - 3:00. without a bite,” he says. So they picked up and headed to a more protected area in search of cleaner water. “The kids were getting impatient and the west wind was getting fierce, so we headed back in to try trolling the canals in eden isles. We saw lots of fish on the fish finder but still couldn't entice a bite, Web says. At the launch Jeff talked to another boat with the same results. “At the launch we met another guy that also struck out. Grand tally, I spoke to five boats, 4 fish. No one had better than 2 fish. You may want to consider different options until that west wind lies down,” he adds.

Bayou Bonfouca
Daniel Sissac and his father Roger fish bayou bonfouca year round. The bayou has so many things to offer such as bass, perch, trout, redfish, and sac-au-lait. But on their most recent trip to the bayou they were reminded that Bonfouca can produce catfish as well. The two started on the northern end of the bayou and found fast action using crickets under a cork. They then switched over to soft plastics and found the bass hitting along the warmer shoreline where the sun was shining. “We were fishing the inside of the grass line with Shu-Shu’s,” Daniel says. The father and son du ended the day with 75 perch, 7 catfish, and 4 bass.

Parrett steers his flatboat down Bayou Liberty loaded with christmas trees

Bayou Liberty
The sac-au-lait bite on bayou liberty is heating up quick. Chris Parrett of Slidell launched his flatboat at a friends house on the bayou and concentrated on certain areas of the bayou lined with wood. “I started throwing some bright colored tube jigs in the shaded areas. Electric Chicken and Matrix Mini's got me 7 really nice slabs,” Chris says. Parrett says he also put down some structure for future sac-a-liat trips. I also threw out 2 Christmas trees to target on my next trip,” he adds.

Sam Coco with his personal record trout caught from land in Oak Harbor

Personal Best
Sam Coco has been fishing the canals that meander through the Oak Harbor Subdivision in Slidell for years. He’s caught numerous spaces of fish while fishing from land including hundreds of speckled trout. But on his latest trip he caught his biggest trout he has ever caught. “I walked down to my favorite fishing hole in Oak Harbor and started throwing a sinking Mirr-o-Lure. About the fourth cast - as soon as the lure hit the water - fish on!” Sam says. The fish fought for about 8 seconds then Sam lost it. Sam says he thought it was a garfish but he casted back out to the same spot anyway. “I casted back to the spot where I lost it and BAM! Fish on again! But this time it was for good! I still wasn't sure what it was because it was pulling drag on Black Max Bait-caster. I got it to the shore and looked at it. I was shaking looking at this fish laying in the grass at my feet,” the frazzled angler says. Lying at his feet was a 24” speckled trout that weighed 4 lbs. 3 oz. “That was the biggest trout I had ever caught,” says Sam.

Unwrapping Memories

1/11/2017

Keith Lusher

As fisherman, we often get caught up in the new technology and devices that we think we need to catch more fish. As adults, we often know when to take advantage of obtaining these certain “toys” that we add to our arsenal to make us better anglers. Christmas is one of those times. I’m guilty of it and so are most of us. I don't care how old you are, it’s hard to not take advantage of the simple question of, “What do you want for Christmas?” During the days leading up to the big day this past Christmas, I found myself strategizing my wish list with fishing rods, reels, and lures that would make me a better fisherman. Objects that I thought I needed to catch more fish. After all, that’s what it’s about right? Catching more fish? Catching bigger fish? Catching fish makes us happy and isn’t that the secret to life? Being happy?
I’d like to share with you a story about grandfather who took a simpler approach to being happy this Christmas. Ralph McQueen lives with his his wife who he has been married to for 40 years. They live in Pearl River, Louisiana. Their daughter Marcee Pirie and her husband Frank Pirie have been living in a home in Livingston Parish until the flood in August destroyed the house and forced them to leave. Along with their 4 children, Marcee and Frank relocated to a camper where that the family of 6 have been calling home for the past 4 months. The new confines have taken a toll on their children, especially their two sons, Levy (7) and Luke (11). The two brothers fished in local ponds and canals near their previous home and with the relocation, haven't been doing much fishing lately. When school let out for Christmas vacation, Ralph decided to have the kids stay with him for a week. “When I picked them up I told my daughter that I was taking them saltwater fishing,” Frank says. The two boys have only been freshwater fishing catching perch and bass and were very excited to hear that there grandfather was taking them on a boat to catch speckled trout and redfish. “Oh, they were real excited! I think they planned the whole trip before I even knew where I was taking them,” Frank laughed. The veteran anger has been fishing Lake Borgne area for over 20 years and comprised a plan to take the boys to the Rigolets to try and catch a few trout and redfish. They traveled over the Rigolet’s Bridge and launched near Fort Pike and as they were exiting the canal, Frank pointed out the old cannons at the historic fort. The boys were in awe and bombarded their grandfather with questions. “At first they thought I was making it but I explained that the history of it. I told them that the fort was built to protect the area from pirates,” he said. It was about this time that Frank could sense that the furthest thing from their minds was their situation back at home. His thoughts became less about what lures they were going to use and what poles would give them the best opportunity to catch more fish. His mission was now about bringing forth more smiles and excitement that he saw emanating from the two youngsters. Frank opened the engine up on his Carolina Skiff and the boy's faces went from simple smiles to pure jubilation as the wind poured through their hair. “Their faces lit up! Have you ever seen someone smile with their mouth open? Those smiles were priceless,” he says. Frank began to feel more of the happiness transpiring from the boys into him. As they reached their destination near the shoreline in the Rigolets channel, Frank baited their hooks with live shrimp and watched as Luke casted out. He then casted out Levy’s line.

Luke is all smiles with his 36" redfish

Within 15 minutes, Frank heard a commotion in the back of the boat and looked over his shoulder to see Luke hunched over the side of the boat hanging on to his rod as it bowed over. Frank knew that it was a redfish. “All he kept repeating was ‘I got something! I got something!’ He’s always talking about how he’s a man so I let him reel it in by himself,” Frank joked. The fight lasted 15 minutes and as the fish neared, Frank told Levy to grab the net and prepare to scoop the fish when it came up. But when Levy spotted the bronze monster of a fish, he did something that Frank didn’t expect, “When the fish came up that boy dropped the net and ran to the other end of the boat!” Frank laughed. The grandfather grabbed the net from the floor and scooped up Luke’s fish. The boys stood in awe of the beast of the fish as Frank thrusted up a 36” redfish and placed laid it across the youngsters laps as they sat next to each other. Frank watched as the two brothers completely were removed from their reality. For the rest of the day the grandfather and his two grandsons never caught another fish. The trip would be labeled a failure by myself or any others who strive for better in this competitive world of fishing, but for Ralph McQueen, that one fish instilled more happiness in his heart than unwrapping any new fishing reel or depth-finder this Christmas. And it was all because he did something that most of have the opportunity and the duty to do more often than we do. He took a kid fishing. Please think back to when you were a child. How much happiness fishing brought to your life and the memories that you have of those special days. They didn't just happen. They weren’t unwrapped. They're there because someone took the time to take you fishing.

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