The Northshore Fishing Report

Trestles Producing into January

1/2/2017

Keith Lusher

It’s true that timing is everything when fishing on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Typically, the speckled trout bite slows as we head into the month of January. Stephen Hoffman of Mandeville fishes the Trestles and recently made a trip with a friend in which he knew catching specked trout might be dicey given the time of month.

Chartreuse colored plastics did the trick on this day

“I didn’t think it would go well,” Stephen says. But when the friends made it out to the train bridge they were pleasantly surprised when the first fish hit the box. We caught 3 or 4 nice ones and the rest were about 14-16 inch fatties,” Hoffman says. All of the fish were caught on plastics but Stephen says that there was one thing in common with all of the plastics that they used. “Everything we caught was caught on lures with chartreuse on it. That seemed to be the color,” he says. The team ended up with 20 trout and more importantly, an enjoyable day at the bridge.

Lucky Lighter
Adrienne Adams and her husband have been fishing the Oak Harbor area a lot lately.
“We just recently got into fishing, and we’ve been coming home with enough for dinner and a little extra,” Adrienne says. On there latest trip the couple stopped at a gas station for some energy drinks and Adreinne spotted something.

"I saw a lighter with a big mouth bass on it so I told my husband I was getting it because it was going to bring us luck!"

“I saw a lighter with a big mouth bass on it so I told my husband I was getting it because it was going to bring us luck! He looked at me like I was crazy, but then said okay,” she admits. When they arrived at there bank fishing spot they threw out live shrimp on there lines but the action was slow. I threw the first cast at 8:30 a.m. and It was a very slow start as we only caught 2 bass in the first hour and a half,” the dejected angler says. Then her husband reeled in a 22” sheepshead and after that, Adrienne says “The bass finally came alive. Once they started biting - it didn't stop! They were still biting when we finally called it quits around 3 p.m. We caught about 6 throwback bass and came home with the big sheepshead and 18 bass.” Adrienne credits the lighter for the trip. “This is the best luck we've had since we started fishing,” She jokes.

Causeway Still Unproductive
O’Neal Carriere depends on the Causeway as someplace close to home where he can fish for speckled trout. He made a trolling trip to the 24-mile reef to to check and see if the trout may have suddenly appeared at the tried and true fall fishing location but say his results were the same as on previous trips. “Zip, zilch, nada! I Don’t know what's going on out there. I marked a few fish but the water was a bit uncooperative in terms of chop. I wish could catch something closer to Mandeville, but it just doesn't seem to be happening right now,” Carriere says.

Trolling the Trestles

12/16/2016

Keith Lusher

I have to admit, I was never much of a fan of trolling for specked trout. The idea of dragging lures behind a boat and having to wait on a fish to jump on isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I’ve been on numerous trips where I’d see people catching trout while jigging, at the same time the boat I was in pulled baits through the water with the poles never bending.
I recently made a trip to the Trestles for a trolling trip with Captain Andy Jones of Wicked Charters, that made me reconsider my contempt for this “sport.” We we’re joined by “Rod N’ Reel Girl” Wanda Stewart and her fiancé, Joe France of Slidell. We launched at The Dock and made our way through the thick fog that made the dreary cold morning even more depressing. I have to admit that neither mine, nor Captain Andy’s outlook for the day was positive. I heard him mumble under his breath “You gotta be crazy” just before he gunned the throttle down and the 22’ Triton Sea Flight sliced trough the lake’s cold water. Not only was the weather raw, but we had just seen a cold front pass through which has been known to give speckled trout a case of lock jaw. We headed for the normally visible Trestles, but the dense fog made for a blind ride west as the fog was so thick that the lake had no horizon. I glanced over to the rods that were perched in the rod holders and saw drops running down the lines. This was the very definition of a raw morning in December.

The drawbridge at the Trestles peeks through the fog on a cold December morning

We arrived at our first spot at 7:45 in the morning. It was on the west side of the train bridge just past the 176 marker. Andy took a pole out and placed it in a rod holder protruding from the back of the center console of the boat. He flipped the bail on what looked like half of a pole and started letting line out. “These short rods are good for trolling because they’re durable. There’s no need for feeling the bite when trolling, the fish jumps on and you real em’ in,” Andy said. He grabbed another and fixed it to the other side. Both of these lines were rigged with Rat-L-traps as the main lure and from the hook of the crank bait, there was another line that lead to the trailer lure, a white B2 Squid.

"This is heart attack fishing without a doubt" says Joe France on his first hookup

Andy then handed Joe a 6.5 ft. pole with monofilament line and a green and white color MirrOLure. Joe started letting line out as we proceeded down the train bridge. For approximately 5 minutes our conversation got deeper as we focused less on fishing. We started talking about our jobs and how busy our lives had become and that when it happened. Mid sentence, Joe stumbled and made an about face as if his rod shocked him. The rod bent down and he started to crank. “This is heart attack fishing without a doubt,” Joe exclaimed as he cranked on the reel. The whole boat grew excited as we knew the trout were in the area but thought that the they would be hesitant to bite with the passing of the cold front the night before. Joe reeled the fish in and flung it over the gunwale of the boat. Is was as if it was what we need to make us concentrate on fishing. Joe opens the ice chest and tossed the cold silvery fish into it. Now, everyone was quiet. We all peered at the rods as if at any moment, a fish would jump on. It happened again, but this time one of the short rods that were in the rod holder snapped down and started flexing up and down. Andy yelled “fish on!” as Wanda grabbed hold and removed the rod from it’s station and began cranking.

Wanda Stewart hauls in her first trolling trout

The fish surfaced about 30 ft. from the back of the boat and surfed the way back to the boat as she hauled it in. The 18” fish flopped on the floor of the boat. “You can't beat the trout we have here! Most of the ones we’ve been catching are between 14”-18”,” he said. After celebratory high fives, she added the fish to the ice chest and we continued down the foggy path along the bridge. A few minutes went by without a bite and Andy pointed out that the water was a little dirtier, so he suggested that we crank up the big motor and head back to the 176 marker where we originally started. We all worked as a team to reel in the rods so that we could make the journey back to our starting spot and when we arrived we noticed more boats anchored in that spot. “When fishing the Trestles, typically the boats will tell you where the fish are. Unfortunately, where the most boats are is where the catching is happening,” Andy said as he pointed at all the boats. We threw out our lines and before the first line was completely out, Joe yelled “Whoa!” and began reeling. He turned the reel with a confused look on his face as if he didn’t know for sure that there was a fish on the other end of the line because the line was only 20 ft. out. After a few stern tugs from the fish Joe realized that he actually had a fish on the other end and put what was our third speckled trout in the boat. We continued down the path putting fish after fish into the boat on the second pass. We came across the murkier water, picked up our lines, and relocated once more for another pass. By this time we were a well oiled machine. We all knew what to do as we hardly spoke to on another. We put our lines back out and started down the familiar path down the bridge once more.

After a 5 minute span of no action, the pole nearest to me bent over and I immediately grabbed it. Instinctually, I set the hook which caused Andy to reminded me that I didn’t have to set the hook when trolling. “The natural speed of the boat is going to put that hook in the fishes mouth, and setting the hook often leads to ripping the lure out of the fish’s mouth,” he said. As I reeled the fish in, I could feel more resistance than usual. As the fish neared, I could see that it was clearly bigger than the ones we were flipping into the boat, so I told Andy to get the net. Instead, he dropped down on his knees at the side of the boat and snatched the trout from the water.

Andy Jones reaches down to grab a 21" speckled trout

Andy held up a 21” trout and everyone celebrated. “Thats the thing about trolling, you never know what’s going to jump on that line. It could be a 12” trout, or one like that! That’s what’s so exciting about it!” he exclaimed. After a few more speckled trout were caught, the fog worsened as the winds lied down and we decided to call it a day and head back to the launch. We ended the day just past noon with 35 big beautiful speckled trout and more importantly, a new appreciation for a style of fishing that it took me 42 years to warm up to.

Trestles Still Producing

11/28/2016

Keith Lusher

When it comes to catching speckled trout at the Trestles, It doesn’t take long for word to spread. This October left us with doubts as to whether or not the trout would even show up but with this latest cool front has seemed to do the trick. Boats can be spotted lining the bridge from the north shore to the south. Speckled trout anglers are averaging 15-20 trout a trip jigging the bridge with the average fish measuring in the 16” range. Taylor Valois fishes the train bridge and says it’s taken a while but we’ve finally entered the pattern that we usually see in October. “This fall has set up to be quite nice and will continue long enough for anyone to get in on the action. The trout are starting to leave the marshes and grass beds with that first hard cold front and we’re seeing them starting to show up on the bridge now,” he says. Taylor says when targeting trout on the Trestles, try and mimic what they are feeding on.

Taylor hold up on of the "quality" court caught at the Trestles

“When jigging the Trestles, start with a 3/8 oz. jig with a Ultra Violet Matrix or a Shu-Shu Gunmetal Slug. Both of these baits mimic the white shrimp, which are in the lake. Remember, count to ten when letting your bait fall, then continue jigging,” Valois says. Another fall treat that anglers will come across while fishing the bridge are flounder. Taylor says the flounder bite has been better toward the North Shore. “Flounder are showing nice numbers on the north end of the Trestles. “When fishing flounder remember if you feel the bite, set the hook hard,” he says. Taylor recommends tipping any plastic lure with dead shrimp when targeting flounder.

Miguel Gorordo

Biloxi Marsh
Anglers who make the journey across Lake Borgne to the Biloxi Marsh are being rewarded these days by limits of trout. Miguel Gorordo made the journey to the marsh on a recent trip and says the speckled trout are everywhere! “What’s been great is we haven’t fished the same spot on any of our trips and it’s been unbelievable!” he says. On his latest trip Miguel spotted some birds diving in a duck pond and stopped in to check it out. “When we showed up the birds were gone so we started casting Matrix Lemonhead on a 3/8 oz. jighead. Awesomeness is all I can say that happened next! The trout were nearly coming out of the water hitting the balls of bait,” he says. The Slidell angler says the redfish are back in the ponds as well and says a gold spoon did the trick when they had there fill of speckled trout.

NFR Radio
Northshore Fishing Report will be taking to the airwaves for it’s monthly radio program. Guests will include Brooks Levy, Andy Jones, talking speckled trout and Darren Digby will join the show to talk duck hunting. The show will air on Saturday, November 26 on 3WL 1350 AM from 7:00-8:00 a.m.

It's Trestle Time!

11/16/2016

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.

Shoreline Specks

11/7/2016

Keith Lusher

For Lake Pontchartrain fisherman, the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain goes ignored for the majority of the year. Sure, there’s the occasional lone wolf chasing redfish during the summer months, but for the most part, the shoreline between the mouth of Bayou Bonfouca and the mouth of Bayou Cane is a stretch of marsh that rarely appears in the background of photos taken with people holding fish. And then there’s the month of October. Like clockwork the trout show up and the boats can be seen lined up just as thick as the crab trap floats that dot the lake. But this year things appear to be running behind. That speckled trout bite that anglers usually count on toward the end of September didn't happen. “It looks as if things are about a month behind from where we were last year, says Forrest Green of Lacombe. Mr. Green has lived in Lacombe all his life and says he was never worried about the trout not showing up. “Fish have tails. They’re not going to do the same thing year after year. They don’t see what you write in your calendar stick to that schedule,” he jokes. I made my annual fishing trip with the jovial Mr. Green and although it was about a month behind when we usually make our speckled trout quest, it was just as good of a trip as ever.

Mr. Green launches a trout into the boat

We met at Bayou Adventure in Lacombe and headed down to the launch at the end of Lake Road. Mr. Green backed the boat down into the water and by 6:30 we were cruising out of Bayou Lacombe and along the eastern shoreline. Our first stop was along stretch of marsh almost to the mouth of Bayou Bonfouca. After a few casts without any results I started to doubt the spot, but with the sudden tilt of the boat and a “fish on” those doubts quickly eroded. Mr. Green swung the first fish into the boat, a 14” speckled trout that sent a wave of excitement not only through me, but the line of boats that peppered the shoreline. As the sun slowly rose over the camps along Carr Drive in the distance, we put trout into the boat. The bite wasn’t fast, but none the less, it was consistent. We slowly worked our way back towards Flat Point and it finally happened. For those of you who fish the shoreline during the fall season, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Shrimp started popping out of the water franticly trying to escape the underwater predators. Mr. Green casted over to the action and set the hook on a fish and I watched as his pole bowed over. I could tell he had a solid fish but my initial thought was that it was a redfish. Then it surfaced and the head shaking let me know that this was no redfish. This was a big yellow mouth. As I caught the fish vicariously through Mr. Green, something jerked my attention back to my cast. It was that unmistakable thump of a Lake Pontchartrain speckled trout. I swung the pole back and as fast, the fish pulled it back down toward the water and I was reeling in another 3 lb. shoreline speck and just as soon as Greenie plopped his trout onto the bow of the boat, I had mine flopping right along side. That school of big fish came through fast and the bite didn't last long but we managed 5 or 6 within 5 minutes. As the excitement wore off and the bite slowed, Mr. Green launched into his Lake Pontchartrain speckled trout spiel. “There’s nothing - I mean nothing, like catching big beautiful Lake Pontchartrain speckled trout in the fall! This is living, he shouted. We worked our way west towards Bayou Lacombe and ended the day with 25 quality speckled trout all caught on plastics. Mr. green adds that it’s only going to get better. Green “I think these fish are going to work further west before before the cold fronts, before those big North Western’s start rolling through,” Green says.

Ending the day in Bayou Lacombe with a box of beautiful shoreline specks

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