The Northshore Fishing Report

Bonfouca on Fire!

10/31/2016

Keith Lusher

With the recent cooler wether the trout action in the bayous has picked up. Daniel and Roger Sissac of Pearl River fished the bayou recently and Daniel says the catching started immediately. “We got on the water around 9:00 a.m. and ran to our first spot. Before I had a chance to get the trolling motor deployed, my dad had his line in the water and got a trout right away. Then I made my first cast and hooked a nice bass,” Daniel says. The team trolled the shoreline up and down the bayou and finished the day with 50 speckled trout and 4 bass. Daniel says the secret is to find the grass in the bayou. “The real secret is finding grass and ideally throwing parallel with the shoreline,” he says.

The real secret is finding grass and ideally throwing parallel with the shoreline

Polecat Bend Specks
Ronald Vincent of Slidell has been having success fishing Polecat Bend in Lake Borgne. He’s made two trips recently and on his first trip ended up with 13 speckled trout but says he lost a bunch getting them to the boat. “It was one of those crazy days where I hooked at least 10 to 12 16” to 18" trout that shook the hook halfway to the boat,” Ronald says. The bite shut down at 10:00 a.m. and Ronald called it a day. On his second trip he and his son decided to head back out to the same spot. “We launched in the Pearl River at Highway 90 and made a quick run down to Polecat Bend and fished the cuts and shoreline,” He says. This time they ended the day with 24 trout, 1 founder, and 1 redfish all caught on Lemonhead Matrix. Ronald says the best times for this area is still yet to come. “This area including the Pearl is about to get real good,” he adds. For those unfamiliar with Polecat Bend it’s the entire area that forms a banana-shaped coastline about two miles due north of the light marked as Green No. 15 and the buoy Red No. 16 of the Intracoastal Waterway.

In Memory of Dad
Dennis Smith of Lacombe lost his father 6 years ago but says he always makes his annual trip to remember his fishing partner. “I made my annual trip to my dad's favorite fishing area on Bayou Lacombe yesterday. I fish on this day every year in the same place,” Dennis says. The water was falling and Smith threw out a Chug-Bug with no results so he changed over to Rapala Minnow. “I missed the first fish but on the next next cast a fish hit the bait right next to the boat. It was only 8 inches from tip of pole. I landed him, kissed him, and raise him up to heaven for my dad then threw him back,” Says Smith. Dennis then changed to a Beetle Spin and reeled it fast over the grass and picked up 2 more. He ended his annual remembrance with a final tally of 5 bass.

Northshore Fishing Report Radio
Be sure to catch the next Northshore Fishing Report Radio Program on Saturday, October 29 from 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. on 3WL 1350 AM. Guests will include Captain Andy Jones of Wicked Charters talking Lake Pontchartain speckled trout, Darren Digby of Digby Outdoor Media who will be discussing the upcoming waterfowl season, and Daniel Sissac talking about Bayou Bonfouca speckled trout.

Bonfouca Specks

10/24/2016

Keith

Roger and Daniel Sissac know that this is the time when the trout invade the marshes and bayous along the North Shore. Their previous trips have yielded a couple of trout near Car Drive but for the most part, their trips have produced mostly bass. On their latest trip the father and son team headed back to Carr Drive. “We planned a trip for 6:00 a.m. but I was a couple minutes late so my dad threw the cast net a couple times off of the deck before I got there,” Daniel says. When Daniel pulled up, his dad had caught a few shrimp and pogies that they brought along to fish with. When they arrived at their first spot Daniel says things weren’t as active as on previous trips. “We didn’t see any bait or activity this time, not even mullets. We tried our favorite spots and only got one bass,” he says. They decided to head into the finger canals where they put another bass in the boat. The duo had a decision to make, fish the Eden Isles canals or head to Bayou Bonfouca. “After a thorough discussion with differing opinions, we decided to go to Bonfouca since we were so close. We coasted into the mouth and tried the ledge with no results,” Daniel says. They moved further into the bayou and started casting at a drain that came out of the marsh. “My dad’s first cast resulted in a keeper trout and my first cast got a chunky bass. We boated a couple more trout and bass but then the bite died,” he says. The two trolled along the marsh and picked up a few more in between drains. At the third cut, Roger switched over from the Shu-Shu Marsh Minnow and decided to try the shrimp he caught with his cast net. “The cork went down a couple times but when he got it back in there was only a shrimp head left. He re-baited and casted out again with the same results then quickly retired his live bait pole to return to plastics,” says Daniel. They continued to catch bass and trout while trolling along the marsh-line and ended the day with 15 bass and 41 trout. As the anglers were cleaning the fish they noticed something. “When we were putting the fish on the table we noticed that their was one shrimp left so we flipped a coin to see who would get the shrimp. On his next fish fry my dad will be having exactly one shrimp with his fish, Daniel jokes.

The Sissac's Bayou Bonfouca spread including one shrimp

Bayou Lacombe Fly Fishing

Fly fisherman John Zeringue knows that Bayou Lacombe can yield great results in October, so on his latest trip he decided to stop and get some live shrimp for the speckled trout that usually are in the bayou around this time. “I stopped in a Bayou Adventure to get for live shrimp and then I was off to Lake Road,” John says. The kayak fisherman from Denham Springs unloaded his ATAK 140 from his truck and began his paddle toward his first spot. “I was anchored at my first spot a little after 8:00 a.m. I fished a shrimp out of the bucket and made my first cast. Thirty seconds or so later I felt a tap tap on the end of my line but reeled in a bare hook,” Zeringue says. The excited angler rushed to get another shrimp and casted out again. “This time I felt a thud and set the hook on an 11” bass. I caught three more before I decided that I had found the fish,” he says. John decided to grab his fly rod and try out a new fly that would match the bait perfectly. “The EP Spawning Shrimp was the ticket! I put five more bass in the bag before I decided to use up what was left of the live shrimp. By 10:00 I had my limit of bass and was just fishing for fun,” Zeringue says.

Crab On Demand
For a lot of folks who live in South Louisiana, taking for granted the ease at which we catch seafood is something that we all partake in sometimes. On his latest trip, George Nunez of Slidell says he was torn between fishing and crabbing. “I wanted to fish but I really wanted some boiled crabs,” says George. So he headed to his crabbing spot down Old Spanish Trail. “I started just before 7:00 a.m. at the ole’ Salt Bayou crabbing hole and the bite was slow but steady. I finished up at 9:30 a.m. with 32 crabs,” Nunez says. For those of you who catch their own crabs, finding full crabs can be a daunting challenge but George says almost all of them were full and had decent size to them.

Loading up the boiling pot for a crab boil

Fall Fishing Seminar

10/6/2016

Keith Lusher

The 2016 NorthshoreFishingReport.com Fall Fishing Seminar was held at T-Rivers in Madisonville and with the onset of cooler weather the subject turned quickly to talk of speckled trout. John Zeringue of Denham springs opened the seminar by talking about fly fishing and covered many topics, such as his favorite places to fly fish for perch and bass on the North Shore, but it didn't take long for the speckled trout questions to pop up.

John Zeringue talking speckled trout on the fly

John said most folks think that speckled trout are off limits to fly fisherman but they can, and have been caught on a fly. “A lot of people think that fly fishing is for brim, bass, and redfish - Believe it or not but speckled trout will take a fly. The Clouser Minnow was developed by Bob Clouser in the 70’s. He was using it as a smallmouth bass fly up north but they work just as well down here for speckled trout,” John said. For those who want to fish it under a cork, John says there’s a solution. “There’s a funny little thing that we have in the fly fishing world, we don’t call it a pooping cork, we call it a VOSI, and what that stands for is Vertically Oriented Strike Indicator. What we do is take a 3” perch float, split it in half, and turn it with the flat side pointed toward the rod and it’s a popping cork for a fly rod,” John said.

The next guest was someone well known to the Bayou Lacombe fishing community. Forrest Green engaged the audience and chimed in on the much anticipated arrival of the trout into Bayou Lacombe. “They haven’t showed up just yet. Every year at this time people like to put it on the calendar and say ‘Ohhh they’re going to be here on that date’ - but fish have tails and they’re following the shrimp. This cool front we just had is probably going to do the trick so I’m thinking October 10th should be good for the trout in Bayou Lacombe,” Mr. Green said. To preoccupy his time until the trout show up, Green says he’s been catching a few sac-au-lait. “I’m catching them off the points of Bayou Lacombe along the north where the big ole’ cypress trees are,” said Green.

Mr. Green talking Bayou Lacombe

Cpt. Brooks Levy of OfFISHial Charters

Captain Brooks Levy of OfFISHial Charters continued the speckled trout theme by informing the audience of what he’s seeing in the area that he’s stationed out of - The Rigolets. “Right now we’re in that transition time. We’ve been fishing the Rigolets a lot and that Pear River area has been really good but those trout should start showing up at the Trestles soon,” he said. Levy added his thoughts to a question from the audience about what will happen in the next week or two. “I think it’s just going to get better from here on out. We’ve just had a cool front come through and water temps are going down so the Trestles is going to be turing on in the next week or so,” Levy said.

Captain Andy Jones of Wicked Charters

Captain Andy Jones of Wicked Charters is based out of Mandeville and says he's been anticipating the trout showing up further west and on his last trip it looks as if that’s about to happen. “We picked up some trout in Lake Catherine so I was kinda excited about that. So they’re starting to make they’re way this way. I thinking this week you need to look at areas like the Trestles and Highway 11 because it’s coming,” he said. Captain Andy added that the shrimp are making their way west. “I was out yesterday and saw a lot of shrimp. It actually turned into a bass fishing trip because it was bass that were chasing them so I’m thinking the trout will be right behind them,” Jones said.

Captain Mike Gallo of Angling Adventure of Louisiana

Captain Mike Gallo of Angling Adventures of Louisiana reiterated the nights theme of speckled trout moving into the bayou’s and marshes. “I’m thinking the middle of October. I’m accustomed to it taking a couple of cold fronts then you’ll see the shrimp start to move out and the trout start to come in. When those two cross you get a really good bite,” he says. Salinity has been lower than normal in the lake for this time of the year, but Mike said he doesn’t believe that will be a problem. “I still think the freshness of the water won’t bother those fish a bit. They’ll still come in a feed and it won’t be a problem at all. White shrimp are more tolerant than so they’re still there. Actually I’m seeing more shrimpers out there than I usually do so that gives me the impression that there’s more shrimp in the area,” Gallo said.

Fish, Shrimp, and Crabs

9/28/2016

Keith Lusher

Daniel Sissac and his father Roger, have been fishing the Carr Drive canal and catching bass every trip, but on their latest trip they decided to head to Bayou Bonfouca from their camp.
“Since the wind was light, we decided to run through the lake instead of trailering the boat,” Daniel says. So the father and son team left at daybreak and headed for Bonfouca. As the sun was barely over the horizon, Daniel noticed some activity not even five minutes into their journey. “We always keep an eye at the mouth of Carr Drive and this time we saw shrimp being chased! I pointed it out to my dad and he pulled back on the throttle and coasted us into trolling motor range,” Daniel says.

Carr Dr. Spread

As they neared casting distance to the shore, the team began casting and started catching. “My dad casted out first and he immediately got a rat red. I threw just after him and got a keeper trout. My dad's second cast got a keeper trout. We caught one more keeper trout and a couple that were half an inch too small until the bite died,” Sissac says. Before they picked up and continued on their ride to Bayou Bonfouca they noticed more action. “I trolled us into the canal and we began throwing our lures. I was using a Gunmetal Marsh Minnow and my dad used a regular Gunmetal Shu-Shu which he picked because it’s very close in color and has a flat tail like shrimp. I thought he may have been on to something because his first cast yielded a bass. Not to be deterred, I caught a bass on my second cast,” he says. The team worked their way into the canal and by the time they finally came out, tallied a total of 30 bass. What seemed like the end of a perfect trip, Daniel made the suggestion, “Kind of as a joke, I said ‘I should make a throw with the cast net to see if the shrimp were still there.’ I got it out of the bucket and made a cast. Tick, tick, tick,... Anyone who throws a cast net knows what the ticks are - things hitting the net as they try to swim out of it,” Daniel says. As he pulled the net to the surface he saw shrimp in the net and when he emptied it into the bucket there were 15 big shrimp counted. Daniel threw the net again and began to haul in the 5’ monofilament net. “This time I caught twenty shrimp! We were both dumbfounded but excited. I threw for a while and then my dad took over. We caught thirty pounds of shrimp and a few big crabs we saw swimming!” Sissac says. The opportunistic team brought the catch back to the camp and iced it down for the boil later on in the day. “We caught fish, shrimp, and crabs, and got to eat some boiled seafood - it was a pretty good day!” adds Daniel.

30 lbs. of shrimp caught with a cast net

Tchefuncte Clearing Up
One of the rivers that was impacted from the flooding last month was the Tchefuncte River. Martin Duvic fishes the river often and says that he’s noticed the water cleaning up. On his most recent trip Martin targeted sac-au-lait. “I fished the river from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The conditions were perfect! The water was clear and up a little and there was no water movement,” he says. Martin ended the day with a box full of sac-au-lait. “All fish were caught tight-lining with a black, green, and chartreuse tube on a 1/16 jig head,” he adds.

Tchefuncte River sac-au-lait

I Heart Redfish

9/18/2016

Keith Lusher

Taylor Valois of Slidell is no stranger to catching redfish. He’s probably caught over a thousand in his lifetime. Which means he’s come across thousands of black spots that are located on the tail fin. But on a recent trip to the ICW, Taylor came across a first for him - A redfish with a distinguishing shape on his tail. It happened on his last stop for the day. “Before I headed back, I decided to make one more turn down a dead-end canal with a small pond located at the end of it.

Taylor Valois

I saw one lonely red in the back corner and pitched my lure right past it and within seconds he nailed it! As I was cranking the copper mule back to the boat, I noticed he had a unique spot on his tail,” The intrigued angler says. Taylor sight fishes from a stand in his flatboat and wanted to make sure he got the rare fish in the boat. “Usually, I’ll flip reds in the boat from my sight stand because lets face it, getting down from that thing is not fun. Except this time, I didn't want the chance of breaking the line. I got the net, scooped the fish up and looked at the heart shaped dot that colored his tail,” He says. Taylor adds, “Normally I wouldn't make a big deal out of this but for me this was a once and a lifetime fish. I may never catch one this unique again.” Valois released the fish but still ended the day with 10 redfish and 1 bass all caught on Matrix Shad on an in-line spinner and Shu-Shu Marsh Craw on a weighted swim hook.

Tchefuncte Lunker

Drake Morvant

Drake Morvant lives in Covington but often finds himself making the drive to Lake Catherine for his fishing trips. On his most recent trip he made the decision to stay close to home because of adverse conditions. “Because of incoming weather and poor tidal movement, I decide to hit the Tchefuncte River instead,” he says. Morvant lives in Covington right on the river and says he started his day early. “I launched from the backyard at the crack of dawn and fished a few bayous and the river until the rain came. I caught five bass using a dark green worm with 3/8 oz. weedless hook. But lost two when they got tangled in lilies,” he says. Drake kept all his fish except one, a 4 lb. beauty that he caught in deep water 30 feet from the bank. Morvant added that the river is still muddy but he expects things to clean up soon.

First Time on Cane
Jacob Lacompte recently moved to Mandeville from Houma and admits he really doesn’t know where to fish on the North Shore. “I grew up in Houma but now that I'm here, I have no clue on where to even start fishing,”he says. The North Shore fishing rookie decided to try Bayou Cane and was pleasantly surprised. “Since it was my first time on Cane, I did a little more exploring than fishing. I threw a blue/white/chartreuse spinner and had a few bites. Then decided to pull up to a few cypress trees and try a little perch jerkin,” Jacob says. After catching a few goggle eye Jacob what surprised at what he hooked next. “ I caught a few goggle eye then missed a speck! The speckled trout definitely caught me off guard,” he says. It seems Jacob is learning the intricacies of marsh fishing and in a few weeks, speckled trout in the bayous will be a normal thing. But for now, Jacob says “All in all, it was a fun time exploring Bayou Cane and I can definitely see myself coming here a lot more.”

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