NorthshoreFishingReport.com released it’s March Fishing Forecast and the unanimous theme for the freshwater rivers and bayous is the pre-spawn. This is the month that bass start preparing their beds and anglers across the Northshore are totally changing there tactics when bass fishing. Patrick Engerran is no stranger to catching big bass and he says the Pearl River area is home to quality bass and catching them this month is just as possible as in April. “There are numerous thoughts on spawning and enough articles written to fill a library.  Some say the biggest fish spawn first and some believe bigger fish spawn shallower or deeper. I think each fish is different and have unique triggers that make them go,” Engerran says. Patrick gives the Pearl River area 3 out of 5 ranking and says that you shouldn’t let the high, moving water discourage you from fishing the Pearl. “Even with the river high, the fish will find safe places to lay eggs out of the current in areas that are protected from the water.  Marsh ponds and any dead ends will hold the majority of the spawning population but any place where the current is blocked could have a bed.  With the high water look for beds a little deeper if the water is really clear.  Fish will know that they need to protect their eggs from falling water and will make their beds in spots that they feel secure will hold water,” He says.   


Bayou Bonfouca
Daniel Sissac has been fishing Bayou Bonouca for decades and says the pre-spawn is in full effect and some fish already have eggs. “Water temperatures are beginning to rise, and the the bass have noticed. Many have had eggs for weeks now, and some of the early spawners are preparing their nests already,” he says. Daniel says right now is the time to take advantage of the fish that are in the pre-spawn phase. “The males will be moving shallower to select an appropriate location to build their nest, but the females will not be far away. Look for the ladies to be hanging out in deeper water close to the spawning grounds. Both males and females will be feeding now in anticipation of energy expenditure and fasting that will happen once they are both on the nest,” he says. Daniel gives a tip for fishing Bonfouca this month - “One method my dad and I like during this time of the year is to rig a Shu-Shu weightless and ‘walk’ it over the grassline. Make sure the eye of your hook is embedded in the lure, and splitting the tail disproportionately will help it to ‘walk’ with less effort, Sissac says. Daniel gives Bayou Bonfouca  a 4 out of 5 ranking for the month of March. 


Eden Isles
Nick Church fishes the Eden Isles area and gives the wharf and bulkhead lined shorelines of the neighborhood a 4 out of 5 stars for the month of March. Church says this is a breath of fresh air from previous months. “The fishing has become more active the last few weeks.  January and February were really slow but things are starting to heat up,” he says. In his March forecast, Nick talked a lot about the water conditions in Eden Isles. “I noticed the other day the water temperatures are rising quickly.  I thought the water would be affected from the spillway being opened up last month, but it has not been affected.  The water has become murkier around the Dockside launch, but further back into the canals the clarity gets better,” he says. For bass fishermen that fish the Eden Isles canals, Nick says the shoreline is the where the action is. “I have found bass hugging close to the shoreline areas with low water as they are preparing to bed.  Zoom lizards will be a good soft plastic to throw on bedding bass and don’t forget to fish the points of the canals with jerk baits,” he says.

Now’s the time that kayak angler Jeff Kreller typically starts fishing for speckled trout along the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. But with murky, freshwater that has inundated the lake, Jeff didn’t expect much speckled trout action. So when he set the hook on his first bite and reeled it in, Kreller had his doubts as to what he was holding in his hand 

“I found him in dirty, fresh water, and it’s the right time of year for them. He had spots on him and was white and silver. So I thought it might be a sac-a-lait!” Jeff jokes. Jeff’s short afternoon trip proved to be a unexpected but very successful speckled trout trip for this time of the year as he caught numerous trout from 13” - 19” in length. Jeff says there was no particular pattern to the bite. “I caught them on everything. I used H&H or Hybrid paddle tails on and off a cork. I used a shallow crank and a suspending stick bait. Some bites were aggressive but most were very subtle,” he says. One thing that Jeff did pick up on was that the trout seemed to be in tight schools and adds, “It’s my belief that they were in tight small schools cruising by and you needed your lure in the right ‘lanes’ as they passed. 
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Rice Fields Canal

With the opening of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway, many Lake Pontchartrain anglers were of the opinion that the spring trout run that the lake is know for, may be in jeopardy. When Ponchatoula angler Justin Bowles ventured to the bridge, the last thing he thought he would catch was a trout. “I’ve been watching the Modis satellite and I knew that there was a good pocket of good water on the Northshore around 3 miles out, so I thought it was a nice day to head out and run the boat,” he says. Justin noticed boats trolling like they typically do around this time but never thought much of it until he started seeing them reeling fish in. “We didn’t see anybody jigging out there , everybody was trolling and they were catching fish. We saw them trolling and pulling in fish,” Bowles says. Justin ended the day with 17 big speckled trout and says the water clarity seems to be coming back.

February is here, and at first glance the only see you might notice is muddy water and cold temperatures, none of which are favorable for fishing with one the exception to a certain kind of fish that we like to refer to down south as sac-au-lait! Martin Duvic has been fishing the Tchefuncte River for sac-au-lait since 1991 and says the fish are definitely there if you put in the time to find them.

There’s an old saying, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Tony Cyprus Jr. of Mandeville says “When Lake Pontchartrain hands you chocolate milk, catch redfish!” With the opening of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway, catching speckled trout in Lake Pontchartrain has become more of a challenge than convincing my 10 year-old that Mardi Gras was cancelled this year. But Tony Cyprus Jr made a trip out of Bayou Cane and says “The water looked every bit like the muddy Mississippi.” Tony’s made his way out to Goose Point without any results but it was on his way back that his luck changed. “As I made my way slowly and methodically back towards Cane, basically fishing the shelf between Goose Point and Cane, a beast of a redfish inhaled my lure!” he says. After a few minutes of fighting the monster, Tony’s line broke. “I could tell the red was turning his head to snap line with the razors on both sides of his big ole bowling-ball sized head,” Tony says. After re-rigging, Tony worked his way back to Bayou Cane and hooked up with another redfish. “I carefully fought the beast, hoisted him into net, and dropped him in box. He darn-near opened the box with his strength,” Tony says. The fish weighed in at 13 lbs. and 30”. 


Jeff Kreller is another avid speckled trout angler that refuses to hang his head because of recent water conditions. “Nobody wants to fish the Lake because of the spillway! You want to cry about how the water looks?  Call your momma and she'll listen, cause I ain't gonna,” Kreller says. Jeff fishes out of a kayak and launched at the old Tite’s launch at the foot of the Hwy 11 Bridge and says he saw a lot of birds around catching baitfish but couldn’t find any trout. “I couldn't buy a trout!  Not even from a commercial line runner (troller) I spoke to out there, but I did find reds! Strong, big, & fat reds that had my drag screaming and my yak ramming into the pilings! Fun stuff for sure,” Jeff says. Reports of drum being caught have been more plentiful as of late but Jeff says he didn’t catch any drum. “I didn't run into any drum, but line runner said they've been doing decent with them. I would suspect that if one were to pull a Rat-L-Trap or hug the pilings with some really stinky bait, they'd find even more heavy pullers than I did,” he says. Jeff reminds the saltwater anglers, “The Lady's (Lake Pontchartrain) a little tougher right now, but there's things to be found if you try!”