When it comes to fishing here in South Louisiana, one fish is clearly king. Whether your chasing birds on the Lake, or jigging the bridge pylons, speckled trout is the one species of fish that will send even the most mild mannered fisherman, into a barrage of questions such as where, what bait, and how many? But the latter question isn’t that important to Slidell speckled trout angler, Taylor Valois. Taylor fishes the Trestles every spring and fall when the action picks up on the bridge, and say’s it’s not about how many trout he catches when he fishes the train tracks, it’s the quality of the fish. “Your fall bite is not about getting limits. A lot of people will look at it like - ‘if you’re not catching a limit, well then you’re not catching.’ To me, it’s more about catching quality fish this time of year at the Trestles. If I can go out and put ten fish in the box that are over 18”, I would rather do that than catch a bunch of smaller 12” fish,” Valois says. Taylor says the reason for the bigger fish showing up on the bridges in Lake Pontchartrain is simple. “It’s the structure. They can ambush prey around that structure. The bigger the fish are, the smarter they are. I like to think of it like hunting. You don’t see those big bucks walking around in the open,” Taylor says. 


Causeway Trout

With the colder weather finally arriving here on the North Shore, the speckled trout bite at the Causeway Bridge has only gotten better for Lawrence Lemoine of Ponchatoula. Lawrence and his son have been fishing the bridge the whole month and says he is seeing the biggest fish of the season right now on the 24-mile reef. “These are really, really big fish we’re catching right now,” Lawrence says. On his last trip to the bridge, Lawrence and his son was hoping to duplicate a previous trip where they caught a nice box of trout. 

“Me and my oldest son ventured out to the Causeway at first light to see if the big trout were still there. A couple of casts into the trip and the answer was a football shaped 4 lb. trout. Man was he fat,” Lemoine says. Like most fishing trips on Lake Pontchartrain. The wind can affect every aspect of the trip. Lawrence says the wind did get in the way but perseverance paid off in the end. “The wind was a pain but the bites were there and most of them were pretty aggressive,” he says. The Ponchatoula angler says that the fish came in spurts. “When we did get a bite, we bombarded the pilings, jigging every possible direction and often were rewarded with multiple fish,” he says. When the team called it a day, they ended up with thirty 2 lb. - 3 lb. speckled trout, 2 redfish, and 2 flounder. 

The December Fishing Forecast has been published at NorthshoreFishingReport.com and the mild temperatures we’ve seen this month has definitely extended the fall bite along the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain.


Eden Isles is among the hot-spots in December. Nick Chruch fishes Eden Isles weekly and says the wintertime bite doesn’t necessarily mean you have to fish deep. “With the winter months upon us, we tend to think that we need to automatically start fishing deep.  

I was always told growing up to fish vertically in the winter because the fish tend to move toward deeper water where it is warmer during the cold months.  But here in South Louisiana, of course that rule of thumb doesn’t exist.  You can still find bass close to the shore,” Church says. One thing that the bass angler from Slidell says you’ll have to change is your tackle, when fishing the canals. “The water has been super clear the last few trips out to Eden Isles, so a slow retrieve with a shallow crank bait in a baby bass color is always a good choice during these next few months,” Nick says.

Lake Borgne has produced fish this fall but in December, Captain George Seibert, of Fishmeister Charters, says things are changing with the cold weather. “December fishing in Lake Borne gets a little tough after the cold fronts start coming one after another.  The lake itself will not produce much, if any, at any of the rigs.  The water temperature is just to cold and it’s not deep enough there to hold fish,” Seibert says. Right now we haven't seen the really cold air push through, but when it does, George says to concentrate on the well-known holes in the area. “You need to fish the deeper holes when the water gets cold and as it heats up, fish the shore back to the ledges to find them. There are a few spots that should produce some fish if you venture out to them. Puppy drum, redfish, and trout can all be caught in the cold weather, you just have to remember to fish the deep holes.  Little Dee Dee, the hole at Unknown Pass in Lake Borne, and Blind Bayou at Shell Point are all some spots that you’ll be able to put a few fish in the box,” George says. George concludes with saying the plastic bite will soon outproduce live shrimp due to the colder water temperatures during the latter half of the month. “Live shrimp will work, but remember, the fish are lethargic and jigging plastics across them will be more productive than the fish finding a shrimp that sits in one place,” he says.


The Biloxi Marsh rates high in December with a 4/5 rating. Buddy Hereford fishes the marsh and says what is normally a good bite in the lagoons, hasn’t been so far in December. “With the warm water, the lagoons should be alive with bait and whatever eats them, but the fact is, the lagoons have been a tough fish so far. The deep canals and bayous have had the best bite,” he says. Buddy says that the fish have been scattered but that should change in the upcoming weeks. “The water temperatures have held in the 60’s and the fish are scattered. With the cooler water from the latest fronts, the trout should bunch up at intersections and drains into main bayous,” Hereford says.

With the colossal sales offered at the stores and malls, it’s no secret that Black Friday is quickly becoming a holiday in and of itself. But while the outlets, stores, and malls get all of the attention for their sales, there’s another location that’s actually giving something away. That something is speckled trout, and if you head down the Intracoastal Waterway to the Great Wall, you’re chances of cashing in on this giveaway are almost a “lock”.

I received a call from fishing prodigy Luke O’Neal on Thanksgiving morning. Luke hasn’t been doing as much fishing in South Louisiana since he started college at ULM in North Louisiana this fall. Between hitting the books and trying out to make the ULM Bass Team, Luke has been keeping busy “up north”.  But if there’s anything that can bring O’Neal down south, it certainly was the speckled trout free-for-all that always takes place around this time at the wall. “It’s quickly becoming my go-to spot for this time of year,” Luke says. As soon as I saw the call come in, I turned to my wife and asked “Can I go fishing tomorrow?” My wife doesn’t speak sign language, but the look she shot me screamed “I don’t care what you do tomorrow, I’m going shopping!” So when Luke asked if I was free to go speckled trout fishing with him and his friend Devin Ricks, I accepted without hesitation.

The plan was to get out early, as we both knew this was the mother of all fishing days. We launched at Southshore Bait & Marina at the ridiculous time of 5:00 a.m. and arrived at the wall by 5:30. It was still dark but we had achieved our goal of beating the crowd to the coveted water next to the concrete structure. 

“It’s so important to get out here early in order to get a spot in November, especially on Black Friday,” O’Neal says. Although we were guided by a full moon, things were relatively dark so Luke pointed to the lights that shined down into the water along the opening of the wall where the channel came through. “Let’s try the light’s,” he said. Then we tied up along the side of the channel and grabbed our poles. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Devin swing his rod back and heard the phrase every speckled trout loves to hear, “Got one! They’re here!” Luke and I both scrambled for or rods while the equation of “1 fish on 1 cast = limit” ran through our heads. 

“We casted out, and quickly added two more to the chest. Just then a beam of light appeared and shined on us. It was a barge moving into the channel. Begrudgingly, we untied and moved to the a safer spot on the inside of the wall. It was a good move as not long after, boats started showing up to claim there spot along the structure. There was a definite difference in fishing the lights and fishing in the dark as none of us had a strike for 20 minutes. All of a sudden, just as the sky went from black to pink, it was like a switch was flipped! Every boat was catching fish with the rising of the sun. “It’s strange how that happens because you know they are there, but when that sun comes up it’s like someone turns on the light switch. Everyone starts catching them when the sun comes out,” Luke said.  We stayed in the coveted “corner” spot and flung trout after trout into the boat. I took a moment to take in what was happening around me and had to smile.

 It seemed like everyone was catching fish whether they were throwing plastics or live shrimp.  We stayed in our little corner for 3 hours putting together a beautiful box of speckled trout that morning all caught on combination of Shu-Shu’s, Matrix Shad, and Vudoo Shrimp. Throughout the morning, current was never a problem as the water constantly flowed along the wall. Luke says that tidal flow is very important to finding fish at the wall “You’re going to want some tide movement. My favorite is a falling tide. It pulls the bait through those big runners and out of the wall and really stacks those fish up. As the tide comes through the gaps in the wall, it makes eddies and if you can fish those eddies you’ll find the trout,” he says. Luke says the time for live shrimp may be coming to an end due to the colder weather. “Shrimp are better when there are a lot of shrimp down there. Typically before it gets cold. It’s kind of strange how it happens out there but you’ll see people with live bait out there and as it gets colder and colder it seems like plastics will take over. Often times you’ll see boats with live shrimp and they’ll switch over to plastics because the plastics are outfishing the live bait,” O’Neal says. 

The Causeway is one of the most polarizing places to fish in Lake Pontchartrain because of so many factors including salinity, water clarity, and depth. But Curtis Finn of Abita Springs, made a trip to the 24-Mile Reef, and says it was the wind that was the biggest obstacle to catching fish. 
“We made it out about two miles or so before we found those nice white capped waves and I thought to myself ‘Man - this is not how I wanted to start the day,” Curtis says. Curtis and his friend started out tossing Matrix Shad in the Magneto color on 3/8 oz jig heads and says 

“It proved difficult to get to the bottom with the wind and waves, but once we found where they were sitting - it was on! We picked up 21 very nice trout after fishing about 25 sets of pilings,” Finn says. Normally, fishing 21 pilings would be an easy accomplishment but Curtis says the wind made it very difficult on this day. “Trying to keep the boat positioned in the sweet spot made fishing those 25 sets take forever,” he says. Finding a pattern on the Causeway can be tricky, but Curtis says on this trip they had the most success casting past the pilings. “We setup south of the target piling and were casting 15-20 feet past the piling and about 6 feet west of the bridge. We let it bait hit the bottom and worked it back to the boat, rubbing the bait across the bottom of the target piling. The current was working against the wind and would push the bait into the piling on bottom,” he says.


Plan “B”

Ponchatoula angler Lawrence Lemoine and his son made a bass fishing trip to the East Pearl River where they were greeted with a full parking lot of boats and trailers. “We pulled up to the launch only to find out that there was 3 bass tournaments going on.  On top of that, duck season was in full swing,” Lawrence says. Often a fisherman’s initial intuition is right, but something told Lawrence to give the crowded river a try. “We launched anyway and headed to my spots with only 2 bites by 9:00 in the morning. The water was really high and dirty with high winds to boot,” Lawrence says. After trying a few more spots with the same results, Lemoine decided to pick up the boat and head over to Bayou Bonfouca where they found much better conditions. “The water was clean, in the mid 60’s, and incoming. We started catching bass on small crank-baits but it was kind of slow untill we went to suspending jerk baits and it was non stop action! The bass were hitting minnows and perch but just couldn't resist a jerk bait suspending in 4’ of water,” Lawrence says. While Bayou Bonfouca didn’t produce big bass like the father and son team were looking for on the Pearl, Lawrence says “Its important to always have a Plan B when fishing the Northshore because it can pay off.”


Lake Pontchartrain Salinity 

With all the recent rains we’ve seen, it would make sense that the salinity levels in Lake Pontchartrain would have taken a hit this month. But the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation’s Hydracoast Map shows that the salinity levels are still relatively high. Salinity levels at the Causeway read 5.8 PPT (parts per thousand) and levels at the Twin Spans in Slidell had a reading of 8.0 PPT from November 2th-8th. When compared to last years levels of 2.8 PPT at the Causeway and 6.0 at the Twin Spans, this years levels are proving to be higher by at least 2.0 PPT. 


Eastern Zone Open

The 2015 Eastern Zone Hunting Season for waterfowl in now open and Jacob Simms of Folsom reminds anglers to be aware of those hunters back in the ponds early in the morning. “I’m an avid fisherman, but those duck hunters have such a limited time to do what they love that I always give them first dibs on the water during this time of year,” he says. Duck hunters across Southeast Louisiana have been waiting for the cold weather to push the waterfowl south and it looks like they’re wish has been granted with the latest powerful high pressure system that pushed through. “I was a little worried about this year but it looks like we are going to be alright. I’ve already strapped out a limit on some pubic land,” he says.

It’s about that time! Water temperatures are dipping into the lower 70’s and with the rainy days we’ve been seeing lately, the speckled trout have moved out of the bayou’s and are now settling in on the 24-mile artificial reef known as the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Todd Shultz of Mandeville made a trip to the bridge one morning and says the trout bite is early, but not too early. “We got our there at daylight but didn’t really start catching fish until the sun came up a bit. You want that sun to start coming out through the fog and it seems like that’s when they start biting,” Todd says. 

Shultz and some friends found most of the fish 4 miles out from the North Shore and says the size of the fish are consistent with the trout normally taken from the bridge around this time. “All of the 22 trout we caught were in the 18”-20” range, so these are really fat fish we’re finding out here,” he says. The bridge is also known for producing quality trout when trolling, and Todd says he thinks the trolling bite should start picking up in the next few weeks. “I made a cast out the back of the boat and was dragging my lure and actually caught one, so that gives me reason to believe that the trolling bite should pick up soon,” Shultz says. An absolute must for fishing the Causeway is a trolling motor and Shultz warns “You’re not going to be able to catch fish out there without a trolling motor out there. You have to be able to stick and move out there,” He says. Shultz owns Dixie Trolling Motors & Outfitters in Mandeville and recommends the IPilot by Minn Kota. “I tell people all the time, If they want to buy a motor that does all the work, the Pilot is the motor to buy.” 


Pumpkin Patch Still Open

Taylor Valois of Slidell has been sight fishing for redfish all summer with plenty of success. But with the recent trout bite going on, Taylor wanted to switch gears and take part in some action at the Great Wall on the Intracoastal Canal. Valois and his friend Ryan, headed out one morning only to find the trout fishing wasn’t what he expected. “Being that the day started with cloudy skies and a falling tide, I figured we would find trout easily,” Taylor says. 

The team struggled to pick up a few trout and that’s when Taylor decided to see if the redfish were still back in the duckponds. “When I felt the sun shining on the back of my neck and the sight of the clear reflection of the sky on the slick water, it wasn’t even a decision to contemplate,” Valois says. Taylor and his friend made a run to a familiar duckpond along the ICW and started picking up what he likes to call, “Pumpkins and a Pumpkin Patch.” “Between the high tides and the the rain, I thought the pumpkin patch would be closed for the fall. I was wrong. Luckily I strapped the platform on my boat the night before so from that vantage point I could see three reds bedding on a pile of snot grass as I entered into the pond,” Taylor says. Every fishing trip is usually highlighted by a special moment and Taylor says that his moment was something he’ll never forget. “I sighted a beautiful copper top and pitched my lure 2ft in front of his nose, popped it twice, then let it drop only to see the parting of the red sea. I’ve never seen a redfish jump completely out of the water until today. When I got him to the boat I could see two other redfish following him,” Valois says. The team had there limit and left the fish biting. Taylor says all the fish were caught on Chartreuse colored Matrix Shad and Shu-Shu’s.

Veterans Day Reflection

For James Brasfield of Slidell, Veterans Day had a whole new meaning this year. James is a veteran himself and recently received the news that his cousin had been killed while on duty in Jordan.