This month anglers on the Northshore have many options to choose from when deciding what type of fish to target. Ponchatoula fisherman Lawrence Lemoine has been fanning out over the Northshore and has made three trips to three different areas. He started his week by making a bass fishing trip to Bayou Liberty where he says he caught lots of small fish along the wood structures. On his next trip he decided to fish Liberty’s neighbor, Bayou Bonfouca, where he did well early in the morning. “Friday, I hit Bonfouca and caught some quality fish on top-waters early.  Later in the day, I caught some smaller fish fishing the grass lines along the shore,” Lemoine says. 

On his most recent trip he took his son along and the duo found some bass in the marsh on the East pearl. Lawrence started fishing top-waters, while his son used soft plastics. “On my second cast I put a football sized bass in the boat. On my 5th cast I caught a spawned out 3 pounder. Things were looking good with the top water baits as my son was struggling to feel the bite with soft plastics. I told him that it would be soon enough that he'll start catching up as it got later in the day,” Lawrence said. That thinking came to fruition as the water temperatures started to rise. “On one stretch of stumpy bank, I threw my top water and didn’t get any bites. My son threw his soft plastics and caught 4 on the same stretch of stumps. Now I ain't stupid!  We both fished soft plastics on the bottom for the rest of the day catching 30 to 40 bass only to leave them biting at the end of the day,” Lemoine says.



Grand Lagoon Bank Fishing

Gabe Scoefield and his family recently moved from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina to Slidell and has been fishing the Grand Lagoon from the concrete wall opposite of “The Dock”. On his last trip he ended up with a nice mix of fish. “We started around 11 am. and finished at 5 pm. with 8 spotted trout - The largest being 18". My wife caught some channel cats and my 6 year-old caught some cats along with some croakers,” Gabe says. Scofield says the trout were feeding on the bottom close to the concrete structure. “The trout were hitting closer to the wall. I tried using a top water lure but had no luck so I tried a Matrix Tiger Stripe lure with red Golden Eye jigs and that did the trick.” he says. Being from North Carolina, Gabe admits he’s a little lost when it comes to fishing here on the Northshore and that he is eager to find new places to fish. Grand Lagoon is super convenient for me because I live in the condos right there, but I know there are other places - I just don't know how to get there,” he says. 


Northshore Fishing Report Radio

Readers of NorthshoreFingingreport.com and the Northshore Fishing Report weekly column in the Slidell Independent and Tammany West Publication will now have one more way to consume NFR. The first Northshore Fishing Report Radio Hour aired on Don Dubuc’s “More Outdoors with Don Dubuc” on Saturday, May 23 from 7:00 am – 8:00 am. and was a huge success! The show will continue to air every last Saturday of the month on WWWL 1350 AM. A special thanks goes out to everyone who has supported the website and thank you to all the readers of the NFR column in the Slidell Independent and Tammany West Newspapers!

Tournament Results

Liars and Lunkers held its tournament on the West Pearl and it was the team of Clay Zeringue and Tommy Cooper who came out on top with a 5-fish stringer weighing 14.58 lbs. The team also won the big fish award with a 3.94 lb. bass. The win bumps Zeringue up to the #2 spot in the NBS Power Rankings and Cooper moves to the #5 spot. In second was the team of Charles Dauzat and Mark Mohr who weighed in a 10.90 lb. stringer. The teammates move into a tie for the #4 spot in the Power Rankings. Morgan and Phil Schutte took third with a bag weighing 8.24 lbs.

Upcoming Tournaments 

The next Bass Assassins tournament is set for the Tchefuncte River on June 7th.  If you have any questions you can call Chris Basey at 985-707-7857.

Liars and Lunkers will be holding its tournament on June 14th at Crawford’s Landing. For more information please call Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.

It was just like any average day at work for Covington resident Walter Albarado. Walter is an animal nuisance control officer and got a call to rid a facility of some skunks that were holed up in a building off of Lee Road in Covington. After the job he spotted a pond on the property and that all too familiar itch, needed to be scratched.  “I love to bass fish! I’m a bass fishing fool!  I always carry my spin cast rod with me - so I asked the lady if she mined if I took a few casts in the pond. She told me that I could and that the pond hadn’t been fished in years,” Albarado said. On Walters first cast, he set the hook on a bass but missed it. “I was just bouncing a black and silver Jupiter worm off the bottom and I missed the-biggest-bass,” he said. Walter didn’t want to stay long so he planned on coming back another time to see if he could trick the lunker into biting again. “I came back about two days later with my other rod and reel and a handful of plastic worms. 

It was on the first cast that I hit him,” he says. It took Albarado 18 minutes to land his enormous trophy bass and says “He jumped on me three times. I know when they jump; you have to keep line tight so I was sweating it.” Walter says he thought ahead and knew to wear his water boots. He had a woman that worked on the property; hold his pole while he waded into the water to lip the beast. “I walked out in the water, grabbed him by the mouth, and took him in. I was stunned. It was pretty amazing! I knew it was the biggest fish I’ve ever caught. When I put both my fists in his mouth I told everybody that it was going to go over 14 lbs,” Walter exclaimed. Until now, Walter’s biggest bass was a 9 lb. bruiser he caught in Bayou Grobec in his hometown of Pierre Part, Louisiana. The 44-year old says “A lot of these ponds get overlooked and they’ve got a ton of fish in them. If you want to catch some quality bass and sac-a-lait, you get around some of these ponds. The smallest water hole you come across can hold the biggest fish,” Albarado says. If the qualification process is a success, the 14 lb. 7 oz. largemouth will break the state record (pond division) currently held by Mark Leicher who caught a 13.50 lb. bass from a pond in Waldheim. 

Daybreak Specks

With all the attention that the Trestles have been garnering, Hayden Harper of Mandeville says it’s even more important to try and get out to the bridge early “Get out early! Even on a Thursday, boats were stacked up and you need to claim your spot. I have been launching at 5 am. and claiming my area between the 20 - 65 pilings,” Harper says. Hayden made a trip with his father Grady and two friends, Barrett and Jen. The team put together a nice box of speckled trout on the tracks. “Each day the up current side has been the best. I know that's not typical, but it's been working. Also a Rucker rig with a 1 oz. lead and Lemon Head Matrix early, then when then sun gets up switch to Shrimp Creole Matrix.  Hayden reminds people looking for clean water that, “if you have an east or south wind, the water will always be prettier on the southernmost end of the bridge,” he says. 
 

 

Tournament Results

Bass Assassins held its tournament on Lock 1 and it was Ronald Pierre who took home first place with a 5-fish stringer weighing in at 10 lb. 12oz. Eric Ciko placed second with a bag weighing 9 lb. 10 oz. In third was Lance Jarrell with 4 fish weighing 6 lb. 4 oz. Juan Vilicovic won the big fish division with a largemouth that tipped the scales at 5 lb. 2 oz. 

FPBA held its tournament on Bayou Liberty and it was the father-son team of Wayne Richardson and Wayne Richardson Jr who came out on top with a 5-fish stringer weighing 7.52 lbs. With the win, Wayne Sr. moves into #7 spot in the Northshore Bass Series Power Rankings.  In second were Steve Ruschmeier and Casey Cramer with a total weight of 6.80 lbs. Ruschmeier and Cramer also won the big bass division with a bass that weighed 2.78 lbs. Richard Bennett and LaShun Robertson finished third with a limit weighing in at 6.30 lbs.

Pearl River Team Trails held its tournament on the East Peal and it was the team of Terry Jones and Jason Stevens who took first place with a 5-fish stringer that weighed 11.6 lbs. In second were Charles Dauzat and Mark Mohr who brought in a 10.2 lb. bag of fish. Fishing without a team mate, Daniel Schommer was able to grab third with a total of 10.1 lbs. Steve Hadley was able to win the big bass division with a largemouth that weighed 3.3 lbs.

Slidell angler Taylor Valios admits he’s looking for that STAR Tournament winning speck. “This month starts the STAR competition and I hope Lake Pontchartrain brings in a big girl for me,” Valios says. Taylor has been fishing the Trestles in Slidell and says the bite on the bridge is fantastic this month but what you should really focus on is the moon phases if you want to catch those big speckled trout. “You want to fish a few days before and a few days after the full and new moon. Specks release eggs and go on a buffet style eating binge to build up energy. While I've been pulling in numbers, the quality of specks is really starting to show,” he says. On Taylors last trip he and a friend ended the day with a 2-man limit of speckled trout. Taylor says they are biting on just about everything right now. “Drop shot rig or Carolina rig is the way to go with live bait. I tried multiple plastics and all of them produced. Double rigged Matrix, Shu-Shu on a 3/8 ounce jig head, and just a Matrix on a goldeneye jig head,” he says.

It may not be getting the attention that the Trestles is, but the 24-mile reef known as the Causeway is starting to produce speckled trout. Mandeville angler Zack Liberto has been fishing numerous times this past week and says he’s been able to find fish on every trip. “Things are starting to turn on. We haven't had the big girls show up yet - or limits -but we have put together some nice mixed boxes every trip,” Liberto says. Zack says most of the damage has been done with Matrix Shad on a 3/8 oz. jig head and it’s important to zone in on certain spots. “Pay attention to the where you are getting bites and catching fish.  Most of these fish are relating in the exact same spot on each set of pilings and much like bass fishing, you can eliminate a ton of water by paying attention to where you get bit and continuing to run that pattern,” he says. Zack says along with the specks, he has been catching a few redfish mixed in. “Oddly enough the redfish have shown up on the bridge a little early this year. They typically school up on the bridge around early June, but we have been hooking into two or three every trip,” Liberto says. 


Hwy 11 Bridge

Often overshadowed by the Trestles, the highway 11 Bridge is producing speckled trout this month. Chris Daniel and Buddy Hereford recently made a trip to the Trestles and beat the crowds with their early start. “We were at the Trestles just in time to watch the sunrise. Getting there early allowed us the opportunity to work our way down the pilings for a while before the rest of the armada started showing up. Unfortunately, nothing was biting,” Chris says. The team was forced to make a move so they decided to move over to the Hwy 11 Bridge. “We made a move over to the Hwy 11 Bridge not too far from the south shore and started landing fish almost immediately! We picked up about 25 over the next few hours then the tide went slack and the bite died,” he said. Chris and Buddy were sure they could get a few more with a move back to the trestles and they were right. After a little trolling and jigging the pylons, the team put 5 more specks in the box to give them a total of 30.

 

Tournament Results

Bass Assassins held its tournament on Bayou Liberty and it was Sam Jenkins who came out on top. Jenkins put together a 5-fish bag that weighed 6. Lbs. 6 oz. In second was Nick Giovingo with a limit that weighed 5 lbs. 15 oz. Jason Pittman finished in third with a total weight of 5 lbs. 14 oz. The big fish award went to Ricky Benitez with a 3 lb. 4 oz. bass. 

 

Upcoming Tournaments

Bass Assassins is holding a tournament at Lock One on Sunday, May 17. For more information please call Chris Basey at 985-707-7857.

The next Liars and Lunkers tournament will be May 17, at the East Pearl River. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.

You may have to think back quite a ways to remember the age of the sparkle beetle here in south Louisiana. These days it’s hard to find a speckled trout fisherman throwing anything but a soft plastic bait with a paddle tail attached to it. But Lake Pontchartrain angler Buddy Hereford says the sparkle beetle has worked in the past and still does! “I used that rig in the deep water canals in the Biloxi Marsh for as long as I can remember,” Hereford says. Buddy just recently started using them at the Trestles in Slidell when he saw a troller picking up fish along the tracks. “I started using them at the Trestles a few years back after watching a troller catching fish every 5-8 pilings while I was catching nothing. When he was close, I noticed he was using a light colored lure with a dark lure as a trailer. I dug in the box and found a speck rig and hung a dark beetle on the last hook and started catching,” Buddy says. I recently had the chance to fish the train trestles with Buddy and witnessed his success with the double rig first hand. The day started out with a quick run to the bridge out of Bayou Liberty. Buddy started throwing a single chartreuse beetle on a 3/8 oz. head and I was using a Shu-Shu in the Gunmetal color. We settled into an area between the 174 marker and the drawbridge and 5 minutes into the trip I broke the ice with a beautiful 14 inch speck. That “here we go” excited feeling was felt by the entire boat and everyone began to have confidence in their next cast. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Buddy lunge backwards and start to reel in. Another speck hit the floor and when I saw him leave it there, I knew we were in for a great trip. After a few more trout were flopping on the floor Hereford changed things up and tied on a speck rig with two sparkle beetles.  Going into the trip we knew we would have to get on them early in order to put together a decent box because of the storm approaching, Buddy said the double rig would help us fill the ice chest quicker. That it did! On the grizzled veterans next cast, he slung two 14” trout over the gunwale. For the next hour Buddy turned back to back casts into fish, alternating with singles and doubles. Buddy says the double rig is a great way to figure out what color the fish want on a certain day. “Right now the darker of the two seem to be best. Last week with the dirty water, the bright chartreuse was best,” he says. Hereford says he expects the bite to continue. “Unless the water dirties up from the high rivers, the fish should remain thick in this area,” he says. Right now the mile marker 174 has been the hotspot. This presents a problem with boat traffic generally on the weekends, but Hereford say to use this to your advantage. “I think the mile markers are just a land mark and fisher people need land marks. 4-5 seasons back the ‘hot spot’ was from the south shore out to 177 and it was referenced by numbers on the face of the cement bridge parts. Early this spring the north shore out to the draw (MM173) and firebreaks 3-6 were stacked with boats. Now, the best area seems to be from the north draw all the way to 175. But these are just reference points. It’s not better catching there - it’s just a land mark,” Buddy says.


 
Upcoming Tournaments 

A Thursday evening bass tournament will be held on the Tangipahoa River on Thursday, May 7 from 5-8 pm. For more information please call Richard Bennett at 985-981-3599.

The next Liars and Lunkers tournament will be May 17, at the East Pearl River. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.

Florida Parishes Bass Anglers will be holding their next tournament on May 9, at Bayou Liberty. For more information please call Kevin Williams at 985-502-6146 or Patrick Engerran at 985-474-6112.

You may have to think back a few years when trying to remember a better spring trout run than the one we’re seeing right now in Lake Pontchartrain. The Trestles, Hwy 11 Bridge, and Causeway are among all the hotspots where anglers are finding limits of those big beautiful speckled trout that the lake has been known to produce in the past.  While the fish are stacked up on the bridges, unfortunately, so are the boats. I had the pleasure of making a fishing trip with 23-year old Zack Liberto who says that there are options for fishermen who want to find less pressured waters and often times it’s between the bridges. 

“I think that area is overlooked by a lot of people because of how big it is, but those fish travel that area and need to feed there just as much as they do on the bridges,” Liberto says. I met Zack at the Mandeville Harbor and instead of heading west to the Causeway, the senior at UNO decided to go the road less traveled and turned the 24-foot Nautic Star east. The destination was a shell pad 1 mile off of the shoreline and on our way there, it didn’t take me long for me to understand just what Zack meant by “how big it is.” As we approached our destination, Zack pointed to a pylon that seemed to appear out of nowhere. As I tied up to the pylon and turned to grab my pole, Zack set the hook on the first fish of the day and reeled in a 14” speckled trout. He casted back out and before I could even cast out, Zack had his second trout in the boat. Any second guesses about fishing the bridges were completely gone and all I could think about was getting my line in the water. Zack tossed me a Zoom Fluke in the Smokin’ Shad color and I threaded it onto a 3/8 oz. jig head. Zack and I started catching fish one after the other in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. But Zack says there is a whole other world down there and those fish are feeding on the baitfish that holds to those shells. “Once you find the shell pads you need to just key in on them. Most of these fish school up and move around. You’ll catch a few hot and fast and then they’ll slack off and you’ll have to wait till the school moves around. So staying patient and not pulling up and leaving is important. Give it an hour or two to see if they show up,” Liberto says. We ended the day at 10 am. and with the quick boat ride back to Mandeville. Zack says when the bridges become too much of a hassle there is 18 miles of water from the Trestles to the Causeway. “We had a good day today and it just goes to show you that you don’t have to fight all the crowds at the Trestles and Causeway,” says Liberto.

Tournament Results

St. Tammany Bass Club took its show on the road and held their tournament at Toldeo Bend in Many, Louisiana. Paul Paille took first place with a bag of 14.43 lbs. With the win the Abita Springs angler moves into second place in the Northshore Bass Series. Walter Clarian took second place with a 5-fish stringer that weighed 11.79 lbs. Walter also won the big bass award with a fish that weighed 6 lbs.  In third was James Clarian whose stringer weighed 11.79 lbs.

Liars and Lunkers held its tournament at Crawford’s Landing and it was the father and son team of Jason and Trenton Pittman who won first place with a 5-fish bag that weighed 12.13 lbs. with the win Jason padded his lead in the NBS Power Rankings and Trenton moved up to the #8 position. In second was the team of Charles Dauzat and Mark Mohr with a bag weighing in at 11.31 lbs. Kevin Harrison and Aaron Moran took third with a total weight of 5.02 lbs. The team also won the big bass division with a lunker that weighed 5.92 lbs. 

Bass Assassins held its tournament on the Pearl River and it was Ralph Williams who came out on top with a bag weighing in at 10.3 lbs. Ralph also won the big fish award with a largemouth that weighed 4.6 lbs. In second was Jimmy Dorris with a 5-fish stringer that weighed 8.15 lbs. Lawrence Lemoine took third with a total of 7.10 lbs. 



Upcoming Tournaments 

The next Liars and Lunkers tournament will be May 17, at the East Pearl River. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.

The next Bass Assassins tournament is set for May 3, on Bayou Liberty.  For more information please call Chris Basey at 985-707-7857.

Florida Parishes Bass Anglers will be holding their next tournament on May 9, at Bayou Liberty. For more information please call Kevin Williams at 985-502-6146 or Patrick Engerran at 985-474-6112.