In the ever changing world of fishing, anglers are constantly trying to keep up with the hottest lures, biggest boats, and cutting edge rod and reel setups that they think are needed to catch fish these days.  “You can have it,” says Lacombe resident Dennis Smith.  Dennis likes to keep things simple when on the water and has been doing so for the past 40 years. Smith fishes out of a 14 ft. fiberglass pirogue year round and says, “To me, there is nothing like fishing out of a pirogue. I would rather fish out of a pirogue than the Cadillac of boats.”  It’s something he was taught from his father who passed away three years ago and says finds comfort in doing things like he remembers doing them. “I’ll go old school over this new stuff any day. My dad was old school. All this newfangled stuff they have coming out. Let me tell you something about my dad. 

My dad would go out there and put his finger in the water, taste it, look at the bait, and say ‘this is what I think we should use today,’ and that’s what we used. I remember wearing the fish out when we would fish together,” He said. Even the boat launch that Dennis uses is a testament to his style of fishing. “I launch my pirogue in a drainage canal that they just dug here in Lacombe- Slide right down the ditch maybe 35-40 yards and I’m in Cypress Bayou Canal,” he said.    Right now Dennis is targeting bluegill on Bayou Lacombe and has been doing really well. “As soon as those bluegill get on their beds I like to start fishing them. That’s when you can wear out the males because they are in big groups. I can go in and take 8 or 9 fish out of a certain area then move on to a new spot,” Smith said. His latest trip with his daughter produced 56 bluegill using fly rods. After the trip the duo headed home where Dennis fried the fish up and says he doesn’t have any problem finding bones in his fillets. “The ones I keep are so thick I fillet them with an electric knife. My dad would fish venice a lot and after a trip he was too tired to clean the fish so it was my responsibility. Because I had younger siblings I was tough to not leave any bones when I cleaned fish,” he said. After cleaning them Dennis says he skips the egg wash and dips them straight into seasoned fish fry before putting them into the grease. Bluegill isn’t the only fish he’s been catching. 

Conventional wisdom says in order to catch bass during the spawn you must throw  baits on beds in order to get a reaction from a protective bass but Dennis says flies work too! “I’ve caught I don’t know how many hundreds of bass on a fly while they were on their beds. They can’t stand that little fly sitting over their head. They will pick that plastic worm up by the tail and move it but with a fly- there is no tail- It’s all hook,” Dennis said. “I caught a female on a fly three weeks ago back in Powell Canal. It was so big all I could do was hold my hand around the line and let her pull me around where she wanted to go. She came out of the water once and tried to shake the hook but that fly stayed in there. I finally got her in, gave her a kiss, and released her to fight another day,” said Smith. Dennis says his favorite fly to use is an orange and black Mepp’s Pop N’ Hot Popper Fly.

For those saltwater anglers worried about a repeat of last year’s high river levels that wreaked havoc in Lake Pontchartrain, The latest reports from the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation won’t do anything to calm your fears. The organization gathers information such as rainfall totals, salinity, water quality, and river levels in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin and incorporates them into a map called the Lake Pontchartrain Hydracoast Map. The data in this map can be compared from week to week or year to year. Some interesting data collected this month shows that the river levels on the Pearl River are even higher than that of the levels measured at the same time last year. This is not good news for saltwater fisherman who missed out on last year’s normally great spring run in the Lake. Above average river levels in the Pearl affects the salt water that normally comes up from Lake Borgne. The latest river gauge measured the Pearl River at 17.02 ft. while last year’s levels showed the Pearl at 13.48 ft. Saltwater in the lake is crucial to the estuary and with the closing of the MRGO, it is vital for the fisheries to see average or below river levels on the Pearl. Ironically we have seen salinity levels a tad higher than samples taken last year at this time. For instance, the latest water samples taken from the Causeway showed salinity levels at 3.1 ppt., while last years showed a reading of 2.0 ppt. In comparison, normal sea water has a salinity level of 35 ppt. (ppt = parts per thousand)

There are numerous ways to tell the difference between a spotted bass and a largemouth bass. One is the noticeable tooth patches on the tongue. Spotted bass or Kentucky bass have two patches of teeth in the middle of its tongue in comparison to a largemouth bass which has one. The unmistakable black stripe that a largemouth bass sports along its side is darker and more consistent than that of a spotted bass. But Peyton Waller and his dad Jimmy may have discovered the most glaring difference on their recent trip to the Tchefuncte. These fish school like nobody’s business! The father and son team fished throughout the day picking up a largemouth here and there but it wasn’t until they got into the spotted version that they really started putting fish in the boat. “We came up on some lily pads and I threw a buzz-bait and before long we were catching spotted bass left and right. My dad threw a swim-bait and almost every cast we caught a strong fighting spot,” Peyton said. Peyton and Jimmy finished the day with 35 bass total much of which were spots.

The Tchefuncte River has produced numerous monster catfish this winter but perhaps none of them the size of the one caught this past week. Ponchatoula resident Todd Oalmann usually catches catfish using trot-lines but on his last trip switched over to limb-lines and was greatly rewarded! “Big bait equals big fish!  I fished a few bush lines by the shipyard trying to get a big one. I got lucky and this one bit the bream I had for bait. The bream was a good 8-9 inches big. I free lined it near a drop off and he bit the line - when he surfaced he was barely hooked so I stuck my hand in his mouth and boated him,” Oalmann said. After the trip, Todd tried to weigh the beast. “I got him home and tried to weigh him on two scales but they only went to 30 and 50 pounds so he bottomed them out. I had to weigh him on my deer scales,” Todd said. The tabby cat weighed in at 60 lbs. when all was said and done. For those looking to catch catfish on the Tchefuncte, Todd says, “The river is muddy and the water is cool. Catfishing should be good for the next few weeks.  Now is a great time for bush or jug-lines.”

For those anglers who wait until October to target flounder along the Trestles, you don’t have to wait. Those Lake Pontchartrain doormats that normally start appearing in angler’s ice chests in October have been showing up with more frequency this spring. Anglers have reported a better than normal catch rate of flounder in Lake Pontchartrain over the winter months and it looks like the bite will continue right through the spring.  Joey Brumfield travels from Baton Rouge to fish the Trestles every spring and says he was surprised to end up with as many doormats as he did on his last trip. “I didn't expect to catch that many and we certainly weren’t targeting them that day,” He said. Brumfield launched out of Dockside Marina around 2:30 in the afternoon and headed to the drawbridge on the Trestles. He says that the fishing was slow at first but when he reached a certain spot, the fish were flying over the sides of the boat. “We fished for about an hour moving towards the south shore but only caught one nice flounder.  It was pretty slow with a weird bite until about 4:00 pm. when we reached mile markers 174 and 175. After that it was on!” Joey said. Flounder are often caught here and there by anglers targeting speckled trout, but on this trip Brumfield says the fish were concentrated.  “The fish were definitely thick in the area because after you popped the bait a few times and let settle toward the bottom, the flounder would just grab it. You would feel like you were dragging the bottom but if you set the hook quickly about every 3rd or 4th time- it would be a solid hookup on a nice flounder,” He said.  Joey said he noticed better results after switching over from the Magneto Matrix Shad to the Lemonhead color.  Anglers have been catching flounder for the last two weeks in this same spot and the action should only get better as the temperatures warm the waters.

Bass fishermen are reporting more vegetation than usual in their favorite fishing holes. One theory being brought forward likens this winter’s below normal temperatures to the marsh fires we routinely see throughout southeast Louisiana. The reason for marsh fires are to clear out some of the dead growth and let new growth come forth. This winter’s cold temperatures should have surely cleared out any old vegetation for new growth, right?

 “That’s somewhat correct” say’s LSU AgCenter researcher, Professor Dearl Sanders. “Cold winter weather tends to favor some aquatic plants over others.  The true tropical or semi-tropical plants like water hyacinth really got hammered this season, while the native plants like water pennywort thrived.  Water pennywort is not affected by cold temperatures and grows well throughout the Midwest. Normally, competition from other plants like water hyacinth tends to keep it in check. When the competition is removed, these cold water plants take over. 

 The plants that are killed by the cold weather release tons of nutrients back into the system as they decay in the late winter and spring.  The plants that were not affected take advantage of the extra nitrogen and other nutrients that are left behind,” said Sanders. Other cold water plants that are seeing better growth this year is Milfoil and Hydrilla. Both are able to tolerate temperatures into the thirties and have been known to even thrive in the colder water temperatures.

For those of you who are waiting for the Causeway and Slidell Bridges to turn on as far as speckled trout go, you may be missing out on some fantastic shoreline fishing in Lake Pontchartrain. Typically the shoreline from Bayou Liberty all the way up to the Tchefuncte River literally heats up before the bridges do. This shoreline is primarily a mixture of sand and shell which allows the water to warm up faster than the deeper waters along the bridge. Water temperature is a big factor around this time of year as the trout are seeking out any warmer water. Baitfish plays a big factor also. The Tchefuncte River, Bayou Castine, Bayou Cane, Todd’s Bayou, Bayou Lacombe and Bayou Liberty all spill out along this shoreline. These freshwater sources play a huge factor in where the bait is going to be. 

Target the shallows along the shoreline but instead of focusing on the bank, try and pay attention to the first drop-off where the water dips from 2 ft. down to 5 or 6ft. Captain Charlie Thomason of Bayou Charters says that anglers all too often fish inland because that’s where they think the fish are. “As fisherman we are so oriented to structure that we become bank fisherman because that’s what we have always done - but I find that I catch way more speckled trout and redfish when I fish position my boat in close to the shoreline and fish out into the deeper water instead of pounding the bank,” Thomason said. Another benefit to fishing the shoreline is the accented tidal range. All the tributaries that feed into the lake on the North Shore are tidal. This means that the waters that go in and out of the rivers are affected by the tides in the lake. These rivers and bayous offer numerous choke points which emphasize water movement. Take advantage of these choke points on days with a less than average tide range and you should be able to find moving water. 

Rep. Stuart Bishop of Lafayette has introduced a bill to the current session of the Louisiana Legislature that would increase the state’s saltwater license from $5.50 to $13.00. If approved, the total cost of obtaining a saltwater license will come to $22.50 since anglers are required to purchase a basic fishing license that currently is set at $9.50. The 136% increase will be specifically used to create an at-the-dock fish counting program redfish, flounder, and speckled trout. Opinions are being voice on both sides of the argument. Northshore resident and avid Lake Pontchartrain angler John Duncan says “I think this is just another money grab on the side of the state. They are taking money away from the recreational fisherman so that they can monitor what we catch. Then they are going to set more restrictions because of their findings- that our money went to pay for.  It’s a lose-lose situation for us recreational folks.” Others on the other side of the argument think it’s a good idea. Slidell angler Beau Badeaux thinks that the increase is needed in order to protect what we have. “I think it’s going to be going towards a good cause. If it’s anything like the fish counting program that the state enacted for red snapper- it will be a good thing. People have to remember that we live in what is probably the best state for fishing in the country. If it takes me forking out a few more bucks, then it’s worth it to protect this great resource that is right at our doorstep,” Badeaux said. While the bill states that the money will be dedicated to a fish-counting-program, there is nothing to stop the state from raiding the set aside monies. In 2011 the Legislature redirected monies specifically designated for the Artificial Reef Development Fund. $26.6 million was drained from the fund and has yet to be repaid.