The Northshore Fishing Report

Bass fishing set to explode on Northshore

2/27/2014

Keith Lusher Jr

This is the time that all bass fishermen across the Northshore have been waiting for. Coming off of a bitter cold winter, the warm-up that we have seen this past week and a half has given life as much to the fish as to the anglers that covet them. Sure, there are a few more cold snaps still to come, but the higher angle of the sun and longer days will most certainly have those water temperatures back into the 60’s before you can say “pass the sunscreen please.” Ponchatoula resident Lawrence Lemoine has been bass fishing in the rivers and bayous where the water temperatures are rising the quickest and says that it’s all about water temperature right now. “Any water you can find away from the river channels and main bodies of water is going to be warmer right now. They’ll bed in the main rivers too but if they can find the drains that are located near the marsh they will migrate toward those shallower areas because the water is warmer,” Lemoine says. Perhaps this is why we are seeing an increase in good reports peppered along the shallow, duck pond-fed canals that are located near Lake Pontchartrain. The shallower water is prone to warm up quicker and these marsh bass are typically ahead of schedule as far as the spawn goes. “Marsh bass always seem to be a little earlier than your typical river bass because the water warms earlier than in the deeper river systems. You can fish that area along Carr Drive in Slidell and come home with a limit by 8 in the morning, then try over by Bayou Liberty and struggle to catch a fish,” Lawrence added. Anglers have been mauling the bass in these marsh systems and things are about to explode Lemoine says. “If we can keep this weather that we have seen this past week for another week or two, then it’s going to be on!”

Carr Drive Canal

The pylon laden canal that runs along Carr Drive in Slidell is this week’s hot-spot! Anglers are finding easy limits by trolling the canal and pitching Texas-rigged plastic worms and crawfish. Concentrate on the structure along the shoreline such as abandoned camp pylons, wharfs, and bulkheads. This structure not only provides cover for bass looking to ambush unsuspecting shad, it also soaks up the sun during the daytime which in turn provides an area of warmer water around it.

Salt Bayou

One of the most underrated bass fishing destinations on the Northshore, Salt Bayou is producing bass in big numbers these days signaling the start of another great bass fishing season in the marsh laden area. Anglers are picking up bass all along the bayou where there are pylons and cuts that empty out from the marsh. Another roadside hot-spot much like the Hwy 11 Canal is the W14 Canal that runs along Old Spanish Trail. This canal is very shallow but when the conditions are right you can easily pick up a limit when coming across a school of hungry marsh bass. Every tranasse that comes out of the marsh should hold fish. Troll the canal and key in on these spots. Texas-rigged soft plastics are working right now but this area is known for its top-water bite when the shad start to move in. As the weather starts to warm up keep an eye out for bass busting on the shad and shrimp that spill out from the marsh.

Hwy 11 Canal producing limits of bass

2/20/2014

Keith Lusher Jr

As you travel down Highway 11 on your next commute to work or another destination be sure to take notice of how many boats you see along the canal that parallels the highway. Chances are you won’t see any. What many have chalked up as a shallow, muddy, saltwater canal that’s only use is to support the new phase of post-Katrina camps, is also an under fished hot-spot for marsh bass. Sure, the water is brackish and the shoreline gives you the urge to throw those gold spoons that work so well when fishing for redfish, but if you fight that urge and fish freshwater style, you might be surprised at just how many bass you can put in the boat. Texas rigged plastics are the ticket right now along Hwy 11 and Slidell angler Daniel Sissac has been catching limits of bass everyday along the unsuspecting waterway. Daniel launches right before the Hwy 11 Bridge and says that you don’t need much to put a few bass in the boat these days. Sissac uses a 9 ft. Bass Hound to navigate the canal and on a recent trip he decided to take his friend, Dat Tran, who is a self-proclaimed “saltwater guy”.

Dat shows off his green trout

As the day started, Daniel said he was helping Dat out but couldn’t help but get his line in the water. “I showed him how to rig his line with a plastic worm and just as I finished, I heard a bass break about ten yards from where we were. I immediately trolled over there and I grabbed my rod. Much to Dat’s surprise, I set the hook only seconds after the lure hit the water. I was fighting the bass until he ran to a piling that was lying on the water. I kept tension on the line and trolled to go get him,” he said. Daniel says he thought they had their first fish in the boat but the fish wasn’t done fighting. “Just as I got close enough to grab him he found one last bit of gusto, jumped, and threw the hook! He was about 2.5 lbs. and hooking that fish on the first cast really excited Dat,” Sissac said. After settling from the excitement Daniel redirected his attention to his friend. “I explained to him how to work the worm on the bottom and after a little instruction he set the hook on his first bass. With zeal and excitement, he landed his first bass! It was a small one but it was all he needed to boost his confidence. I congratulated him, took a photo, and he released the little guy,” Sissac said. It didn’t take long before the duo was thick into the bass and Dat finally caught a keeper. We continued fishing, and it wasn't long before I saw him fighting another fish. This time, the fight was a lot better, and so was the fish. His second bass was a chunky 1 3/4lbs., and this one went in the well. I could tell at this point that he was hooked! We kept fishing until just before sunset and we ended up with four in the well and released another fifteen or so,” He said. One obstacle that poses a problem for anglers fishing the Highway 11 Canal is the bridge that connects Carr Dr. to the Highway. Daniel says navigating under that bridge can be burdensome but if you target certain conditions, getting under it isn’t too much of a challenge. “We've seen many people get stuck or hit the bridge and I think there are still a few pilings left from the old bridge.

View Larger Map

“ Katrina also deposited some debris on the bottom so it can be quite the experience. I like to try and get past it when the water is super low,” he said. Daniel added that he thinks he might have converted Dat over to freshwater,” He WAS a saltwater fisherman and his tackle reflected that, but he was still able to catch just about a day's limit on his first trip. I think there will be many more trips with him, and I can’t wait to get back out on the there!”

Bass patterns have anglers guessing

2/15/2014

Keith Lusher Jr

In a normal wintertime pattern here on the Northshore anglers would be preparing to fish what is known as the pre-spawn. But with the unseasonably frigid winter we have sustained this year, bass fisherman are forced to stick with the same tactics they have been using for what seems like an eternity this season. Brad Romano recently made a trip to the Tchefuncte River and says the temperature swings are wreaking havoc on the patterns of bass right now. “It seems the recent fishing reports I've been seeing all start with the same thing lately. It seems people are fishing before the fronts or after ice storms. The weather will be 70 degrees one day and 20 degrees the next. The bass have no clue as to what is going on.” Brad decided to make a trip after he noticed four consistent days of warming temperatures but was greeted with raw conditions on the river. “I had everything loaded up and ready for the drive from Baton Rouge at 4 a.m. and was greeted by thick fog and light misty rain. After we launched at safe light we started working the river north of the 4th Street Launch because the water was too clear to make a run south. The conditions looked promising, but something had these fish lock jawed,” Romano said. After hours of unsuccessful cast after unsuccessful cast Brad says the action heated up just as the temperatures did. “After a few hours you could feel the temperature had risen a good bit so we work an area I’ve been scooping out for a while. This area had a lot of structure and was tucked away from any wind. I started pitching my RP3 Flippin’ Craw around some stumps and fallen trees and as I was reeling in I thought I was just dragging along the tree until it started moving sideways. I set the hook but it was too late.” Brad says throughout the day he could never pin down a recognizable pattern that these bass were in. To make matters worse, the bass that he did find were lethargic and he could hardly feel the subtle bite. “I realized after a while that these bass were barely taking the bait in their mouths. I could barely feel the bite. I started fishing super slow and that seemed to do the trick.” Brad says he ventured about 50 yards down the cut and he felt the same soft bite as before. “It was the same subtle bite that I felt all day but this time I was ready! I set the hook and pulled in the first fish of the day. It was a chunky male bass that measured a little over 12 inches! I think the bass must be moving shallow to set their beds and the cold weather has made them lethargic.” Brad ended the day with four hard earned cold water bass on the Tchefuncte River and says he can’t wait till the weather starts to warm up and the bass start to get into their spawning pattern.

Tournament Results

Shawn Hartman

Raw conditions greeted anglers who competed in the latest River Champs Tournament on the Tchefuncte River. Cold temperatures and heavy downpours hampered everyone’s efforts throughout the day but in the end it was Shawn Hartman who figured it out. Shawn weighed in a 7.54 lb. bag of fish that was good enough for first place in the tournament. In second was Joe Smith with a total of 7.32 lbs. 5.53 lbs. was enough to notch third place for Jason Pittman.

The St. Tammany Bass Club held their tournament on Lock One on the Pearl River and it was Todd Stein who ended up in first place. Todd weighed in a five fish bass that came in at 7.51 lbs. in second was Robbie Warner at 5.21 lbs. Tommy Quave rounded out the top three with a third place finish with a total of 2.59 lbs.

Redfish and Sac-au-lait fill the void for wintertime anglers

2/8/2014

Keith Lusher Jr

You know it has been a cold winter when the temperatures reach the 50’s and that is classified as a warm-up here in South Louisiana. This winter is shaping up to be one of the coldest winters on average since 1989. I’m sure you all can remember the 89’ freeze. That’s when temperatures dipped down to 10 degrees over Lake Pontchartrain triggering one of the largest fish kills ever recorded. This year hasn’t been quite as bad but it has been cold enough to dip water temperatures in the lake into the lower 40’s and that is enough to shut down the trout bite. So far minimal damage has been done with anglers spotting very few dead fish in the Lake. Chas Champagne of Dockside Bait and Tackle in Slidell has been bypassing the lake and focusing on redfish in the Chalmette area. He says deep water is the key to finding them. “You want to pretty much forget about speckled trout fishing under these conditions. Try and target deep water and dead end canals. Even with the horrific conditions we have been seeing this area has been so good for redfish.” Chas says some days it can be feast or famine but when you find them, be prepared to load the boat in a flash. “When you are targeting redfish these day you’re either going to find none or a hundred. When you bump into them just make sure everybody casts into the same spot and you’re going to catch them one after another. It may take you two or three hours to find them but when you find them it’s going to take you ten minutes tops to catch your limit.” Chas recommends using Matrix Shad in Tigerbait color and says to use a heavier weight than normal to get the bait down to the bottom.

Lock One Sac-au-lait

Jared Norris shows off two nice Lock One slabs

Slidell angler Jared Norris has been fishing the Lock one area on the East Pearl and having great success locating Sac-au-lait even though his isn’t as familiar with the underwater terrain. “Two years ago the corps of engineers decided to clear the canal of all trees and lay downs, including most of my honey holes. This has made perch fishing a lot harder for me. If there is one thing I have learned it's that white perch relate to structure 99% of the time.” Jared was fishing with his father that day and says it took them some time to locate the structure and when he did they found the sac-au-lait. “I Picked up a 6' crank and started throwing it hoping to find some underwater structure. In one particular spot I found vegetation growing off of the bottom. Rigged with jigs and live shiners we casted out and immediately our corks go down! We rounded up a dozen big slabs in 45 minutes! As a bass angler at heart I spend most of my free time fishing tournaments or practicing, not white perching. So being able to find these elusive creatures with my dad was a thrill!”

Cold Water Catfish

1/30/2014

Keith Lusher Jr

We are now in the dead of winter and fishing is downright tough no matter where you decide to fish, or what species you decide to target. But It’s around this time of year that 19 year old Mike Jones of Madisonville hits the Tchefunte River in search of what he calls his favorite fish to catch. Mike Jones is an avid fisherman and targets catfish on the Tchefuncte River year round but he says it’s the colder weather that usually brings the bigger catfish out for some reason.

Mike Jones and his Tchefuncte River catfish

On Mikes recent trip he landed a massive 35 pound catfish from one of his trot-lines and says this is the time to get out there for those monster catfish but it’s important to target these fish closer to the lake rather than upriver. “It all depends on the time of year you fish. The colder it gets I find I have more success setting my lines downriver, closer to the Lake. When the weather warms up I like to head up-river where the water is a little cooler,” Jones says. Mike likes to use fresh fish as bait but says this winter it has been tough trying to catch his own bait. “The pogies never really came in like they normally do this time of year. When I caught that big catfish I threw my cast-net and came up with nothing so I had to go and buy some bait.” While chicken livers are popular bait for trot-line fisherman, Mike says that he prefers using chicken gizzards. “I’ve tried using chicken livers but every time I pulled my lines up the livers were gone with no fish to show for it. They weren’t touching it. I switched over to chicken gizzards and started catching them right away!” While Mike says the gizzards are good, there is one bait that is his all-time favorite. “I love to use river eel! While fishing with my poles I’ll occasionally catch a river eel and cut it up. That bait always catches fish it seems. All I do is cut it up like you cut up a piece of sausage.” Mike says. Most people will agree that the best size for cleaning and frying catfish is within that 2lb. to 5lb. range and Mike is no different. He says he doesn’t like to keep the bigger ones. “I eat pretty much all the fish I catch but I’ll throw back the bigger ones because there’s a degree of respect I have for it. It has gotten through so many fisherman I just think it deserves to live to fight another day” Jones says. When it comes to recipes, Mike says he uses a recipe he like to call true cajun. “I like to mix up some Zatarains crab boil with mustard and coat my fillets with that before frying them up.”

Chain Pickerel

Korey displays his chain pickerel caught on lock one

Korey Inscoe of Slidell is no stranger to putting large amounts of bass in his boat but on his last trip he caught what most anglers consider a northern sport fish. “I was bass fishing a spot on the lock one canal that I frequent a good bit and was doing a number on the bass. I made a long cast parallel to the grass line and a few cypress stumps and began my retrieve about midway back to the boat, my bait got slammed so hard that It put slack in my line, for many anglers that have thrown a crank bait this is an awesome feeling I leaned into the hook set and the fight was on!” Korey says it didn’t take him long to notice that it wasn’t a bass. “At first I thought I hooked a good bass but when he gave us that aerial show I knew immediately what it was.” What Korey had hooked was a 2 ½ ft. Chain Pickerel. He says that they are not uncommon around the locks and he has caught several in his lifetime on the Pearl River. “I've caught roughly about 15 to 20 of these fish all out of the same area between locks one and two on the Pearl River,” Korey says.

<<Previous

Forward>>