The Northshore Fishing Report

Ray Miller the Sac-a-lait Killer!

12/15/2017

Keith Lusher

Fishing in December can be a challenge for most anglers on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The Lake offers very little as far as saltwater fishing is concerned and the rivers and bayous from Manchac to the Pearl River can be quite challenging for bass anglers with water temperatures dipping into the 40’s. But there’s another type of fish that we often overlook when we think of winter fishing. Ray Miller fishes the Tchefuncte River year round and says “This this is my favorite time to fish for sac-a-lait.” While most folks target crappie in the spring when they invade the shallows to spawn, Ray enjoys the rare solitude that the Tchefuncte River offers this time of year. I made a trip to the river to experience first hand what Ray was talking about. We launched at the boat launch at 1st Ave. just past St. Paul’s High School in Covington. Within minutes Ray was operating the trolling motor and we honed in on our first spot. Ray pointed out the roots of a tree that had fallen into the river years ago. He then said. “You see the trunk of that tree right there? Follow it out into the river and picture the top of the tree right here.” He pointed right next to the boat and we began jigging Electric Chicken colored micro-jigs on a 1/32 oz. jig heads. It didn’t take long before Ray slung a sac-a-lait into the boat. We stopped at 4 or 5 different spots as we headed down river towards the Interstate 12 overpass and picked up one or two in each spot including two fish along the legs of the bridge where Interstate spans the river.

Miller pulls a sac-a-lait out of tight confines underneath the I12 overpass

The fishing was slow and tedious and I began to tell myself that this was going to be a long day at this pace. But Ray reminded me “Sometimes there’s day’s like this where I’ll pick up 2 or 3 fish at every spot and all of a sudden I’ll stop at a spot and catch one on every cast,” We continued south and the time was approaching noon as we stopped and started fishing another tree top. This one stretched 25’ into the main river. It was in a bend in the river on the west side and the water was 30’ deep where we stopped. We now had started using live shiners with 2 split-shots to keep the minnow in the strike zone. “If you don’t use those weights, that shiner will swim all over and you’ll end up wasting your time because the shiner will swim right up to the surface to get away from the fish that chasing it,” Ray said. I began to lower my shiner into the water. I could feel the line going through the branches of the treetop. I pulled up and snagged a branch. I tied on another hook with two split shots about 8” above the hook. I put a shiner on the hook and lowered it down again. Once more I snagged a branch.

Miller pulls in a sac-a-lait caught under a slip cork

Ray suggested switching over to a slip cork to keep the bait just above the branches. “Sometimes if it’s heavy cover, that shiner will swim around and wrap the line around the branches. While I prefer to jig straight down without a cork, sometimes I need to put that slip cork on to keep the bait out of the sticks,” he said. We both attached sliding corks to our line and set the stopper at 8’. I casted out and began to monitor my cork. After about 2 minutes the cork stood straight up and shot under. I swung the rod and reeled in a beautiful 13” crappie. Ray excitedly yelled. “Oh yeah! That’s the ticket,” as his cork shot under and he reeled in a large sac-a-lait. For the next hour we put sac-a-lait in the boat all from that one submerged treetop that was only visible in our minds. “It’s all about the cover for these fish. If you can find the cover, you’ll usually be able to find where the fish are,” he explained. Ray reminds anglers “While springtime is the most popular time to catch these fish, these fish bite year round, you just have to have the willingness to fish deep and fish structure that you can’t see.”

Trestles Delima

12/3/2017

Keith Lusher

The Trestles is usually a sure thing when it comes to catching speckled trout in November, However this month hasn’t yielded the same results than in past. Captain Andy Jones of Wicked Charters says while the trout aren’t as plentiful as in years past, the sheepshead are thick on the bridges. “We had to work for the trout the last few days but if you like a good fight - Man we caught some real monster sheepshead out there! We had a blast!” he says. Not only is Captain Andy catching sheepshead, but he says the freshwater catfish have made there way to the bridges as well. “We actually picked up some really nice blue cats trolling. It’s amazing to see them slam these rods down while we’re dragging baits,” Jones says.

Doug Mauro of Hammond has been fishing the Trestles every fall. He recently made a trip to the usually dependable bridge in search of speckled trout. “I used plastics but live shrimp under slip cork was only producer,” he says. Doug ended up with 2 big trout and a few large sheepshead all caught on the south end of the Trestles. “I’m not sure what’s going on at Trestles. The water is 8 out of 10 and some places 10 out of 10. The trout should be all over the bridges,” Mauro says.

Greg Guilliot made a trip to the Trestles to try his hand at tolling. “I Launched in the Eden Isles Marina at 9:30 and hit the bridge just below the draw,” he says. Greg says he immediately started hooking up with fish. “I caught 7 very nice fish the first hour then the tide started ripping and bite died. I should have gotten out earlier,” Guilliot says. The angler was using two rod’s with different lures. He describes his set up, “One rod had a 3/4 oz. chrome/blue/back Rat-L-Trap with a B53 chartreuse trailer on it. The other one was rigged with a sinking MirrOlure and a B53 trailer. All fish hit the MirrOlure pole. Two fish were caught on the MirrOlure and 5 on the trailer,” Greg says.

Carr Drive Canals
Roger Sissac had no intention of fishing when all of a sudden a conversation among friends turned to just that. So Roger headed to the bait shop to pick up some live crickets. “I called my hog trapping buddy Trentis White and asked him if he wanted to join me and he said yes, so he came right away,” Sissac says. The friends hit the water armed with 50 live crickets and began their search for perch at 1:30 p.m. in the Carr Dr. finger canals. “The first canal we tried was slow at first but then we started catching some so we moved in search of some more active ones. We went to another canal where it again began slow until they started biting, we caught a bunch there!” Roger says. After putting a mess of perch in the boat Roger said “Let's go try to get some bass!” So the team started throwing bass baits. “Trentis used some crazy lures and hooked a few bass. I had was a buzz-bait sitting on the dash so I put it on and we bass’ed for a while and caught a few,” Sissac says. At the end of the day Roger and Trentis ended up with 21 perch and 4 bass. “Trentis really enjoyed himself catching perch and bass,” Roger says.

Trentis White poses with his catch before the fish fry!

Aquatic Volunteer Instructors Needed
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is currently seeking Aquatic Volunteer Instructors. As an Aquatic Volunteer Instructor, you will go through an 8-hour workshop that will prepare you for holding your own fishing clinics, volunteering at an LDWF event or teaching your students about fisheries science. Some of the topics covered are fishing basics, fisheries management, fish identification, invasive species and fishing/boating safety. All volunteers that attend this training will be supplied a binder with lesson plans, activity guides and other educational resources. You will also have access to our loaner kits that will contain the materials needed to teach these different topics. The loaner kits range from dissection kits to arts and crafts to fishing poles with tackle. The next course will be held on Wednesday, December 13th. If you have any questions about the Aquatic Volunteer Instructor Program, please contact Alayna McGarry at [email protected] or 504-286-4050.

No Hunting, No Fishing, No Trespassing

11/19/2017

Keith Lusher

For those of us on the Northshore we haven’t had to deal with the private waters ordeal that has been making it’s way slowly east. Sure we’ve all heard the news about two previous Elite Series tournaments and the Bassmaster Open out of Orange, Texas where anglers where warned to stay out of “private waters” that belonged to landowners due to Louisiana’s backwards laws governing access to navigable waters. Then news of fishermen being run out of the bayous around Golden Meadow, Leeville, and Lafitte made it’s way to our side of the Lake Pontchartrain. The old saying that “people don’t care about something until they are effected by it” has held true for anglers that come and go freely in the marshes of Pontchartrain, Borgne, and Catherine. But those days may be short lived with the outbreak of land owners capitalizing on the idea that not only can they own the land along the waters that are teaming with speckled trout, redfish, bass, and flounder, but they can own the water as well. Jerry Fazio has been fishing the cuts and bayous that pepper the ICW for 60 years and says for the first time ever, he was told that he couldn’t fish the bayou because it was private property. Jerry’s day started bright and early when he launched at Southshore Bait off Chef Menteur Hwy. After a quick run to the crescent-shaped waterway near Bayou Thomas known as the Bypass Canal, Jerry started putting speckled trout into the boat. “I started catching a few trout and was in the process of moving a little closer to the area where the bite was,” Jerry says. The unsuspecting angler was in hot pursuit only to realize that there was another boat perusing him. “I was in the process of moving a little closer to the area where the bite was and the game wardens were coming around the bend flagging me to stop,” He says. The officers pulled up to Jerry and what seemed to be a routine stop ensued. “I showed them all that they asked for and they seemed happy. “Then one of them asked me ‘where is your sticker sir?’ I told him they were next to my registration numbers on both sides of the bow. The officer replied "not that one, but the one that gives you permission to be in this bayou,” Jerry was appalled and replied “I've been fishing this marsh for 60 years and it's absurd that at my age that I need a sticker for permission.” The officers pointed to three signs posted that Jerry says he didn’t even pay attention to while entering the bayou. The officers went on to inform Fazzio that all of the marsh, ponds, and bayous from the ICW at Chef Pass to Lake Borgne, almost all the way to the Rigolet’s, has been purchased by someone and they are starting to ticket those who trespass. “Never did I ever think this would happen in our area. We need to band together on this and make sure our elected officials hear us loudly,” Fazzio says.

This sign is posted along the marsh near the ICW. The sign reads "KEEP OUT, No Hunting, No Fishing, No Trespassing"

To understand how the situation has escalated to this we need to go back to 1988. It was then that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Phillips Petroleum v. Mississippi that all navigable waters affected by the ebb and flow of the tide are public and cannot be owned. In what seemed to be a clear win for sportsmen who fish public waters has slowly been eroded, literally. A large portion of Louisiana’s marshes hold mineral rights that are owned by oil and gas companies. Through coastal erosion, that land was being covered by water and in turn these companies were losing the rights to the land. In the court ruling it was established that the states were left to define “navigable waterways,” and herein lies the problem. In 1992 Act 998 was passed. In it the Louisiana Legislature dictated that “navigable waterways” shall be defined as waterways which were used for commerce in 1812, allowing other water bottoms and the water that sits above them to be owned. Since then, property owners have grabbed on to Act 998 that not only gives them the right to own waterways, but even grants them the ability to restrict access with gates to areas in which recreational anglers have fished all their lives. Darryl Carpenter is a member of the Louisiana Sportsman Coalition. The membership group’s motto is “Uniting Sportsmen to Protect Public Access to Waterways.” Carpenter gives this advice to those who want to see Louisiana join the other 49 states that consider water a public resource. “You need to start talking about this at your breakfast stop, at the barber shop, at the grocery store, anytime you have the ability to work it into a conversation, you need to be making people aware of the issue,” Carpenter says. As far as what action to take? Darryl recommends emailing your State Legislators and establishing contact with your local Tourism Commission. “LASC is working with both and we are seeing success and support. But it’s only when they cannot get anything else accomplished because they are handling these complaints, will we win out over the folks who like to write checks,” Carpenter says.

Trestle Time!

11/17/2017

Keith Lusher

The speckled trout bite in Lake Pontchartrain can be finicky. Anglers who target these fish know that it’s all about timing. There’s one fishing destination that saltwater anglers depend on that is tried and true. The 5-mile train bridge known simply as the Trestles is, and probably will be for years to come, the #1 destination for North Shore anglers who are looking to catch big specks.

A train plows through the fog as Keith sets the hook on a trout.

I recently made a trip with Taylor Valois of Slidell to the iconic hot-spot and found that not much has changed at the bridge. It’s still a challenge to pick up on a specific pattern but the fish we caught were all quality fish. We started our day bright and early and found ourselves plowing through the fog to get to the drawbridge. We knew we were in for a tough day when we didn’t get a hit for the first 1/2 hour of the trip. We were using Shu-Shu Marsh Minnows and I decided to think outside the box and switch over to something that mimicked the shrimp in the water. I stated throwing a Shu-Shu Marsh Craw on a 3/8 oz. jig head and within 5 minutes the first speck was flopping in the ice chest. We worked our way south on the west side of the bridge and earned 2 more before sliding under the bridge to cast along the east side. There boat traffic was less dense on that side and the tide was starting to fall.

The first speck of the day!

Taylor guided the boat back towards the North Shore but all we could manage was a 15” trout just as a train passed over the bridge. We finished our day fishing the west side of the bridge north of the drawbridge and picked up two more. All fish were caught on the Marsh Craw in Gunmetal. It was a tough day but was expected with the warmer temps. Taylor says that he believes the trout will group up better with the falling water temperatures. “When we see those temps in the 60’s - that’s usually when you’ll see those specks in more of a pattern”, Valois says.

Taylor Valois holds up a trout caught with a Shu-Shu Marsh Craw

Neil Landry shows off 2 beautiful Tchefuncte River slabs

Bluebird Skies
Cool fronts can pose a problem to anglers especially those who fish on the day after a front. Ray Miller and his friend, Neil Landry, know this all to well but decided to make a trip to the Tchefuncte River anyway. On top of the blue bird skies Ray says the conditions were windy. "All my spots are on the river, so windy conditions make fishing rather tough,” he says. The friends started jigging the main river in 18’-20’ of water but were catching them 9’ down along the tree-tops from fallen trees. The bite was tough with many small fish but along the day the team put some heavy fish in the boat. “We caught several throwbacks, but my partner caught a couple of real hammers,” Ray says. The team caught all their fish on micro-jigs in Electric Chicken and black, green, and chartreuse.

Specks and Bass
Roger Sissac of Pearl River fishes the Eden Isles canals often. He made a trip in search of some bass and specks which are common for the canals around this time. He started throwing a buzz-bait along the shoreline in the canals. “It was a small gold bladed clacker with a white skirt,” Sissac says. Roger was able to manage 4 keeper bass but no trout. He then decided to make a run to the Trestles in search of trout where he was able to put 12 keepers in the box using a tandem Shu-Shu Slug rig in the Victory Red Color.

Rat Red Invasion

11/10/2017

Keith Lusher

This summer we saw an influx in undersized redfish in Lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne. The same is still true during the fall as anglers are seeing large amounts of rat reds being hauled in over the gunwale only to be returned to the water until they reach 16”. Justin Norman made a trip to the Rigolet’s after his son played in a local youth football championship game. "We launched around 2:30 pm after the 6 and 7 year-old football championship. We loaded the boat with 4 boys my wife and 85 live shrimp,” Justin says. The 85 live shrimp came in handy as the boys caught fish on almost every cast. We made a few stops and nailed the rat reds everywhere we stopped,” Norman says. While the family caught numerous redfish, Justin says they were unable to put any speckled trout in the boat. All-in-all he says the day was a success. “The boys had a blast and no one was pierced or fell in the water. I am wondering where the specks where though,” he adds.

William Norman, Rodney Clark and Justin Chatman are all smiles catching redfish along the shoreline

Eden Isles
Roger Sissac is used to catching speckled trout around this time in the canals that weave through Eden Isles in Slidell. However, with the unexplainable lack of trout in the area he turned his attention to green trout. He started his day throwing Shu-Shu Slugs in the Victory Red color. He rigged the slug on a double rig. Roger uses a tandem rig for two reasons, “I prefer the tandem trig because you can cast further, which means you cover more water, your odds are increased, and the best part is you catch doubles sometimes,” Sissac says. The day started out slow for Roger but he says with a little perseverance, he was able to find a solid bite. “I kept moving around until I finally caught the first one, then another, an another, an another until I hit my limit,” he says. The limit of largemouth bass rendered Rogers day successful, but the angler says he wishes the trout would return. “I sure hope the specks come back in the lake with the fronts,” he adds.

A hard earned limit of bass caught in the Eden Isles Canals

Biloxi Marsh
With the scattered speckled trout bite that anglers have been experiencing, Buddy Hereford made a trip to Biloxi Marsh with his friend Wayne who he refers to as simply “Trouthead.” The friends were hoping for an easy day of fishing with one centralized spot to catch specks. They headed to their first stop but had a little company along the way. “We made our way down a foggy, crowded Bayou Loutre until we broke out ahead of the pack and Wayne opened it up until we reached our first spot in Mack’s Pass,” Buddy says. They both picked up numerous undersized specks with 2 keepers at the first spot. They used Matrix Lemonhead under a cork. The team then decide to make a run to Crooked Bayou making a few stops in Lake Eugene as well, only to pick up a few at each spot. The quest for a consistent bite continued as the tiring duo made stops at Bob’s Lake and numerous cuts and lagoons before heading back to Bayou Loutre. “We were bowing and stretching to get the knots out of our backs towards the end of the trip,” Hereford jokes. They ended up putting #49 and #50 in the icebox in Cutoff Lagoon at 2:30. Buddy says the best spot was a tide line that they found in Bob’s Lake.

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