Causeway Mules
keith Lusher Jr The speckled trout run that lasted all through December has trickled into January and anglers are taking advantage by putting quality trout in the boat. Todd Shultz fishes the Causeway and says that he can’t remember a time when he was catching this many fish so late in the season. “We had a few people come into the shop and say they were catching a few out there but I never expected to have the trip we had with it being what is almost the middle of winter.” Todd owns a trolling motor repair shop and can always tell when the bite is on at the Causeway because of all of the repairs he sees at his Mandeville shop. On his most recent trip to the 24-mile bridge Todd and a friend filled the ice box with big beautiful trout and says the secret to their success was trolling. “We stopped and jigged up against the poles for 5 or 10 minutes but we didn’t do much so we decided to start trolling. We started right by the drawbridge and caught fish all the way to the next crossover about two miles down.” For most people, trolling is something that they would rather leave to the so called pros. Common excuses for not trying this technique are not knowing what lures to use, what speed to travel, and what line to use. But Shultz says that it’s not rocket science. “We weren’t doing anything special that trip. We were trolling along with the trolling motor at first, and then we cranked up the big motor and put it in gear. We weren’t dragging buckets or any of that stuff. We were just pulling brightly colored Rat-L-Traps behind the boat and that did the trick.” Another preferred method of trollers is attaching a soft plastic trailer lure behind the main lures to ensure a higher hook-up ratio, but Todd says on that day he didn’t want to take the chance of two fish jumping on one line. “I was going to put a trailer on but with the size of these fish, I just didn’t want to take the chance of two 5-pound fish grabbing hold of one line. These fish were mules! We caught 23 and out of those fish we didn’t have any throw-backs. The smaller fish weighed two pounds.”
Darren Pradat and Todd Schultz display their Causeway mules This great stretch of fall fishing should be coming to an end soon for the 24-mile reef so anglers who want to take advantage of this unseasonably late run should do so without delay. Once the water temperatures reach the upper 40’s these fish will be yesterday’s news and those anglers who wish to fish the Causeway will be forced to wait until the spring.
Lake Pontchartrain Catfish
Miriam Davey and her 19lb catfish caught at Lemo's Reef With the water temperatures dipping into to low 50’s, those big freshwater catfish are starting to make their appearance in Lake Pontchartrain. Todd Oalman runs trot-lines everywhere from the Tchefuncte River to Manchac and says that the reason for the bigger fish in the lake around this time is the salinity and the food supply. “With the North winds and rainfall during the winter, the lake's salinity drops. The bigger catfish are looking for easier meals than the river has to offer so they migrate to the lake and eat crabs that are dormant and the abundant clams. It’s much easier to feed on those slower things than to chase bream or shad. When I clean the bigger fish they are always full of clams and crabs.”
Miriam Davey and her husband Rex where jigging for trout at Lemo’s Reef when Miriam hooked into one of those monster catfish. “The fight seemed like it lasted forever! I finally managed to get it to the side of the boat but trouble hoisting it over the side of the boat so my husband netted it.” Miriam says that they were using a pink a chartreuse plastic shrimp tipped with a small piece of market shrimp. “After we got it into the boat we marveled over all of the old battle scars on it!”
Miriam Davey and her husband Rex where jigging for trout at Lemo’s Reef when Miriam hooked into one of those monster catfish. “The fight seemed like it lasted forever! I finally managed to get it to the side of the boat but trouble hoisting it over the side of the boat so my husband netted it.” Miriam says that they were using a pink a chartreuse plastic shrimp tipped with a small piece of market shrimp. “After we got it into the boat we marveled over all of the old battle scars on it!”
