Keith Lusher
Ray Miller and Martin Duvic are two of the most experienced sac-a-lait anglers on the Tchefuncte River and have been fishing solo for years. The two decided to team up and trade secrets. “We met at the 4th St. Boat Launch in Covington and Ray idled around close to the launch pointing out spots here and there. Ray informed me that he was going be in school today and put me in the front on the trolling motor,” Martin says.
Ray "Cajun Ray" Miller and Martin "JigRig" Duvic
Martin is known for using triple-tailed plastic jigs and Ray wanted to try his method. “Swimming the 3-tail was the assignment. We went straight to were I left them biting last week and they were still there! We put a few in the box right off the bat,” Duvic says. At the next spot Martin says it was Ray’s turn to teach him a thing or two. “We tried one of Ray’s spot that I’ve never seen him fish and he told me exactly were to put my jig and Nada! So Ray comes up from the back of the boat and Bam! Bam! Bam! He puts three on ice,” Duvic says. The team ended the day with over 20 sac-a-lait. Miller says It was a great day for the two veterans. “Martin and I got to share some different techniques we use and traded tips on how to fish a few spots along the way. Some times it’s not just the spot, but the angle of the dangle,” Miller jokes.
Tangipahoa River
Jack Tucker has targeted sac-a-lait in Tchefuncte River because of his proximity to the water with him living in Madisonville. But Jack says he recently started fishing the Tangipahoa River and has seen good results. “After many years having the fish win on the ’T-Funk’ - I started over on the Tangi,” Tucker says. While the crappie spawn is over, Jack says they are still using corks to target the fish. “I never thought we would be fishing corks in 12' of water 3' deep, but it has been working,” he adds. Tucker has been using typical crappie tubes but rigs them on a Road-Runner head for added flash. “The tubes on the Road Runner head have been producing the bigger fish when compared to fishing next to a regular jig head,” Jack says. Jack made two trips this week and says on one trip he ended up with 30 sac-a-lait that were all on the larger side. On his second trip, he ended up with 20 fish. Jack gives a tip for patterning the fish. “One thing we have noticed is the fish are staged off of the cover on all the spots, either left, right, or in front. Once you figure out where they are they will hold the same on almost every spot in that area.”
Oak Harbor
Fishing from land has it’s disadvantages and one of them is the limitations on certain areas of water that are accessible. Sam Coco fishes from land for speckled trout in his Oak Harbor neighborhood and says that the fishing has been tough this month but he hopes an 8” trout that he caught is a sign of things to come. “Fishing from the bank is tough when there are no fish coming to you. I usually don't get excited over catching an 8” speck, but when it's the first one you've caught in a month it's hard not to,” he says. Coco caught the trout on a Matrix Shad in the Ultraviolet color on a 3/8 oz. jig head.
Bridge Fishing
Tangipahoa River
Jack Tucker has targeted sac-a-lait in Tchefuncte River because of his proximity to the water with him living in Madisonville. But Jack says he recently started fishing the Tangipahoa River and has seen good results. “After many years having the fish win on the ’T-Funk’ - I started over on the Tangi,” Tucker says. While the crappie spawn is over, Jack says they are still using corks to target the fish. “I never thought we would be fishing corks in 12' of water 3' deep, but it has been working,” he adds. Tucker has been using typical crappie tubes but rigs them on a Road-Runner head for added flash. “The tubes on the Road Runner head have been producing the bigger fish when compared to fishing next to a regular jig head,” Jack says. Jack made two trips this week and says on one trip he ended up with 30 sac-a-lait that were all on the larger side. On his second trip, he ended up with 20 fish. Jack gives a tip for patterning the fish. “One thing we have noticed is the fish are staged off of the cover on all the spots, either left, right, or in front. Once you figure out where they are they will hold the same on almost every spot in that area.”
Oak Harbor
Fishing from land has it’s disadvantages and one of them is the limitations on certain areas of water that are accessible. Sam Coco fishes from land for speckled trout in his Oak Harbor neighborhood and says that the fishing has been tough this month but he hopes an 8” trout that he caught is a sign of things to come. “Fishing from the bank is tough when there are no fish coming to you. I usually don't get excited over catching an 8” speck, but when it's the first one you've caught in a month it's hard not to,” he says. Coco caught the trout on a Matrix Shad in the Ultraviolet color on a 3/8 oz. jig head.
Bridge Fishing
Jean Deal had the fish of her life with this redfish
Todd Shultz of Mandeville wanted to bring his girlfriend, Julia Deal, and her mom Jean, fishing for redfish and speckled trout. Jean hadn’t been fishing in some time so Todd really wanted to make this trip a good one. “It was Julia’s mom’s first real fishing trip in a long time so I really wanted to find a good mix of fish to put them on,” Todd says. He teamed up with Captain Eric Dumas of Living A Dream Charters and the team headed out to the L&N Train Bridge where they caught the mix he was looking for. “We caught some redfish, drum, and sheepshead at the bridge so Julia and Jean had a chance to battle some big fish,” Shultz says. While tide movement is important in the world of fishing, tide movement at the L&N Bridge can be difficult for fishermen trying to get their bait to the bottom. So when the tide started pushing harder, the team headed to another train bridge in Slidell, The Trestles, where they finished off their box with 40 speckled trout. “We caught some really nice trout at the Trestles so that was really the icing on the cake for us,” Todd says. All fish were caught with live shrimp on a Carolina rig.
