Keith Lusher Jr Just off of the Tchefuncte River there is a small canal that fisherman bypass everyday on their way to fish “better spots.” Whether it’s the Causeway, Lemo’s Reef, the N1 Reef, or the Lake Pontchartrain Shoreline, it’s almost certain that this canal isn’t even a blip on their radar when they pass by.
Luke O'Neal Mandeville High Student Luke O’Neal is guilty of casting aside the small waterway in search of greener pastures or bluer waters. On his most recent fishing trip he and two friends planned on fishing the artificial reef located out of the mouth of the Tchefuncte but the predictably unpredictable Lake Pontchartrain winds kept them from making the run. “We had planned on running out of the mouth of the river to Lemo’s Reef. The winds weren’t forecasted to be high but as we approached the lake we saw whitecaps, so we had to come up with a plan b,” O’Neal said. Luke fishes out of a 16 ft. Express and the like most anglers who use a flatboat, Luke’s Lake Pontchartrain trips are often dictated by the winds. As they idled at the mouth of the river they analyzed the water and it didn’t take Luke long to come up with that plan b. “The water all the way from the 4th St. Launch was high and muddy. As I got closer to the mouth, I noticed black water coming out of the cuts.
The iconic broken bulkhead Automatically I thought the Rice Fields is where it's at!” he said. He convinced the two other friends to make the run down the long canal to a spot that is known for its boom or bust productivity. “My friends and I actually debated going in there for a bit but I finally convinced them to make the run. We ran down to the tranasse just before the bulk head and we saw a boat coming out of the duck pond. I asked if they had done any good and they told us they caught three or four. Their poles looked to be rigged up for shiners which made me think we were in for a tough day, “he said. Luke threw his friends a bag of Shu-Shu Shad in Victory Red color and told them to Texas rig them. He positioned the boat on the outside bank of the canal so that they could fish the bulkhead where the water was flowing out, but before he could get anchored he heard a commotion. “I looked back and I saw my two friends reeling in fish at the same time. That got me excited! I grabbed my pole with a Texas-rigged Shu-Shu Shad on it and got in on the action,” Luke said. The three friends sat in that one spot and as they pulled bass over the side of the boat. “We were catching fish like madmen! Bass were busting shad and mullet all around us! We watched the numbers climb – 10, 15, 20, 25 and by the time the action quit we were just shy of a 3-man limit,” said Luke. The Rice Fields Canal is known for its strong tidal current and fishing it can pose problems when the current is strong. Luke says he thinks they had so much success that day because of the slower water movement “A big key to our success was having a light falling tide rather than it roaring out,” he said.
| The Rice Field Canal is peppered with small tranasses and cuts that spill out from the duck ponds. These cuts offer clean water that should provide anglers with plenty of clean water in contrast to what’s been the norm this this month on the main river. For now until the fall, anglers can expect to find bass stacked up in this “plan b” canal. |
