Lake Pontchartrain Favorability Gauge for October
Lake Pontchartrain is home to a variety of fish. Since it is an estuary, the lake is constantly changing. There are many factors that change the conditions of the lake including hurricanes, rain, and spillway openings. This makes the Lake one of the most challenging destinations to fish in South Louisiana.
Since it's inception in 2012, NorthshoreFishingReport.com has collected thousands of fishing reports from Lake Pontchartrain. Below is a list of all of the fish that anglers pursue in Lake Pontchartrain. All the reports have been researched on NFR and assigned a monthly favorability score.
Since it's inception in 2012, NorthshoreFishingReport.com has collected thousands of fishing reports from Lake Pontchartrain. Below is a list of all of the fish that anglers pursue in Lake Pontchartrain. All the reports have been researched on NFR and assigned a monthly favorability score.
We've gone through the reports dating back from 2012 from the following fishing reports boards on NorthshoreFishingReport.com: Causeway, Slidell Bridges, Lemo's Reef, Pass Manchac, Sunset Point Fishing Pier, Slidell Fishing Pier, and Lake Pontchartrain (other). These reports determine 80% of the weight used in monthly projections. The other 20% of the weight is taken from the Monthly Fishing Forecasts that are written by NFR Members. Each species of fish is given a favorability rating. These ratings are not scientific and should be used as a best estimate of what to expect on any given month.
Speckled Trout October: Great
Speckled trout is king in South Louisiana. For anglers on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain specks are also at the top of the list of targeted fish. October marks the beginning of the speckled trout moving into the Lake. Pay attention to the reports coming out of Lakeshore Estates and Northern lake Borgne. The trout are moving from west to east in October.
Watch the temperatures and when the overnight lows are in the 50's that's enough to get the water temperatures lowered. October reports show the best spots are the mouth of Bayou Lacombe and the mouth of Bayou Bonfouca. The baitfish and shrimp should be grouping up by October making the trout easy to find and easy to catch numbers. Matrix Shad in the Shrimp Creole or Magneto Color on a 3/8 oz. jighead. Also Zoom Flukes in Arkansas Shiner color works as well. While fishing the shoreline the eel grass can be problematic. Switch over from a 3/8 oz. jighead to a 1/4 oz. jighead to not get caught up in the grass.
Watch the temperatures and when the overnight lows are in the 50's that's enough to get the water temperatures lowered. October reports show the best spots are the mouth of Bayou Lacombe and the mouth of Bayou Bonfouca. The baitfish and shrimp should be grouping up by October making the trout easy to find and easy to catch numbers. Matrix Shad in the Shrimp Creole or Magneto Color on a 3/8 oz. jighead. Also Zoom Flukes in Arkansas Shiner color works as well. While fishing the shoreline the eel grass can be problematic. Switch over from a 3/8 oz. jighead to a 1/4 oz. jighead to not get caught up in the grass.
Redfish October: Great
Redfish is one species of fish that is improving not only in Lake Pontchartrain, but the rest of South Louisiana. The redfish bite is strong all summer but in October it seems like everything is accentuated. Watch for redfish running mullet along the northern shoreline of the Lake. Most anglers associate seagulls diving with a speckled trout bite but in Lake Pontchartrain during October there's a 50/50 shot at it being a big school of redfish. The redfish bite in October differs from other areas like the ICW, Biloxi Marsh, and Rigolet's. As the reds don't get into the duckponds as much but rather, school up thick and run bait out in the open water of the lake. In October we've collected tons of reports that show anglers limiting out quick at numerous spots in the lake. The shoreline between Bayou Bonfouca all the way up to Bayou Cane is a hotspot for redfish in October. Anglers also have good reports around the power line, West of Port Louis in September But the best bet for catching redfish in October is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Jigging the bottom with plastic or even market shrimp will work but live shrimp is always best. Gold spoons are a proven method as well just be careful of hanging up in eel grass along the shoreline.
Black Drum October: Good
While anglers don't generally target drum, they won't hesitate to add them to the ice box when they come across them. Often if you find one, there's a school of them at the same spot. Black Drum are plentiful in Lake Pontchartrain and while the past month (September) was one of the best month to target them, October is also a good month to catch the schooling fish. Black drum spawn in the offshore waters so you can expect them to be moving out of the Lake by next month. Most of the reports on NFR have two things in common. They were fishing on the bottom and with market shrimp. Hotspots include the Trestles, the first cut along the eastern shoreline of Bayou Lacombe near the lake, and the shellpad 2 miles off of Green Point. Carolina rig is your best bet when fishing for Drum. Just a reminder when catching black drum for table fare - typically drum that measure over 25" contain worms in them. These worms aren't harmful but most fisherman stay away from keeping the larger fish due to there presence.
Sheepshead October: Excellent
October is one of the best months to target Sheepshead in Lake Pontchartrain. Like the drum, they will be moving out to deeper saltier water in the winter but their spawn is later than most fish. Most anglers associate catching sheepshead with structure like bridge pylons and shell bottoms. Fortunately Lake Pontchartrain has plenty to offer in terms of those specific structures. Sheepshead are structure feeders. Some anglers actually can watch them circling a pylon on the Lake Pontchartrain bridges. They primarily on crabs, shrimp, barnacles and small fish. Their teeth look human, these are used for scraping structure for food. Some of the best places to target Sheepshead in Lake Pontchartrain in October is the Trestles and Causeway. Another spot that produces great reports is the Twin Spans bridge. NFR doesn't get too many fishing reports from the Twin Spans but when we do it's usually sheepshead that are being reported. Best bait is live shrimp (the smaller the better). Also cracked crab and surprisingly - live crawfish! Using a Carolina Rig works well but keep in mind that the entire pylon from the waters surface to the bottom offers a good chance to catch a sheeshead so a lighter weight is in order to slow down the descending bait.
Flounder October: Excellent
October is prime time for Flounder in Lake Pontchartrain! The bridges are a must when targeting these flatfish. Use your electronics to mark the bottom and watch for deep holes or drop-off along the pylons. One thing to remember with flounder is that they are patient predators that are willing to camp out and wait for their prey to come to them. A sharp grassy point with current coming around it is a likely spot to catch flounder. Also sharp drop-offs are a popular spot to catch flounder. Todd's Bayou near Goose Point is a fantastic place to target flounder in Lake Pontchartrain in October. Also the broken shell dam in Flatpoint Canal is a good spot. Flounder are very aggressive and will eat just about any bait. Soft plastics on a jig head work fine for flounder but if you want to add something extra slice a sliver of mullet or bely skin from another flounder. When fishing for flounder it's important to remember to slow things down. Sometimes dragging the lure along the bottom works best. Cast up to the bank and work the lure slowly back letting it drop off of the ledges. While October is one of the best month to catch flounder in the Lake, next month they will be moving out to spawn so take advantage of the bite now!
Garfish October: Good
Alligator Gar are prevalent all over the south and Lake Pontchartrain is home to some of the largest gar in the United States. It's not uncommon to catch Alligator Gar in the Lake that measure over 10 ft. Lake Pontchartrain is home to the Mandeville Garfish Rodeo in which anglers can utilize numerous methods of catching garfish. One way is to run "jug lines" or "noodles". This is a method of tying the lines to individual floats and letting setting it out in the water. When the jug float starts to move you know you hav something on the other end. Another method is rod and reel. Anglers use heavy braid line with a steel leader before the hook. Gar have sharp teeth so the steel leader is necessary to avoid breaking the line. Garfish aren't picky eaters. Popular baits are cut mullet, chicken fat, livers, or market bait. Most reports on NFR for Garfish come from the area along the Northern shoreline from Bayou Cane to Bayou Lacombe but Manchac is another great place to catch garfish. Garfish reign throughout the summer but when the water starts cooling the bite slows down. While October is a good month to target them, the next months will get progressively worse.
Croaker October: Good
August and September were prime time months to target Croaker in the Lake but when the cooler weather moves in, the croaker disburse with every cold month that goes by. Croaker are part of the drum family. Their mouths are turned down and are used to suction food from the bottom of the lake or bayou. By far the best way to target these fish is a drop shot rig with dead shrimp. Some anglers like to cut up slivers of croaker meat and use that on the hook. Croaker are notorious for "pecking" bait off of the hook so using cut fish works better as far as your bait staying on the hook. It's better to fish for these fish with a lightweight rod and monofilament line under 10 lbs. Feeling the bite is very important so a tight line is in order. The best spots to target croaker from the reports on NorthshoreFishingReport.com are the Causeway, The mouth of Bayou Liberty where it feeds into Bayou Bonfouca, and the mouth of Bayou Lacombe.
White Trout October: Great
The white trout bite typically coincides with the croaker bite in Lake Pontchartrain. But reports show that it seems the white trout are more plentiful than the croaker in October. This month the white trout are seen moving out into the lake from the mouths of the bayous. Anglers report catching speckled trout along with white trout as well in October. White trout are closely related to the speckled trout but don't grow as big as speckled trout. A good sized white trout in Lake Pontchartrain measures anywhere from 10" - 12". The meat tastes just as good as speckled trout but will turn out mushy of not put directly on ice when caught. Anglers who target white trout have the best results when they fish on the bottom using dead shrimp.