|
Sheep Herding at the Trestles
 Keith Lusher
The warmer temperatures that have blanketed the area this past week has had its effect of Lake Pontchartrain. Max Patrucco of Slidell fishes Lake Pontchartrain often and said it’s one of his favorite times to fish. “The waters are alive with fish moving to and from their spawning grounds. Plus it’s a time when the fish start migrating in predictable patterns,” he said. Patrucco fishes from a kayak and decided to make a trip to the Trestles in search of sheepshead. With the abundance of sheepshead reports this month, Patrucco thought now would be a great time to try the concrete pilings along the bridge for the tasty fish.
 Patrucco with his first fish of the day
He launched at Triple Beach on the south shore of the bridge and peddled his Radar 135 Kayak and was fishing as the sun peaked over the horizon. Patrucco’s first instinct was to head towards a flock of seagulls that were diving. The kayak angler tied on a Z-Man Slam Shady on a 3/8 oz. jighead and trolled the bait through the birds but came up empty. He then spotted a set of pilings that were close to each other and peddled his kayak towards them. Patrucco switched over to a drop-shot rig and threaded on a live shrimp. “I use 20-pound braided line with a 25-pound monofilament leader, and I like circle hooks when fishing for sheepshead,” he said. He lowered the bait straight down alongside the piling and started to feel the familiar taps of a sheepshead down on the bottom. “Sheepshead hit differently than other fish. Usually I’ll feel a few light taps and then they will swallow it,” Patrucco said. The Slidell angler patiently waited the when he felt the fish swimming away he set the hook. He immediately started peddling his craft away from the piling so the fish was wouldn’t be able to wrap his line on the piling. After a couple minutes fight Patrucco had his first fish. He cut the fish underneath the gills to bleed the fish. “Bleeding these fish makes a difference,” he said. “The fillets are much cleaner after I do that,” Patrucco said. As he looked up to regain his bearings he noticed a boat heading towards the set of pilings. “I notice a boat working their way my direction jigging the pilings.
 A herd of sheep caught at the Trestles
There was still enough room so I raced back to the same piling and bam! I hooked up with another one. Patrucco caught five more sheepshead and three bluecats; two of them weighing over 5 pounds. Patrucco caught all the fish on the same set of pilings. After running out of bait he tossed his paddle tail minnow back out and on his way back caught a 14-inch speckled trout. As he approached the shore he spotted a gentleman fishing from the bank and decided to put a smile on his face. “Having more fish than I could eat I gave away the bulk of my catch to some shore fisherman,” Patrucco said. “It was another great day on the water!”
The strong sheepshead bite will continue in Lake Pontchartrain especially with the warmer weather forecasted for the end of the month. Tournament Results The Double Nickel Bass Club fished the East Pearl River. Anglers saw a hard incoming tide all morning as the wind increased making the conditions tougher. Mickey Breland came out on top in the end with a 3-fish tournament limit that weighed 7.22 pounds. Breland caught the big fish of the day as well; a 3.95 bass. Ralph Dunn came in second place with a limit weighing 6.53 pounds. In third place was Jerry Bullock who brought in a bag weighing 6.20 pounds.
|
 Keith Lusher
I created NFR.com in the spring of 2012. Since then it has helped link Northshore fishermen to valuable information and has filled the void of absent information on the web about fishing on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Northshore Fishing Report has morphed into a brand name and can be found not only on the web, but on radio and newspaper. As NFR grows I will continue to work hard at keeping NFR local focusing on local anglers, reports, seminars, and fishing tournaments in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parish. I hope you enjoy the website and If you have any questions please email me at: Keith@NorthshoreFishingReport.com
Look for the Northshore Fishing Report publication every Thursday in The Slidell Independent Weekly Newspaper!
|
|
Carl Schmidt of Abita Springs joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk about his numerous trips to Bayou Lacombe where he ran catfish lines and caught trout and bass near the mouth of the bayou.
|
