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Sinking Brush Piles
 Keith Lusher
Sac-a-lait fishermen often hold their cards close to the vest when it comes to giving away secret fishing spots. It is often the case that these fishermen develop personal relationships with certain spots as they have been fishing for decades. It can be as simple as a submerged log that always seems to hold fish, or it can be an entire tree top that stretches out 30 feet into the river. Whatever the case, these spots hold one thing in common: they all contain some kind of submerged structure.
Miller squeezes onto the boat of his flatboat
I made a trip with Ray Miller of Madisonville to the Tchefuncte River and got to experience a new “fishing spot” being created right before my eyes. It all started when I received a text from Miller a week ago. It was a picture of a tree branch that was lying on Miller’s driveway. I wondered what the photo was meant to suggest so I gave him a call and simply asked, "What’s that?" He answered, “That’s my new fishing spot.” He then proceeded to explain how he was going to take a set of branches out on the river and sink them. This piqued my interest and I was curious as to how the next day would transpire.
 All set to hit the river armed with a flatboat full of branches to sink
I met Miller at the 4th St. Boat Launch AKA Menetre Boat Launch in Covington near St. Pauls High School. Miller was backing down his flatboat and it was covered in branches, so much so that there was hardly any room to walk in the boat. As we motored down river we came upon the spot where Miller wanted to sink the three large branches. As we neared the spot Miller explained how he makes the brush piles so that they stand up in the water column and attract fish. “It’s a simple cinderblock that I tie onto the bottom of the branch. This holds the branch down on the bottom,” he said. On the top of the branch, he ties on a two-liter soda bottle filled with air and sealed. “That makes the leafy section of the branch float. I find that the fish react to horizontal structure better than if it’s just laying on the bottom,” he said. As we pulled up to the set where he wanted to sink the branches we both grabbed an end of the branch and tossed it overboard.
Miller and Lusher heave a brush pile into position
 Miller scoops up a 15-inch slab caught on a a Panfish Assassin Crystal Shad
We proceed to do the same with the other two branches. After this, we started fishing numerous spots in the river. It was an overcast day with cool temperatures so Miller stopped at numerous spots in the main river where we were able to catch fish on just about every stop. The fish were suspended at around 10 feet and although they weren’t biting aggressively, we did manage to put a solid box of fish together using a Panfish Assassin Tiny Shad in the Crystal Shad color. But the highlight of the day came when we doubled back on the river to check and see if any fish had found the brush pile that we sank earlier in the day. As Miller put his transducer down and pointed it towards the brush pile the branches were full of fish that had made it home. “Sometimes just a few hours is all it takes to attract the baitfish and sac-a-lait follow,” he said. Needless to say, it was quite a productive morning of fishing as I was able to take home a box of sac-a-lait to clean for a future fish fry, but more importantly I learned that you don’t have to depend on your ability to find existing spots when you can easily take it upon yourself to create your own!
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 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!
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Ron Hindman of Slidell joins the NFR Studio to talk about his 11-pound trophy bass he caught in the West Pearl River
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