Cooling Lake Pontchartrain Heating Up! Keith Lusher Jr
Ask any avid Lake Pontchartrain fisherman and he’ll tell you that it’s not the first cool front, but the second, which usually flips the switch on the fall speckled trout run on the Northshore. With the passing of our last cold front water temperatures have dipped into the lower 70’s for the first time this fall. For the better part of October anglers have struggled to catch keeper trout but it looks like those days are in the rear-view mirror. Anglers are already starting to see bigger trout showing up along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain and the baitfish in water is incredible. Many fishermen are reporting shad so thick in the bayous that they can feel them running into their lines while in the water. The redfish bite continues to be phenomenal and anglers are routinely limiting out in the marshes and canals on the Northshore.
 Forrest Green, John Farley, and Keith Lusher
John Farley has the inside scoop when it comes to fishing on Bayou Lacombe. Not only does he fish the bayou nearly every other day, he works at a local bait shop where he hears all the reports from fishermen on their comings and goings. John said his last trip produced the kind of trout that he has been waiting for. “The last trip I made was the best one yet. I ended up with at least 5 fish over 18 inches and a bunch over 16 inches, so the bigger trout have definitely showed up here on Bayou Lacombe.” John says he just follows the bait when looking for the trout and moves early and often. Tight-line Magneto Matrix Shad on a 3/8 oz. jig head for best results. John says the bayou is chock full of white trout right now and anglers are putting together nice boxes of fish even fishing from the shore. “From the launch, to the end of Lake Road they are lined up out there! You know things are starting to heat up when you see 20-30 people fishing from the road.”
FlounderFlounder are starting to show up along the bridges in Slidell. The bridges are noted for holding flounder around this time and you should be able to target them from now until December when they move offshore to spawn. The west side of the Hwy 11 Bridge in Slidell is always a hot spot for targeting fall flounder. Cast up against the concrete pilings using shrimp or cocahoe minnows on a Carolina rig. If you are using plastics remember that dragging the lure usually works better than bouncing it. Flounder are also showing up along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. Target sharp drop-offs where the shallow flats end. These fish are ambush predators that lie and wait for shad and shrimp to drop off from the flats.
|
Lake Pontchartrain ShorelineFall is one of the best times to take advantage of fishing the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. The water along shoreline is protected from the north winds that accompany the cold fronts which should allow anglers easy access to calm clean water. Take a little time to glance at a map before your next trip to utilize the land as a shield to the winds. Goose Point offers a great buffer from the winds if they switch over from north to east or west. Early mornings seem to be the best time to target the shoreline. Anglers are hauling in monster trout in the a.m. hours on top-water lures such as MirrOmullet’s and Top Dog’s in the red and white color. Tight-lining Matrix Shad along the sandy bottom will produce specks and reds if you can find clean water.
October FrontsMost fisherman chalk up the day after a cold front as a lost day on the fishing calendar but don’t be fooled. The troughs that bring cooler air across the southeast in October can often have a positive effect on fishing the day after. Fish use barometric pressure as a way to sense when cold air near. When a cold front approaches, the pressure drops and the fish feed heavily in anticipation of colder days ahead. A typical
cold front in October however, doesn’t drop the barometric pressure enough to
have much an effect on the day after. If anything, the cooler air mass drops the
water temperature sometimes five degrees, which could be just the trigger
needed to spark fish to start feeding.
|
