August Fishing Forecast

Jeff Bordelorn

Bayou Cane is producing a great bass bite this summer and August looks to be a continuation of what we saw last month. With the lake cleaning up and getting back to normal you may just have a shot at catching redfish and the occasional speckled trout. Anglers are having success towards the southern end of the bayou with soft plastics rigged weedless. Fish the drains and the mouth of the bayou early and keep in mind that the bite will shut down when the water temperatures warm up which is usually around 9:00 or 9:30. If you must fish during the day, fish the shaded areas closer to the launch where the tress overhang the water. Crank-baits or t-rigged worms work best.

Bayou Castine is still producing plenty of bass. Because of it's size, you need to watch the conditions. If a significant amount of rain has fallen whithin the last 24 hours, don't even bother. Wait for the water to clear up. Bayou Castine is loaded with largemouth bass, goggle-eye, and perch. Anglers are catching their limit of bass during morning hours but late afternoon seems to be the better time to fish. The frog bite is on big time here! Top-water strikes will have your heart pounding. For you fly rod fisherman, Castine is tucked away enough that the water is like glass most of the time so eye-balling your fly on the surface is easy.

The Causeway is back! This summer we've seen the redfish very plentiful. The salnity along the Cuseway is at 2.0 ppt which is as high as we've seen in quite some time. Anglers are catching plenty black drum, blue cats, and craoker. Fish dead shrimp on a drop-shot. For redfish, Matrix Shad or Blue Collar Baits will work. Depending on the tide, use a 3/8 oz head or 1/2 oz head.

Daniel & Roger Sissac

Argh! The heat has settled in and won’t be leaving for a while. As a result, the best fishing will be early morns and late afternoons/evenings. The fish are feeling the heat too, and they will react the only way they can - by moving to deeper water during the day or by finding some shade. The early morn bite can be quite exciting for those who like to fish topwater lures. A chug bug or, my favorite, a Boy Howdy thrown to the bank can solicit some awesome blowups to get the blood moving so early in the day. Not a fan of hard plastics? A Texas-rigged worm or a fluke can provide the same thrill. These should be thrown just onto the bank (if you can reach and the bank is clear of obstructions) and worked quickly across the surface, especially the top of grass. If the fish are missing the lure, stop the lure just outside the grass, and you’ll probably find a willing participant. Color is not as important as cadence; let the fish tell you at what speed they want the retrieve. For those fisher-people who dare brave the heat, seek out boat houses, docks, trees overhanging the water - get the picture? Any place that has shade should not be overlooked. Moving water is cooler water, so finding shade and moving water increases your odds. Bait is important too - fish have to eat! Finding the trifecta should yield high dividends. Can’t find all three (boy, I’m asking a lot of questions - you can submit your answers on the quiz that will follow!)? I would start with shade and progress from there.
Bream have been biting well, despite the heat. Remember, they school three days before through three days after the full moon; this is the best time to find a colony of them that will keep your pole bent all day long. Sexee Shad in black/chartreuse and crickets are irresistible to hungry bream. The fish will be close to cover/shade, but not always in it. Keep in mind that bream are “up-feeders”, meaning they will see and pursue an offering above them more so than one below them, so adjust your float accordingly. The Sexee Shad can be fished under a float or, the way I fish it, tight-lined with a slow retrieve and a few twitches that allow the lure to fall; this is usually when the bites happen.
Check your drag while fishing for bream, because catfish also love the aforementioned baits. It is not uncommon to catch several cats mixed in with the bream.
Don’t worry, the quiz has been canceled, so get out there and catch some fish!

Ronald Pierre

August on the Tangipahoa River
August on the Tangipahoa River system can be a hot one. Anglers need to beat the heat to fire up some great bass action. Peak bass fishing times will be early in the morning or late in the evening. Look for baitfish, shade, and moving water when on this river system. Bass will be relating to baitfish early in the morning or late in the evening to feed during low light conditions. Look for moving water around river bends and wash outs when the sun is high. Areas with moving water will be oxygen rich and bass will stage in these areas to keep cool and allow the moving water to bring in baitfish to them. This will allow them to feed without using up any extra energy. Also, look for shade up in the shallows on this river system. During this time of year bass will stage in the shallowest water when shade is available. These areas hold baitfish and lots of oxygen during the hottest part of the year so don’t be afraid to fish super shallow when the heat is on. Areas around Black Bayou and Lee’s Landing provide all three of the key ingredients above to hold great bass fishing action during August. Baits to use are topwater frogs, buzzbaits, and soft plastic craws or creature baits.
The Manchac area has also been on fire when it comes to bass action. It holds a ton of baitfish, and always seems to keep clean water even after heavy August rains. Use this as a back-up plan if an August storm has dumped rain into the area and muddied up adjacent river systems. Areas around Ruddock, and North Pass are great areas to fish in August. Look for isolated cypress stumps, a defined grass line or any wash outs that have mixing water. Concentrate on structure near drop-offs in 6 to 8 ft of water. Lures to use are weightless fInesse worms, Texas rigged finesse worms, spinnerbaits, and topwater poppers.

Summer fishing in the Biloxi/ Louisiana Marsh is upon us. Water temps in the shallows up to 90 , 85- in the bays. This time of year, for me, the trout have pretty much abandoned the interior marsh for the bays, sounds and Lake Borgne. Try the rigs in Lake Borgne all the way from the mouth of Byu Biloxi around to Bayou St. Milo, marsh off of St Milo, and Magnolia Lagoons (many fish caught drifting that long lagoon), look for tide lines. Lake Borgne shorelines and all the drains into Lake Borgne are good for reds and specks.
Try the LA Marsh area from 3 mile out to fishing smack. Try all the open bays where water is coming out of bayous and passes should be holding fish. Never pass the chance to fish the diving birds if you spot them, just be ready to deal with the gaff tops that no doubt will start getting active. GPS MAPS should make it easy to explore this area of open bays and hundred of islands with tides moving around the ends. Most of the area has 4-8 foot depths that are not a problem for larger fishing boats and bay boats to navigate with out worrying about running aground,!!! BUT !!!!, use common sense, don’t go barreling between two Islands less than 50 feet apart, lots of islands were ,not to long ago, long stretches of land.

Lawerence Lemoine

Panfish are king right now and if you want something to entertain the kids and wife this is the place to be in August. The bass bite has slowed on "The Creek" but many fisherman that looking for some fast action have started fishing for the huge goggle-eye that inhabit the waters. Bedico creek is shaded on both sides so the sun shouldn't affect you as much. Crickets and worms fished under a cork by stumps and cypress trees seems to be the ticket. Lots of people love to fly fish and popping bugs are working great for hand sized perch. Now if you really want a good time try ultra-light gear and hang on. Small crank-baits in the crawfish and chartreuse color cast parallel to the lilies and channel will produce some bass.

Ronald Pierre

August on the Amite River can be either feast or famine. The best way to remedy the famine part of fishing this river system is to watch the rain gauge. August storms will dump rains into this area and in lower Mississippi. They will cause a lot of run off from as far north as Mc Comb, Ms all the way down to the Amite River Basin where it dumps into Lake Mareupas. This will muddy up the river substantially. Anglers who watch the weather and plan fishing trips accordingly will increase their chances of fish catches greatly. Areas around where the Diversion Canal meets the Amite, and areas on the north side of the Petite Amite River are great areas for shallow water fishing. These areas have a lot of docks and other visible targets for anglers to concentrate on. Lures like finesse jigs, flipping jigs, and soft plastics work great in these areas. If the water is murky stick with darker color lures, such as black & blue, June bug, and black & red. If the water is clearer or stained throw lures that are more natural in color, like watermelon red, and green pumpkin.
North of the Diversion brings on a whole new type of fishing in August. Bass in these areas usually hold in deeper water and stage on river ledges or drop offs along rip rap banks. Concentrate on rocks on main river bends, deep points at main river intersections, and ledges that are formed by main river intersections. Areas like Coyell Bay where the bayou meets the main river, Greys Creek, and Bayou Manchac are great areas to fish in August. Lures to use are deep running crankbaits, heavy round head jigs, and big Texas rigged worms. Fish these areas thoroughly and hit these areas several times during the day because they will reload with fish or get active as conditions change during the day.

Mike O'Brien

Lots of bass on the southern end of the bayou. Best bets for bass have been in early morning and late evening. When the water is up work topwater baits like Whopper Ploppers, frogs, buzz baits or any floating plastic over and around the grass line. If the water is low run crankbaits, spinners, or swimbaits along the outside edge of the grass line. Bream and goggle eye are taking small poppers on top early and jigs tight lined off the banks as the sun gets higher. Work the grass and pads along the main bayou near any cuts and canals especially when the water is down. Keep a tube of crickets or tub of worms nearby in case you need to go to plan B.

Farther down towards the mouth reports are coming in with reds being caught on live shrimp and spinners with a swimbait style plastic. Look for red fish chasing bait along the shoreline between Bayou Bonfouca and Bayou Lacombe also. Use live shrimp and plastics under a popping cork to work the points on a falling tide. Try a drop shot rig for drum and croakers near the reefs in Lake Pontchartrain. Still a little early for speckled trout in this area but there are plenty of other opportunities in the meantime.

The weather forecast hasn’t changed much since last month and neither has the fishing. The salinity levels look to be good going into fall. Bass are hitting topwater lures early. As the day warms up go deeper. Soft plastics like worms and lures like the Matrix craw will get you some nice action. Black and dark blue seem to be favorite colors. Gold spoons are a favorite of mine.
Catfish are plentiful. Fresh shrimp, live worms will almost guarantee a fish fry.
The hot weather should start cooling down a bit this month and days start getting shorter. Not wishing anything bad happening to anyone but we could use a tropical storm to help push some salt water in and flush out some of the fresh water.

Water temp in the upper 80s and Pearl at flood stage AGAIN, Rigolets and Lake Borgne Just won’t get a chance to clean up, BUT, Shrimp are on the move so the fish that eat them should be waiting. Time to try the Train Bridge at Lake Borgne, if you can pick a nice time with light wind and light falling tide, hang under the first span on the north end. Fish the bottom with Carolina rig or drop shot(lots of snags so the drop shot may work better), using live bait or unweighted plastic.
The flat outside the bridge on the north shore is productive on a falling tide, look for the tide lines and fish live bait or plastics under a popping cork in 3-5 ft of water, drop shot or Carolina rig in the deeper water along the tide lines.
The northern shorelines and drains between 4X byu and west pearl are usually good for some reds and flounder, shrimp under a popping cork or your favorite plastic and spoon will work.
Look for birds or just fish the tide lines ,shorelines and deep passes in and out of Lake Catherine. Reports of reds are picking up.
Tide lines and drop-offs in the Rigolets from Sawmill pass all the way to the train bridge are a good try also.
50-100 feet east of the Hwy 90 car bridge is the debris field from the old hwy 90 bridge. Anchor up and fish the bottom, live bait is a definite advantage. (many snags)
The point at treasure island has a nice drop off at the Rigolets and lake P, another promising location to try.
Oh yeah, give the Hospital wall a go, tie off to either piling and cast toward the twin span, let the tide move the bait along the bottom. Also try between the Hospital wall and the shoreline, top or bottom.

Todd Oalman

Bass fishing remains good. Fish are holding in the runouts and along the weedlines. Best baits are weedless floating soft plastics early. As the sun warms up the bass transition off the banks switch over to a Texas rigged worm in Tequila sunrise or black. Best times to fish are early and late. Bream can be caught on grass shrimp, worms, crickets or Berkley nibbles. Start fishing a # 8 hook about 18 inches under a cork. Adjust the depth as needed to find the fish. The mouth of the bayou has been chock full of mullet which has brought in the Jack Crevalle. Look for schools of mullet that are being blown up and chances are its jack fish, gar or sharks underneath. Drum, croakers, and redfish have been roaming the area and provide decent action on some days. Dead shrimp on the bottom have been working the best. Crabbing is great right now and is another option for the Salt Bayou area.

George Seibert

In August the fishing in Lake Borne generally slows down due to the extreme heat of the day and the trout having moved to the outside waters. Some trout, redfish, flounder and sheepshead are still being caught. If you’re going to fish Lake Borne, the eastern half, as of the middle of July, has very high salinity. From Malheureux Point to the Creole Gap the level is 6ppt to 15. The shoreline of the Biloxi Marsh is also good. If nothing is happening in the lake, cut through Three Mile into Bay Boudreaux and fish those Islands. There are plenty of shell reefs and that's were you will find the trout. Remember live shrimp is the ticket right now. Good luck, fill the ice chest, don't forget get the sun screen and stay hydrated.

Taylor Valois

Summer heat and the trestles mix as well as oil and water, but if you target the area around the bridge your options are still open for catching fish. When fishing the trestles in August it's important to look at the surrounding area more than the actual bridge. The rock shoreline on the South end of the bridge holds redfish consistently this time of year. No need for live bait just throw your favorite plastics with a 1/8 jig head. Also the twin Span under the big hump holds great puppy drum and redfish action because of its depths. Fish this area with a drop shot rig and live bait for the best results. Jack Crevalle are not meant for fisherman's plates but they are one of the most exciting fish to fight this time of year. Target these fish by looking for schools of birds and throw a top water bait like a Mirrorlure shedog and get ready for a drag screaming fight. The plus side is that redfish will mix in with these schools so you can end up in a feeding frenzy as well. The trestles will be back on fire as soon as water temps are down but for now target the surrounding structures and keep your eyes pealed! Good luck and get fishing.

Chris Basey

For Liberty you will find deeper water that flows better up north of Bayou Liberty Rd. There you can flip cypress trees with jigs, craw worms, and fling spinner baits. You want to key in on the outside bends. If that doesn't work you can run back south till your find grass on each bank. Throw swim baits, spinner baits, or frogs in the morning to pull the bass out. Sometimes you may even need to punch the heavy mats with big weights on craw worms to go in for the bigger ones. Another good pattern for both is fishing the run out of the many marsh bayous along the banks. This pattern works best when there is a front passing through. The summer time can be rough, but if you use these tips, and keep trying you will find them. Good luck to everyone, and hope to see you out there.

Luke O'Neal

Topwater early in the morning and evening still proves to be successful. The frog bite also has also been very good. Find a stretch of lilly-pads and work them thoroughly . Weightless tactics such as trick-worms and sinkos have been producing fish too. If you see a school of baitfish, don't be afraid to stop and make a few casts. You never know what's under them. Good fishing!

August is one of the worst months to fish the reef out of Madisonville. But there have been signs this summer that the reef will produce trout and redfish similar to what it used to produce in 2016 and earlier with a few reports of anglers catching trout there in July. Keep an eye on the reef next month but as for August, be prepared for a bunch of hardheads and sailcats.

Ponchatoula Creek is loaded with bass and goggle-eye right now. Anglers are finding success with shallow running crank-baits. The creek offers an abundance of structure. Bass and perch use this structure as cover to ambush bait-fish and also to keep cool during the hotter parts of the day.

The one constant for the Pearl has been muddy. From the East to the West it is muddy. Blown out, trashed & unpredictable is some terms I’ve heard. However the fishing is holding steady, both with numbers and weight. Right now it is falling hard. West Middle has west like current to it and same for Wastehouse. The locals that fish it often have stayed up with the changing conditions and are still whacking them. If you haven’t been in awhile you may find your favorite area fishing a little different. If so just bounce around and you should find pockets of fish willing to bite. My new favorite lure for my Bogue Chitto Custom Rods Flipping stick is a Toups’ Tackle Boss Beaver. This meaty bodied bait holds a big punching hook great and I can punch (and that is a great way to catch them right now) with the same bait longer than I can with other companies lures. The soft feel of the bait is so lifelike that fish absolutely choke it so set the hook quick. Another good pattern is to find some grass and throw the C4 Jigs swim jig with the new Toups Tackle Mayday Minnow as a chunk. The ¼ oz jig comes thru the grass and pads as well as a frog but gives them a totally different look.
The summer heat and slick no wind days have hit us hard. Stay hydrated and wear you sunscreen. Getting on fish can be fun and action packed but don’t forget to drink fluids. Protective moisture wicking shirts like those made by Skoll Gear are a big help in keeping the sun off you and staying cool and dry.