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Causeway Showing Signs of Life!
 Keith Lusher
Eric Lutz lives in New Orleans and has an admitted addiction to fishing the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. The last few years of tough fishing at the 24-mile reef hasn’t deterred him from fishing along the structure. In addition to fishing the bridge he's had the added task of fishing it with what he calls "A bunch of kids".
On his last expedition he launched on the south shore and headed north trying numerous spots. “The first 4 areas there was nothing...then Bam! They were stacked!" While it was a reward catching the redfish along the bridge, Eric says it as even better watching the kids catch fish. Eric was using Deadly Dudley’s in chartreuse color on a 3/8 oz. jighead and says these fish didn't come easy. "The best advice I can give is to learn the bridge and surrounding structures and put the time in. Every day they move around a few miles and will be gone soon as the lake heats up.” While the Causeway bridge has been known to produce large speckled trout, fishermen may have to learn to love large redfish instead. 46-year-old Donald Avant lives in Covington and says the area between the Causeway and Sunset Point has been a pleasant surprise the last few weeks. “We’ve been catching reds mixed in with bass almost every trip,” he says While the water along the bridge has cleaned up dramatically, the salinity is abysmal. Avant speculates - “It seems either the reds have acclimated to the fresh water or the bass are acclimated to the brackish water. I lean towards the reds acclimating more so than the bass.” Bayou Liberty Bass and Reds Dustin Touche of Slidell has been fishing Bayou Liberty and having a lot of success catching bass. Dustin made two trips this past week.
On His latest trip he and a friend, John Retif, caught a 2-man limit of bass by 7:15 in the morning. The tide was falling and the team concentrated on drains coming out from the marsh into the main bayou near the lake. Rain was in the forecast for this day so the overcast skies made Dustins go-to bait, Saltwater Assassin curly tail with a chartreuse tail, a non-factor. Meanwhile John was catching fish on a weightless white Zoom Fluke. Dustin switched over and started catching fish along with John. I switched to the white Fluke and we had 20 Bass by 7:15 a.m. There’s a lot of short striking and small bass but it’s nonstop action.” Touchet says. 
John Retif reals in a bass in Bayou Liberty on a white Zoom Fluke
 Dustin boat flips a large redfish into the boat near the Lake Pontchartrain Shoreline
Dustin’s second trip was much like the first in which he limited out early but this time, with the sun being out, he went back to catching them with his tried-and-true bait; The Saltwater Assassin Curly-Tail Grub in Chicken on a Chain color. Dustin’s biggest bass of the day came while he was working the bait along the surface about 5 feet away from the marsh. “That fish absolutely crushed that bait! I had to use a pliers to reach down and get the hook out of her mouth” he says. After weighing the bass Dustin realized the 3.5 pound fish. After reaching his limit of bass ,Dustin decided to make a run out into the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain near Bayou Bonfouca. I wanted to see if I could pick up some reds along the grass that extends off of the shoreline,” he says. He tied on a Matrix Shad in the Lemonhead color and caught 2 redfish, the largest was 20 inches.
Tournament Results
 Timmy Dickens
Bass Assassins held its tournament at the Tchefuncte River. It was a typical summer day on the river with a lot of boat traffic and heat. Timmy Dickens brought in a 5-fish bag of fish that weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz. for the win. This is the second Bass Assassins tournament in a row won by Dickens. Jode Holden placed second with his 8 lbs. 6 oz. bag. Following close in third was John Cahill with 8 lbs. 4 oz. The big fish honors went to Cahill as well for his 3 lbs. 15 oz. kicker fish
Upcoming Tournaments
The next Assassins tournament will be July 5th at Crawfords Landing. For more information please contact Chris Basey at 985-707-7857. Pearl River Team Trails is holding its next tournament at the East Pearl on Saturday, July 11. For more information please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-6936. The 20th Annual Lock One Kids Tournament will be Sunday, July 12th. The tournament is free for kids 3-12 years of age. Prizes, toys, goodie bags, and food and drinks will be provided for everyone. For more information, please call Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217. The next Liar’s and Lunker's tournament will be the Spring/Summer Series Classic at Lock One on July 26th. Anyone that fished a 2020 Spring/Summer Series tournament is automatically qualified. There is no entry fee and lunch will be provided at the 12:00 weigh-in. They will have a $50 optional side pot for those interested. Anglers will be allowed tofish either side of Lock One. For more information, please call Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217. 
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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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