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Cold Day at the Trestles
 Keith Lusher
Mark Sagerholm fishes the Trestles often and wanted to try for some speckled trout. He fishes from a kayak and puts in at the old “Tites Launch” at the base of the Hwy 11 Bridge but had to reconfigure his plan after noticing some signs posted in the area. “There were no trespassing signs posted and the dirt ramp to the right was blocked off,” he says. Mark spoke with a gentleman that was nearby who had some good news. “I was talking to an employee of the railroad who was launching an inspection boat there and he told me the Cousin Family is planning on fixing it up and making it a pay ramp again,” says Sagerholm.
Mark decided to head about a mile west to a beach where he launched his kayak. 
Mark peddles under the Hwy 11 bridge and heads to the Trestles for his first cast
While he was peddling out to the bridge he noticed that the water temperature was 54 degrees. “Unless the water warmed back up by some miracle I knew I wasn’t catching any specks this day,” he says. So the kayak fisherman went into what he calls “Wintertime Drag Em’ and Snag Em’ Mode.” Mark first tried drifting the west side of the Trestles for flounder using live shrimp and cocahoe’s but came up empty. He then moved to the east side to fish down current and that’s where he picked up a few sheepshead and a flounder. Mark says he hooked a big sheepshead that broke his line twice. “After that I guess he learned his lesson - Don’t eat shrimp with hooks in them,” he jokes. The wind picked up around noon but before he was forced to pedal back he was able to catch 3 bluecats. 
 Brandon's MRGO Spread of fish
MRGO Specks
Most speckled trout anglers know the migration of speckled trout in the lake is mainly dictated by water temperature and now is the time when the speckled trout action moves east. The Biloxi Marsh and Great Wall in Chalmette typically produces trout towards the end of November into December. Brandon Juneau of Lacombe made a trip to the MRGO in Chalmette. The tide was rising all morning and the wind was blowing but Brandon was able to boat 22 speckled trout at the rocks along the canal. He was jigging Matrix Shad in Limbo Slice and Lemonhead on the bottom. He was also able to catch 4 bass and a redfish. “The bass and redfish were caught using spinnerbaits and Texas-rigged craws,” he says. Intracoastal Bayous
 Matrix Lemonhead was ticket in the Intracoastal Canal for Hall
James Hall of Slidell has been limiting out on redfish along the Intracoastal Canal on the Lake Borgne side. On his latest trip he was fishing with his girlfriend Lauren and the couple found moving water in a bayou and started catching a mix of bass and redfish in 3’-4’ of water on a falling tide. “I caught fish in the same place on the last trip with an incoming tide so it seems good as long as water is moving in these bayous,” Hall says. With the colder weather here James says the bite has been soft. “I’ve been using Matrix Lemonhead on a Goldeneye 1/4 oz. head jigging the bottom slow. It’s a soft bite almost like worm fishing for bass,” he says.
Shrimpless Bayous This fall has been nothing short of spectacular for the migration of shrimp and baitfish along the Northshore and into the bayous. Daniel Sissac of Pearl River fishes Bayou Bonfouca and has been catching limits of bass every trip and finding shrimp in their stomachs after cleaning the fish. After his latest trip he cleaned 10 bass and says for the first time he didn’t see any shrimp in them. “There were no shrimp in the bellies this time, just crabs and bream,” he says. Daniel caught all of his bass free-lining Electric Blue Luck-E-Strike Worms. 
Sissac's Bayou Bonfouca Limit
Upcoming Tournaments The Double Nickel Bass Classic will be held at the East Pearl River on November 29. The tournament is open to all anglers over 55 years of age. $20 entry fee. For more information please contact Joe Picone at 985-630-4170. Pearl River Team Trails is holding its next tournament at the East Pearl River on Saturday, December 14. For more information please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-6936. |
 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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