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Cold Water Crappie
 Keith Lusher
With the recent cold fronts and diving water temperatures, the sac-a-lait have transitioned away from a fall bite and into a full fledged wintertime bite. Ray Miller fishes the Tchefuncte River year round for crappie and says now is the time to fish deep! “They're transitioning to deeper water right now and it’s to stay warmer,” he says. Water temperatures can fluctuate from day to day but for the most part river temperature has been around 50 degrees on the surface the water, with the key word being “surface.” Miller says he been catching his fish between 12’ to 15’ beneath the surface of the water. “If you want to catch fish you have to fish deeper right now - that’s the bottom line! During the winter everything I do is around 14’ deep in 20’ to 25’ of water,” he says. Miller says that winter fishing for sac-a-lait is the complete opposite of how he targets them in the spring. During the spawn crappie are in the shallows and the Madisonville fisherman catches them with a jig rigged 2’ underneath a cork. These fish are now in the main river instead of the cuts and canals.
Ray catches a sac-a-lait in the main river
Ray recommends tight-lining jigs straight down until you find a school of them. Some of his favorite colors to use during the winter are Electric Chicken and a color that he refers to as “puke” which is a combination of orange, white, and chartreuse. “It’s one of the ugliest color combinations I’ve seen, but it works!” says Miller.
The Tchefuncte River poses many challenges to anglers due to its changes in water quality, flow, height, and temperature. Ray says for those who are new to fishing the Tchefuncte, “The river can be brutal and unforgiving but is an awesome place to fish if you pay attention to the never ending changes.” An added bonus to fishing the river in the winter is the lack of boaters on the water. Ray says the boat traffic is little to none right now. “I think a counted 3 boats all day the last time I went out - It was wonderful,” he says. 
Ray catches a sac-a-lait on an Electric Chicken colored jig
He also recommends keeping an eye on the winds after a cold front. “I went out the other day and it was a strong north wind and when it’s like that it blows right down that river. That river had white caps it was blowing so hard!” he says. With all the changing conditions the river poses Ray still says it’s worth the hunt to figure these fish out and it’s the challenge that keeps him coming back. “I think the hunt for the thump is what makes us work through this ever changing obstacle course to find the elusive prize called a sac-a-lait!” 
Bayou Lacombe Sac-a-lait
Jason Ledet of Lacombe made a trip in search of sac-a-lait to Bayou Lacombe. He and his wife Loryn launched at the Main Street launch at 7:00 in the morning and started fishing drop-offs several feet from the bank. They fished for a few hours and ended up with 16 crappie. “I caught all of mine tight-lining Berkley Power Bait Minnows on 1/32 oz. jigs and she caught hers about 4’ under a cork with the same jigs,” Jason says. 
Jason's Bayou Lacombe spread of sac-a-lait
Salt Bayou Launch
With crews finished with the new construction of the Salt Bayou Bridge anglers are wondering when they will be able to access the back down launch at the foot of the bridge just off of Hwy 433. The launch has been public for decades and provides easy access for fisherman fishing Salt Bayou, Lake Pontchartrain, and the W-14 Canal. George Seibert of Fishmeister Charters says he used to use it back in the 80’s when and can remember a bait store there and bar. Unfortunately, it looks as if the owners of the property have no plans to re-open the launch. “I passed by it the other day and there is a a rope across the launch,” he says. Tournament Results Liar's and Lunker's held its fourth of five Fall/Winter Series Tournaments at the East Pearl River in Slidell. Even though hunting season was in full swing, seventeen (17) teams gathered at the Highway 90 boat launch to battle. A cold morning and falling tide greeted each of the anglers as they launched their boats in the predawn darkness. At the end if the day, Bobby Dampier proved that he didn't need a partner to catch the winning weight. He weighed in 11.74 lbs. for the victory. Second place went to Nick and Danny Giovingo who had 9.26 lbs. of fish. They also had the days biggest bass which weighed 4.05 pounds. Rounding out the top three was Eric Ciko and Chad Livingston with 9.03 lbs. 
Bobby Dampier with his tournament winning catch
Upcoming Tournaments 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. Liar’s and Lunker’s is holding its next tournament at the East Pearl River on December 29. For more information please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217. |
 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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