Northshore Fishing Forecast May

Keith Lusher Jr

Bayou Cane in May has been noted for one thing and one thing only! The perch bite! This is the month to target bluegill and chinquapin in the shallows. A simple popping cork with a jig or live crickets rigged 2' underneath will provide numerous hours of action on the tiny bayou. Don't forget about the ferocious goggle-eye bite on Cane. After leaving the launch take the first right and fish the wood laden canal in the shallows for non-stop goggle-eye action! This is a great time to get a kid hooked on fishing as the temperatures will be pleasant and the action will be consistent

The water is clearing up and the bass are active. Try the back cuts that are closest to the trace. Target lily pads with artificial frogs in the early mornings and late afternoons. Crankbaits at the intersections of canals works as the bass group up on shad at those crossings. Fly fishing is also a way to go on the bayou. Anglers are picking up goggle-eye and bass in the late afternoons just before dark. Don't expect much of a saltwater bite at the mouth due to the muddy Mississippi water from the Spillway opening

The gradual return of the Causeway is still proceeding. Speckled trout are now being caught with soft plastics jigged near the pilings. The water is clear and the salinity is at 1 ppt which should translate to more specks in the future. The bridge will be hit or miss for anglers. Remember to cover a lot of water when hitting the 24-mile reef and key in on what technique catches fish. It's often the case that that technique will work that day.

Daniel Sissac Roger Sissac

May has arrived, and it is bringing hotter weather with it. May usually indicates that the bass spawn is over, so they will start their late spring/early summer pattern. Males will be guarding their brood until the babies can swim away from the nest - about two weeks - and will be hungry once relinquished of their parental duties. Almost any lure will be enticing to a hungry male; spinnerbaits, jerk baits, and soft plastics are some of the top producers - soft plastics can be reeled quickly across the grass to provoke an exciting topwater bite. The fish will be moving to deeper water during the hot part of the day but will be shallow in the morns and evenings; look for structure that can provide shade from the midday sun.
Bream are biting well and should begin spawning this month. Three days before through three days after the full moon will find the panfish grouped in colonies to spawn; the bream will be spread out during the other times of the month. Locating structure, such as pilings, rip-rap, and Cypress knees, should help you find fish. Sexee Shad, crickets, and Beetle-Spins always produce fish. If you don’t like those options, earthworms will catch fish too, but aren’t as clean of a choice - kids may not want to touch them as readily as they’ll touch a lure or even a cricket. When using a float, vary the depth until you find where the fish are. Keep in mind that panfish are up-feeders, so it’s better to start too shallow than too deep. Also, be mindful that catfish will enjoy those same offerings, so make sure your drag is set well.

Ronald Pierre

May on the Tangipahoa River we will see an influx of shad that will move towards the backs of creeks off the main river channel. Shad will be on the move and will be looking for areas to spawn. They will be moving in big bait balls out towards the middle of the channels or deeper ditches that feed the smaller, shallower backwater areas. Bass will be recovering from the spawn and will relate to these schools of shad rather than structure on the banks to take advantage of easy meals. This scenario will offer some exciting topwater and swimbait action. Anglers should take advantage of low light conditions to find schooling shad and schooling bass. Shad will relate to the water surface to keep warm early in the mornings or late in the evenings while sunlight is low. Bass will use these low light times to help them feed. Areas like The mouth of Bedico Creek, Middle Bayou, and North Pass will offer some exciting action when the shad are on the move. All of these areas have small wash outs that empty the swamp. The wash outs empty warm water and plankton out of the swamp. Shad will sometimes school at the mouths of these areas to feed on plankton and to keep warm in the moving swamp water. Bass will position themselves in schools just under the shad to feed. Topwater lures like Spooks, Chug Bugs, and Pop R’s are great lures to throw when bass are feeding near the surface. Use these lures early in the mornings, late in the evenings, or all day if the cloud cover is thick. Swimbaits will come in handy after the sun has risen or if the wind is too high to allow for a topwater bite. Lures like Optimum Line through series swimbaits, Zoom Swimming Flukes, and Berkley Powerbait Ripple shad are good when bass are feeding on shad subsurface. Another key to filling a limit during a day of fishing is to keep in mind that these types of areas always replenish with fish throughout the day. If you caught fish early in the morning come back and check the area several times during the day. Bass will move in and out of these areas to stage and feed during the fishing day.

Lemo's has been a surprise this year as anglers are finding trout at certain times. Target days with a good tide and locate baitfish on your electronics for better results. Typically the Shrimp Creole Matrix has been the ticket at the reef but this spring all they seem to want is plastics with chartreuse coloring. Early mornings have proven best at the reef as of late. We'll keep an eye out for more reports but typical the heat of June will bring the reef to an end.

Lawerence Lemoine

While the Sacaliat bite has tapered off a bit, the bass bite is stout on the creek. Crankbaits are the name of the game this month. Bass will be busting shad on the surface and shad colored cranks will serve to be a valuable lure in your arsenal. As daytime heating sets in try and concentrate on shaded areas such as overhangs and piers. Jigs are great for targeting shade seeking lunkers on the creek in June.

Ronald Pierre

May on the Amite River will kick off the shad spawn. Bass will be in full feeding mode having just finished spawning, and are looking for meals to make a speedy recovery. Shad on this particular river system stay relatively deep. They remind me of how shad will act on an upland reservoir or deep lake. Shad will relate to deep sandy points, shell beds, and rocks that the Amite River offers. Bass will position themselves on the steepest drops where shad are schooling. They will move shallow only to feed and back out deep while waiting on the shad school to move back into position. Areas like Bayou Manchac, the mouth of Colyell Bay, Greys Creek, and any rip rap along the main river bends are great places to fish in May. Lures like Strike King KVD 1.5’s, Strike King Series 3XD’s, shakey head with finesse worms, jigs, and ribbon tail worms are good lures to use. Fish these lures slow and methodical to cover the area thoroughly until you find where the school of bass is positioned. Once you find the school and get bit make a mental note of the exact angle and position of the cast and try to replicate it. Once you get the school of feeding bass lit up make repetitive casts to the same area at the same angle with the same retrieve to catch multiple fish out of that area. Use deep crankbaits first and use the worms, jigs, and shakey head as clean up lures. These areas will reload with bass during the day so check back periodically to take advantage of fresh fish that have moved up into the area.

Rigolets should be starting to get more productive. Warmer water and the arrival of live shrimp will be the turn on. Water temp in lake P and B are getting into the seventies , so Rigolets won’t be far behind(stays colder longer due to depth and west pearl flooding). Hopefully the West Peal River will go down quick with the break from the rain and let the water clear up. All the favorite spots will start producing so get out to be the first to find the fish. Lake Borgne train bridge, 4X Bayou, Hwy 90 car bridge hospital wall. Lake Catherine will pick up with the arrival of the bait, try openings from millers ditch, unknown pass and Bayou St. Catherine, look for birds diving and points with tide lines for signs of feeding fish.

Patrick Engerran

By the 1st of May the Pearl complex is forecast to be falling out good. Even better is looking up river the Jackson Gauge it is showing a big fall to normal stages. It will take a while for it to work down to this area but hopefully it is coming. Slow and steady is better than fast and sudden. Slow and steady gives the fish time to make a gradual move to where they want to be. Fast and sudden yanks them from where they have been and causes defense mode of moving further than normal out to defend against being landlocked in a pool or ditch.
Drains should be on good with the water pouring out and the fish and bait should be coming pilling the fish up at the mouth feeding up following the post spawn. Tired fish like an easy meal and drains will provide that. Bounce around until you start getting some bites, not all drains will be good and only a couple will be great. Fish should start to settle into normal summer time patterns as the fish relate to shade and current. Pads, grass reeds, laydowns and trees will hold bass and goggle eye. Laydowns will be effective as the water falls, they give the bass cover they can stay on and move out as the water falls without leaving it. Reeds in the marsh will provided the same cover as the bass gradually pull to the edge of them as the water pulls out.
The East Pearl has numerous drains and pads going north and should be falling more gradually which means the bass may be easier to pattern in this area. It also has long laydown trees that will provide them cover to follow the river down with. Wastehouse is generaly a good safe producer if bites and catching fish is what your plans are. The frog bite should be firing up in the areas with pads as the top water bite turns on. If any bream beds are found in the oxbows try a popping frog or a pop-r type bait around them. Bass will cruise bream beds off and on during the day and a top water bait will bring some of the most massive blow ups you will have all year. The new Shu-Shu Marsh Craw in Blackenrage is the perfect crawfish imitation to flip cypress, laydowns or punch mats with. It’s 4” profile and thin claws make it an attractive meal for bass. Rigging it on a jig will produce some bigger bites. Crawfish is always a staple to Pearl bass, just check your live well at the end of the day and look for pieces of crawfish.
Get out and enjoy the fishing before the summer temps get here. Something will be biting somewhere. Good Luck and tight lines.

May on Ponchatoula Creek can be a challenge The hard rains associated with the fronts that come through have done a number on the creek and muddied up the water from the north to the south end. Some sac-au-lait are showing up but only those seasoned anglers who know where the deeper holes are seem to be having the most success. Bass fishing is average at best on the creek this month. Creature baits are always a good choice when targeting spawing bass but crank-baits may work better witht he low visabulity water. On warmer days look for bass busting shad on the surface in the main channel of the creek. Anglers should be able to locate catfish in May and catch good numbers whether by pole or trot-lines. Basically any bait will work. Stick to the deep channels and be patient. Always keep an eye on the rainfall around the creek as the water will muddy in a hurry!

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 Milo, Lake Borgne shorelines and all the drains into Lake Borgne are good for reds and specks.
Try the LA Marsh area from 9 mile east, all the open bays where water is comming out of bayous and passes will 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 (See the Miester) and bay boats to navigate with out worring about running aground,!!! BUT !!!!, use common sense, don’t go barrelin between two Islands less than 50 feet apart, lots of islands were ,not to long ago, long sterches of land.

Todd Oalman

The excellent bass bite will continue throughout the summer months. Limits should be the norm, with days of 30 plus bass a realistic expectation. Look for moving water and bait. Ideally, you want to find a drain in the marsh that has pogies, shrimp, or minnows coming out. The bass will stack up and ambush the easy pickings. Early mornings, late evenings, and overcast days are the best times to fish soft plastics such as Shu-Shu's along the shore/weedline. When the shoreline bite slows, try casting pogie colored crankbaits around the mouths of the trenasses. The fish will hang out along the shoreline and then transition to deeper water as the day heats up. Redfish will be in the marsh and the lake shore. Speckled trout can be caught on shrimp or artificials, but probably the best and cheapest(free) bait are the pogies that are in the bayou. Get an early start, just before daybreak, and look for them on top of the water. One or two throws of your castnet will yield plenty. Croaker, white trout, drum and sheepshead will be at the mouth of the bayou too. Dead shrimp on the bottom will work for them. Crabs are starting to pick up in the lagoon and bayou. Now is a good time to drop some nets in the water. Good fishing!

George Seibert

May for me is the spring run in Lake Borne. Brown shrimp will start to move out the marsh to open waters. Trout will move to the open waters for the spring spawn in the higher salinity waters which are all the way into Bay Boudreaux. Salinity levels in the Rigolets to Half Moon has been better than previous years However.. In the early morning top waters lures along the shore line. As the morning heats up plastic or live bait 2-3ft under a popping cork. At the gas heads fish the bottom and top as the shrimp will be holding on the shell bottoms. Fish the trenasses and mouths of bayous on falling tides. In the lake look for diving birds and water slicks. Drift through a slick in the middle of nowhere, there’s usually bait fish under it. And always try your favorite rig. Reds can still be caught on the shore with this low salinity. Good luck this month and hope they don't open the spillway again!

Taylor Valois

With the spillway closed again this spring the Trestles shined in April and with the normal temperatures look for it to continue in May. Tide, weather and moon phases can have a great deal to play this month and this is what you should look for. Incoming tide is your best tide to fish because its flushing bait into the lake. You want to find where these tides flow the hardest through the trestles and fish that edge, sometimes it can even be 50 yards off the bridge. You want to fish with the current so your bait has that natural look. If you want to target bigger trout, fish the two days before and after the full moon. Those are the major spawning periods. Being safe comes first but days with less pressure are usually days of rougher seas and also hold bigger unaware trout. Hard tide and high windy days use ½ oz jig head and low wind light tide use 3/8oz jig head with either Matrix Shad Ultra Violet/limbo slice or Shu-Shu Cromis. Live shrimp on a drop shot 1oz weight rig also if you prefer live bait or with the kiddos. Remember always let your bait hit the bottom and pop it a few times and fall again(watch you line on the fall). Now is the time, get out and get fishing.

Well another month has gone by and forecasting what these fish are going to do has never been more challenging. It looks like our days of cool temps and low humidity are finally over. Afternoon high temps are approaching 90 degrees. Water temps are in the low to mid seventies. Salinity levels however are very low. Specks have been showing up at the trestles. One of my neighbors trolled the trestles and picked up 20 nice specks on Rattletraps. May should bring us improving weather conditions. Less rain and warmer temps. Fish will be more active. Shrimp should start showing up and hopefully our bait shops will have live shrimp. Soft plastics would be my first choice. Matrix shad in Limbo Slice, Lemonhead, Shrimp Creole and Ultraviolet should give you the upper hand. Fish it under a cork or tight line. It takes about 2 weeks for fish that are in the lake to get back into the Oak Harbor/Eden Isles canal system. Try each day and they will show up eventually. As they say, “YOU HAVE TO GO TO KNOW”. Good luck everyone and don’t forget Mothers Day May 8th.

John Farley

the lake water has affected the saltwater fishing at the mouth of Bayou Lacombe and the shellpads further out. Keep an eye on water clarity in the future for a speckled trout. The dirty water hasn't slowed down the redfish bite. This is your best shot at catching any saltwater fish near Bayou Lacombe. Bass are also very active! A lot of anglers start throwing top water baits like frogs and buzz baits this time of year. But worms, crank baits, and spinner baits also work well. Finally, dust off the fly rod and tie on a popping bug. All types of bream are looking for bugs on the surface.

Chris Basey

Its May, and most of the spawn is over. Most of the bigger females have moved out to staging areas recuperating. The frog bite has heated up towards the end of April and looks to be stout during May. The most active fish will be the males who are guarding the bass fry in the grass. The bigger females will be slower. To catch the bigger fish you will need to slow down. Concentrate on the mouth of the smaller bayous leading into the main bayou, and focus on any brush piles or grass lines. If your find a stump or brush pile you should drag a jig painfully slowly through it. I would start with a finesse jig, but if the fish are active you could try a bigger football head jig to catch a bigger fish. Slow rolling a chatterbait is another good pattern. If your fishing the grass lines I would slowly swim a swimbait, or a chatterbait along the grass line. For these areas you can use shad or bluegill coolers. Now if the females are not wanting to bite you can move back into the smaller bayous with weightless swimbaits, or swim jigs. Use bluegill colors. These fish will mostly be males guarding fry in the grass. The bluegill are a big enemy to them, and the males will attack them.

Luke O'Neal

The tchfuncte river for the month of may should get good as long as we don't have long periods of rain. Focus on banks along the main river and in canals. Throw topwaters in the morning such as frogs and when the sun gets up fish with soft plastics along the banks. Find drains and moving water and you should catch some fish