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Jack at the Trestles
 Keith Lusher
Max Patrucco fishes from a kayak and wanted to try the Trestles to see if he could catch a few sheepshead. He teamed up with Mark Sagerholm of Lacombe who targets sheepshead specifically. The team got an early start and headed to the train bridge for a little of what they call “Sheep Herding.” The tide was incoming and was blowing out of the North as they started fishing the bridge from separate kayaks. Max dropped his line straight down the side of a bridge leg rigged with a live shrimp. “On my first drop I felt that familiar tap..tap. I gave it a few seconds and reeled up slowly setting the hook.
 Max finally get's his Jack
A smaller sheep greeted me on the other end of my line and I decided he should get a second chance,” Max says. Max proceeded to catch two more sheepshead that were keepers and then decided to throw out another line in the back of his kayak to double his chances. He directed his attention back to the pylons when he hear a noise coming from the back pole. “I heard my drag start screaming and turned back to see my old 6.5' ugly stick doubled over in the rod holder behind my seat,” Max says. “I swapped rods and turned to face the fish that already had taken over 50 yards off of my spool,” he says. Max fought the fish for 10 minutes and upon looking up to see where the bridge was, noticed that he was over 100 yards off of the bridge. He was able to get the fish near the boat and grab the tail. He then lifted it into the kayak. “This was the Jack I've been trying get on for the past year or two. That was seriously one of those most fun fish I have ever landed!” Patrucco says. After the excitement the team resumed catching sheepshead at the bridge and managed to end the day with over 10 sheepshead and 2 redfish. Max says the fun part of fishing in Lake Pontchartrain is catching those unexpected fish. “The beauty of fishing here is not knowing exactly what's on the other end - It could be a jack, a bull red, bull shark, a big stingray, you never know!
Oak Harbor Specks Sam Coco Jr. fishes from land in his Oak Harbor neighborhood and says the action has picked up considerably since the cooler weather arrived. Sam fished in the morning around 7:30. He was using a Matrix Shad in Shrimp Creole color and hooked onto a 14-inch speckled trout. After landing the fish he was able to put another one in the box about 20 minutes later. “They were going crazy this morning!” Sam says. That afternoon he decided to make another fishing trip. He was using the same Matrix Shad and says, “The first 20 minutes I couldn’t buy a hit, then BAM! BAM! Back to back specks!” After that, Sam hooked on to what he thought was another trout, but he was mistaken. “I made a few more casts and hooked on something really big! It made a run and spooled me. I hadn't set the drag on my bait caster and it cost me,” he says. The sun was going down so Sam decided to head back to the house. The fish were biting even when he wasn’t fishing he says. “As I was crossing from one neighbors dock to another, I had to go around a fence that ends at the bulkhead. The lure on my rod was dangling from the line as I hadn't secured it. While crossing over the lure hit the water and there was a huge blowup,” Coco says. Tournament Results
Florida Parish Bass Anglers held their tournament at the Tickfaw River and it was Thomas McCrystal who came out on top with a 5-fish bag that weighed 12.24 pounds. In second place was the team of Dale Robertson and John Dale Robertson who brought in a limit weighing 11.51 pounds. Team Robertson also won the big fish division with a lunker that weighed 6.63 pounds. Trenton Pittman and Chase Damare finished in third place with 5 fish weighing 10.05 pound. Bass Assassins held its tournament at the Tchefuncte River. It was a drizzly morning when the 10 anglers showed up at the 4th Ave. launch. They were greeted with a flooded launch and wet feet. The water was barely moving due to the incoming tide. In the end it was Timmy Dickens who figured out the fish and weighed in a 5-fish 8 lb. 7 oz. bag. Chris Basey took second place with a 5-fish limit of 6 lbs. 6 oz. Basey also won the big fish division with a 3 lb. 10 oz. bass. In third place was Jimmy Dickens who caught 5 fish that weighed 5 lb. 9 oz. |
 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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Joe Picone joins the NFR Studio by phone to discuss the new improvements to the East Pearl River Boat Launch.
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The Marsh Martian Cory Labostrie joins the NFR Studio by phone to talk "Pushin' for Crabs" in Lake Pontchartrain.
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Dustin Touchet of Magnolia Outdoors joins the NFR Studio by phone to discuss his latest trip to Bayou Cane.
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Keith Lusher and Chris Basey review the past reports on NFR. Also introduce a new drawing for fishing reporters on the site.
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