The Northshore Fishing Report

Lake Borgne Rigs

7/14/2017

Keith Lusher

With the speckled trout bite all but ceasing from Lake Pontchartrainin in July, Robert Perilloux of Mandeville, decided to make a trip to Lake Borgne to try and put a few specks in the boat. Robert launched at Southshore Marina on Chef Highway at 6:45 with his wife and children and headed for the rigs at Alligator Point but only caught a small croaker. He decide to try different areas around each rig and honed in on the trout. “Once I figured out where the trout were I tied off to the rig and started steadily pulling them in.

Robert Perilloux reels in a speckle trout caught near a Lake Borne rig

It wasn't every cast but steady enough fishing to keep the kids into it,” he says. Robert was using live shrimp on a drop-shot rig and says the action was steady for the most part. The water quality in Lake Borgne has taken a hit with the recent rains and Robert adds the there hasn’t been much improvement in the past few days.
“The water was a greenish color and about 10" of visibility.”

Bottom Feeders
One option for anglers during the summer months is fishing for drum under the Twin Spans. The structure offers shade from the sun and shelter from the rain but more importantly, produces drum! Greg Pier made a trip to the twin bridges where he caught fish, however the fish he caught weren't what he had planned to catch. “I fished for four hours at the Twin Spans and Highway 11 bridge looking for bottom feeders and boy did I find them - the slimy ones, not the delicious ones. Market bait on a 1/2 oz. jig head produced about 87 hardheads. No sting rays, no puppy drum - 87 hardheads,” Pier says. Greg fished numerous spots along the Twin Spans and the northern end of the Hwy 11 bridge and adds, “If you fish using market bait and you don't have a catfish flipper, do yourself a service and go get one. It's one of the few things I wouldn't leave the dock without.

Hammond Catfish
One way to stay out of the heat during the summer months is to fish in the shade. Todd Oalman of Ponchatoula made a July cat-fishing trip where he fished under the Highway 55 bridge in South Pass. “I used dead shrimp and cut perch on the bottom. The tide was falling and the water was stained with 2 feet of visibility,” Oalman says. At the end of the day Todd had boxed 6 catfish in the 2 lb. - 4 lb. range.

Big Fishing
Miguel Gorordo of Slidell, loves catching big fish. “I love the fight, whether its drum, redfish, or sheepshead, I love those big fish,” he says. Gorordo made a trip with some friends to Lake Borgne. They launched at Island Marina of Lake Catherine. Their first stop was the L&N Bridge. “We stopped off at L&N Bridge to see if we can snag on to some big drums but there was nothing there,” Gorordo says. The team soon left and tried for another big fish. “We worked a couple crab trap lines looking for triple tail but unfortunately we didn't find any,” Miguel says. The crew headed for Half Moon Island and that’s where they found their big fish, however it wasn’t Redfish, drum, or sheepshead that they found. “We finally got to our spot by 8:30 or so and started fishing the shorelines. When BAM, BAM, BAM! We found trout! Nothing was under 2 lbs. and the largest was just under 5 lbs,” Gorordo says. What’s even better is the bite came on plastics. “We were throwing Shu-Shu Marsh Minnows in every color but the Gunmetal and Frostbite colors where the killers of the day,” he says.

Miguel Gorordo caught this trout on a Shu-Shu Marsh Minnow in the Chromis color

July Fishing Forecast

7/8/2017

Keith Lusher

The fishing forecast has been released on NorthshoreFishingReport.com and the summer heat looks to have affected the ratings for most locations. However there are bright spots in the forecast that give anglers an option for catching bass, sheepshead, drum, and croaker.
Among the top rated areas is Salt Bayou which receives a 5/5 rating in July. Todd Oalman fishes the area often and says that July is one best months to fish for bass in the Salt Bayou area which includes the W14 canal that parallels Hwy 433. “Limits should be the norm for Salt Bayou, with days of over 30 bass being a realistic expectation,” Oalman says. Like most fishing spots in July, Salt Bayou is one that you’ll want to avoid the during the daytime heat. “Early mornings, late evenings, and overcast days are the times you’ll want to fish,” says Todd. The equation for locating bass is simple during these times. “Look for moving water and bait. Ideally you’ll want to find a drain in the marsh that has pogies, shrimp, or mullet coming out of it. The bass will stack up and ambush the easy pickings,” he says. While bass fishing is the best option, Todd adds that saltwater fishing can be productive. “Croaker, white trout, drum, and sheepshead will be at the mouth of the bayou. Dead shrimp on the bottom will work for them,” Oalman says.

Bayou Bonfouca
Bayou Bonfouca is another hot spot in July. Daniel and Roger Sissac give the bayou a 5/5 rating in July and Daniel says this is a great month for numbers. “Bass fishing comes alive in July! The menhaden are in the bayou and the bass are feeding heavily on them. If you find this happening you can catch bass until your arms get tired,” Sissac says. Daniel recommends using any type of soft plastic lure that imitates the pogies in the water. Bluegill is another option for anglers. Daniel says to pay attention to the moon phases in order to predict the spawn. “The full moon is the time to find bedding bream. The 3 days before the full moon and the 3 days after it are all times to target them,” he adds.

Lake Borgne
Fishing in Lake Borgne has taken a hit with the recent rains but all signs are pointing up in July. Captain George Seibert of FishMeister Charters says this is one of the best months to fish Lake Borgne. He gives it a rating of 5/5. “Fishing in Lake Borne should be at it’s peak before the heat of August. Salinity levels are coming up to the eastern side towards the Mississippi Sound. Your best bet is to head across to Malheureux Point and fish the shore line early in the morning towards Three Mile Pass. Half Moon is also another option,” Seibert says.

High Water

7/1/2017

Keith Lusher

With the rainy month we’ve seen here on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, it’s not uncommon for anglers to cancel their fishing trips due to high water at the launch. Luke Simms of Slidell recently found himself driving back to the house after deciding not to lunch because of the backdown being flooded. “I usually launch at the end of Jefferson St. off of Bayou Liberty Rd. but the water was to high for me to get the boat safely in the water,” He says. Luke says he was sitting on his couch watching tv when he had an idea. “Before I left the launch I noticed minnows being chased on the surface in the area where I usually park my truck at the launch so I got back into my truck and headed back to the launch to take a few casts,” Simms says. On Luke’s first cast a bass chased his 3” Fluke all the way to the shore. On his second cast he was able to set the hook on the largemouth bass. “I threw back out and he inhaled it right when it hit the water,” he says. Luke continued to fish the launch and after a few hours ended up with a limit of bass. “I don’t know what was going on there. The water was literally up to the road and the area that I was fishing in is usually where I park my truck,” he says. Luke says while the water was high, it still was clean. “That water in the main bayou was moving pretty hard but the boat launch provided a protected cove and the water in the cove was extremely clean,” he adds.

Trenton Pittman with a largemouth bass caught near Lock #1 on the Pearl River Navigational Canal

Lock #1
For those struggling to find a safe place to fish that is free of the turmoil that the recent rains have brought to our area. Lock One in Pearl River has proven to be a salvation for those desperately seeking stability in water clarity and tidal relief. Local bass tournament angler Jason Pitman says Lock #1 is a rare body of water here on the North Shore. “Lock 1 is the only real area that we can call landlocked considering that everything else is tidal and absolutely affected by rising tides,” he says. Not only does Lock #1 offer water clarity but the vegetation makes it among the top producing bass areas on the North Shore. “An abundance of vegetation such as lily pads and submerging grass gives the bass plenty of options along with access to deeper than normal water for them as well when the summer temperatures start to soar,” says Pittman. For those anglers who have never fished the canal. Pittman adds that there’s no worries about getting turned around. “It’s a straight canal so that makes it easy to navigate and not get turned around like you can in the swamp or marsh,” he says.

Local School Among Nations Best
The Bassmaster High School National Championship was held recently in Paris Tennessee on Kentucky Lake and a team from Covington’s Northlake Christian qualified earlier in the year for this special tournament. The team of Christopher Capdeboscq and Dillon Wilson along with their boat captain for the event, Richard Capdeboscq had a 31st place finish in a field of over 230 high school teams. The 31st place finish is quite an accomplishment being that it was at a lake that resembles nothing that these teens are used to fishing. To catch their bass in water over 20 feet deep is an accomplishment in itself considering deep water for most angler in South Louisiana is in 5’ of water. The team definitely showed versatility up north by weighing in a two day tournament limit of five bass each day that totaled 32 pounds 9 ounces in the end. Quite an accomplishment for these young anglers, add them to the others in our area such as Peyton Waller and the future of bass tournament anglers looks bright as the youth movement grows.

Dillon Wilson and Christopher Capdeboscq are shown after weigh-in at the Bassmaster High School National Championship

Rig Hopping

6/22/2017

Keith Lusher

The recent heat we’ve been experiencing is having it’s annual effect on the fishing for anglers here on the North Shore. Reports are popping up further and further east of the Trestles in Slidell and anglers are making the necessary adjustments in order to fill their boxes with fish. John Mayeaux lives in Oak Harbor and was forced to make an early start in order to beat the heat. He brought along his wife Vicki, but says she had her reservations about getting up early.

Vicki Mayeaux caught this trout near a rig in Lake Borgne

“It took some convincing to get her up at 4:00 am, but I did it and we left my dock at 4:45 and made it to Rigolets Marina before 5:30 to pick up some live shrimp and gas up the boat,” John says. They made their way out of the Chef and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise over Lake Borgne before stopping at their first rig. John says he thought he’d be the first one there but he was wrong. We stopped at the first rig we saw and realized we were already late to the party with several boats there - so we found a spot and started chunking,” Mayeaux says. John the team used their live shrimp on a drop-shot rig and Johns says the bites they felt were light. “We were getting lots of bites but they were very finicky. You'd feel the tap, then set the hook and there was nothing there. We had to work the bite and maybe after 5 taps they would take it enough that we could set the hook,” he says. The frustrated angler wondered what was responsible for the missed hook-sets. “At first I thought it was small croakers playing with bait. Then I caught 27” red that hit multiple times before I boated it,” he adds. The husband and wife jumped from rig to rig picking up fish slowly and ended the day with 1 redfish, 4 speckled trout that ranged from 15”-17”, 5 sheepshead, and a few throwback croakers.

Algae Bloom
In addition to the recent freshwater dumped into Lake Pontchartrain from all the rains, Patches of green algae blooms that stretch from Manchac to Lake Bornge are being spotted in the estuary. The MODIS Satellite operated by NASA shows an obvious line of the green water that spans the middle of the lake running on a northeast course. The upcoming tropical depression should is expected to provide a much needed “flush” of the lake and provide the much needed higher salinities in the upcoming weeks.

Mandeville Lakefront Redfish

6/15/2017

Keith Lusher

It’s common for most fishermen to launch their boats and feel the need to cruise to their destination located away from the launch. But for Rene’ Elvir of Mandeville, staying near the boat launch turned out to pay big dividends. “My original plan was to launch at the Mandeville Beach launch and fish the shoreline all the way to Fontainebleau Park - but to my surprise the lake looked like a no-go,” he says. So Rene’ eyed up an area of water behind the wave-breaks along the Mandeville shoreline where he spotted baitfish being ambushed by redfish. He launched his Perception Pescador 12.0 Kayak at Mandeville beach near Bayou Castine where he paddled out and spotted another angler reeling in a redfish. “I started talking to him and it turned out that he had already caught his limit,” Elvir says. The opportunistic kayak fisherman started casting into the action and quickly reached his limit of redfish and also added 2 freshwater catfish, 2 blue drum, and 2 sheepshead. “What a day! I didn’t realize the shores of Mandeville was full of redfish,” he adds. Rene’ used Vortex Shad in the Nightruese color on a 1/4 oz. jig head but says he also used live shrimp with the shrimp producing the best.

Rene' Elvir shows off one of his redfish that he caught along the Mandeville Lakefront

Dodging Showers

Valois holds up a trout caught before the storms

The rainy start to the month has kept the boat pressure at the Trestles at a minimum. Taylor Valios and Miguel Gorordo recently made a trip at the 5-mile train bridge were they witnessed the not-all-to-mentioned benefits of fishing the bridge. “We launched at the Dock in Slidell at 7:00 am and started fishing just south of the drawbridge,” he says. The team fished hard for 2 hours. “We literally beat up the bridge from the 174 mark all the way to the south shore without a bite,” Valios says. The friends noticed a storm coming in from the south so they headed back to the launch but stopped off to fish the northern end of the bridge before calling it a day. “We stopped at the drawbridge on the northern end of the bridge and on the first cast we caught a 17” speck,” Taylor says. As the weather approached Taylor and Miguel were forced to make a decision. “We noticed the other boat leaving and looked up to witness the Twin Spans disappear in the rainstorm so we did what anyone would do - we kept fishing!” he says. The team ended up with 24 trout in 45 minutes all caught on Shu-Shu Slugs in the Frostbite and Chromis colors. Taylor describes the bite. “The bite was very different this day. We would throw our lines out and almost drag our baits back. It was almost like jigging deep water for sac-a-lait. There was no Pontchartrain Pop this day,” he says. Finally, the friends called it quits at the last minute before the storm reached. Taylor says the thing he enjoyed most about the trip was the lack of boat pressure. “I think the bridge has less pressure with all of the rainstorms and the rain keeps the water temperatures lower. It was nice not getting beat up by every boat in Louisiana,” Taylor jokes.

A storm approaches on Lake Pontchartrain

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