Keith Lusher The spring trout run at the Lake Pontchartrain bridges has come to an end and the transition to a summertime fishing pattern is upon us. Gone are the days of 75 degree water temperatures and boats lined up in a chain longer than the CSX trains that thunder across the lake. Yes, It’s summertime and fishing for speckled trout in Lake Pontchartrain is proving tougher and tougher with each degree that rises on the thermometer. I recently made a trip with Zack Liberto of HookDat Charters, and Brooks Levy of Offishial Charters, to Lake Borgne to try and find some of the speckled trout that have left the lake. We jumped aboard Liberto’s boat, a beautiful 24 ft. Nautic Star that was built for the abuse that Lake Borgne is known to dish out.
Zack Liberto slings a speckeld trout into the boat We left out of Rigolet’s Marina and was soon cruising across the lake as the sun started to peek over the horizon. “It’s so important to get an early start when heading across Lake Borgne right now. One reason is the winds typically get worse after daybreak. The other is the summertime temperatures are going to limit your time to fish, so getting an early start gives you an extra hour or so of fishing during the prime time,” Zack says. We pulled up to our first stop just as the sun was fully over the horizon and started casting plastics around the oil rig. It didn’t take us long to realize what the trout were feeding on. We counted 7 shrimp boats within 5 miles. “Lake Borgne is loaded with shrimp right now and it’s evident by all of trawlers out here. They’re not out here burning gas for nothing. They’re catching shrimp!” Liberto said. Brooks pulled out his spinning rod with a drop-shot rig on it and plucked a shrimp from the live well. On his third cast he lunged and set the hook. You could sense the excitement on the boat, but it soon dampened when Brook’s said “he’s pulling down”.
Between the specks and reds, Lake Borgne is where the summertime action is The first fish of the day was a gaftop catfish. Another obvious sign that summertime was here. “Yep, from now until fall this is just something that we’re going to have to deal with. Those gaftop’s are going to start showing up everywhere,” Levy said. After a few more casts without any results, Liberto cranked up the motor and we moved on to the next rig. We started casting at the legs of the rig, when Zack set the hook and landed the first keeper speck of the day, a beautiful 16” speckled trout. A few seconds later Brooks had the second fish and we began to detect a pattern. “There’s more to these gas rigs than what you see above the surface. The base of these rigs are shells and if you can find the shells on the bottom, more often than not, that will be where the fish are,” Brooks explained. We stayed in that same corner of the rig for over two hours catching speckled trout with a few sheepshead mixed in. But as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky, the bite diminished to nothing. It didn’t take us long to be distracted away from the rig. Zack spotted a flock of seagulls diving near the shoreline near Bayou McGill. We streaked across the water that divided the marsh from the rig and within 5 casts, Liberto erupted with an enthusiastic “Look, look, look, theres one right there!” Zack had spotted a redfish in the shallows and casted out in front of it with a gold spoon. The redfish turned and blew up on the lure and the whole boat erupted with excitement. “This is it! This is what it’s all about,” Liberto cried as he slung the first redfish of the day over the gunwale. As we worked the shoreline Zack was a man on a mission catching 5 more redfish before we headed back to the launch. “This is summertime fishing in Lake Borgne - Pick up a few fish at the rigs then jump over to the marsh to pick up a few redfish,” Brooks said.
Frog Rodeo
The 3rd Annual Madisonville Frog Rodeo has been cancelled and rescheduled due to weather. The new dates for the rodeo are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 10th - 12th at the Madisonville River Front. Registration will be at Route 22 Gas and Bait in Madisonville. The entry fee for adults will be $40.00 and children under the age of 13 will cost $20.00. Keith Jenkins coordinates the rodeo and says, “If you’re not frogging you can still come out and hang out at the weigh-in and enjoy some free fried frog legs. This is just some good family fun,” Jenkins says.
The 3rd Annual Madisonville Frog Rodeo has been cancelled and rescheduled due to weather. The new dates for the rodeo are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 10th - 12th at the Madisonville River Front. Registration will be at Route 22 Gas and Bait in Madisonville. The entry fee for adults will be $40.00 and children under the age of 13 will cost $20.00. Keith Jenkins coordinates the rodeo and says, “If you’re not frogging you can still come out and hang out at the weigh-in and enjoy some free fried frog legs. This is just some good family fun,” Jenkins says.
Keith Jenkins prepares frog legs at last years frog rodeo
