Fall forecast looks promising for Lake Pontchartrain
 Keith Lusher Jr
September 21st marked the first day of fall on the calendar
and with it came the first decent cool front of this young fishing season on the
Northshore. Overnight lows in the 60's are responsible for dropping water temps
down and with the salinity back to normal, this season is shaping up to be a great on
for Lake Pontchartrain anglers. For now,
speckled trout are still in their transitional stage. They are finishing up with their spawn and will start putting on
weight to get ready for the cold weather that winter will bring. Anglers can expect to
pick up a few fish here and there but the trout will be scattered until the shrimp
start showing up in bigger numbers.
Bayou Liberty
 Rusty Mohoney and his Lake Borne Black Tip
Whether you're fishing from a boat or fishing from land,
Bayou Liberty has been very productive this month. The strong east winds have helped
this area tremendously in the last few weeks by forcing saltier water upriver.
Speckled trout, white trout, and croaker are being caught as far inland as St. Genevieve
Church which is uncommon at this time of year.
Alan Guenard has been fishing Bayou Liberty every week and has managed some pretty good boxes of fish as of late but
says it's a 3-1 ratio of keeper trout to throw-backs. "At times the bite is
steady but there have been scattered for the most part. The other day I went out and had
to catch 50 fish to keep 15!” Alan said. Live shrimp usually the go-to bait here but with the smaller
fish and the gaftop catfish in the area, you're just spinning your wheels. Alan says he
has had most of his success with gulp shrimp fished on the bottom. Market shrimp
Carolina rigged or on a drop-shot rig works also.
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Trestles
Reports of small speckled trout are being reported by
anglers who fish the Trestles. This is a great sign for the upcoming trout run on the
bridges in Slidell. Captain Kris Robert fishes the Trestles often and says the water
temperature will be the key to catching bigger trout along the bridges. "When we start
to get those cool fronts that drop the water temperatures into the 60's and 70's,
That's when the trout will start to show up in numbers along the bridges,” Robert said.
For now, anglers are catching redfish along the concrete poles on the bridge. Matrix Shad on a 3/8
oz. jig head has been the ticket as of late for catching redfish on the Trestles.
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Can't find fish? The marsh bass are there!
Bass fishing makes summertime transition on Northhsore!
Lake Pontchartrain speckled trout may be in survival mode.
Speckled trout season off to slow start on Northshore
Beat the crowds, find less stressed waters!
Got your backup plan?
Finally some stability on the Northshore!
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