The Mixing Line
While Hurricane Ida’s impacts are still being felt all along the Northshore, there are a few bright spots when it comes to targeting bass. James Jenkins of Folsom admits that fishing after a Hurricane may not seem like the best way to go because of all of the high, muddy water, but there is a silver lining to fishing muddy water. “The clean water is so isolated that you can’t help but catch fish when you find it,” he said. Jenkins likes to focus on very specific areas where clean water pours out of the marsh and mixes with the muddy water in the main river. This is what’s referred to a mixing line. “It’s like a wall of clean water jetting out of the marsh and when those bass line up along that muddy water line it’s game over!” The strategy that the fish use is simple: hide along the wall of muddy water and when baitfish swim in the clean water they ambush them.
On his last trip James found a strip of clean water that was trickling out and started throwing a Rat-L-Trap lipless crankbait in chrome. “These bass were punishing that lure!” he said. Jenkins caught a limit of bass within a half hour, but was having so much fun he kept fishing until noon. “I just couldn’t put my pole down. When the bass are feeding like that in one spot the anticipation of a hit every cast becomes addicting,” said Jenkins. Salinity Readings Up
It’s the number one thing on the wish list for Lake Borgne and Lake Pontchartrain fishermen and it’s exactly what we needed to flush out the freshwater that has inundated the area from a rainy spring. Hurricane Ida has affected the salinity readings at in Lake Borgne. USGA has a station located at the Rigolets and its latest report shows just how quick the water readings can change. Salinity readings are measured by parts per thousand and the latest readings show the salinity reading above 7 PPT which is up from 2.4 PPT before the storm. Unfortunately the high salinity readings won’t last with the amount of rainwater that is being flushed out of the rivers along the Northshore but it's a sign of things to come with Hurricane season in full force. Tournament Results The Double Nickel Bass Club fishing the East Pearl River on a blue bird day with a slow moving tide. The conditions were right for fishing as heavy bags were brought back to the scale. Jerry Bullock beat out 21 other anglers to finish in first place with a 3-fish tournament limit weighing 8.26 lbs. In second place was Bob Perry with 3 fish that weighed 7.18 lbs. Ralph Dunn won third place with a limit that weighed 3.59 lbs. Perry also won the big fish division with a bass that weighed 3.59 lbs.
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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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Bass tournament angler Patrick Engerran joins the NFR Studio to talk about the outward movement of marsh bass in southeast Lousiana.
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