Fly Fishing Bayou Lacombe
With the spawn in full swing, the bream fishing on Bayou Lacombe is heating up. Thad McDonald of Baton Rouge made a trip with his friend, Robert, and launched at the Main Street launch in Lacombe. After backing his flatboat down into the water, Robert pointed Thad in the direction of a small canal that fed into the main bayou and that’s where they started fishing. Both anglers were using fly rods. Thad was using a floating popper while Robert was casting a sinking fly. It became clear quickly that the bream wanted the popper as Thad caught three bream a matter of minutes. “Robert is a much better fisherman than I am so when I started catching fish on the popper, he switched over,” McDonald said. The friends caught numerous bream and two goggle-eye in the canal. “That was a lot of fun catching those breams on a lightweight fly rod,” McDonald said. The bream bite should continue through the month of April and McDonald adds, “If I’m able to catch fish, everybody should be catching bream!”
Otter Interruption
John Dearie of Folsom was visiting friends at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville and decided to try for some bluegill in one of the ponds in the park. “I found the pond on Google Earth and decided to make the trek through the woods to find it,” he said. The 68-year-old grabbed his lightweight fishing rod and headed through the woods. He was fishing with a small cork and a Bobby Garland jig in the Monkey Milk color. Dearie started catching bluegill along the shoreline and was up to 7 keeper fish when he noticed a visitor swim up to him. It was an otter. “I tried to shoo it away, but it kept popping up in different spots around me,” Dearie said. “After that incident the fish stopped biting altogether.” The Folsom angler didn’t get a bite for another hour and decided to call it quits. “That’s not the first time an otter has ruined my trip,” Dearie said.
Tournament Results
The Double Nickel Bass Club fished the East Pearl River on a very windy day. Sixteen anglers competed on a river that was high and dirty with an incoming tide. At the weigh-in it was Guy Stegal who brought in a 3-fish tournament limit of 7.64 pounds for the win. Stegal also won the big fish division with a 4.22-pound bass. Ralph Williams won second place with a limit of fish weighing 5.38 pounds. In third place was Mike Marodi with 4.34 pounds.
The Bass Assassins filled up the Heritage Park launch on Bayou Bonfouca and thirty-two anglers showed up to fish the derby. As the starting numbers were called out a long line of boats made their way out of the long no-wake zone to their first spots. The weather was beautiful, and the water temperatures were in the mid-60s. In the end it was Shane Dunnegan who put together an 11 lbs. 3 oz. limit to claim first place. Dunnegan also had a 4 lbs. 14 oz. kicker that awarded him big fish of the day. Hunter Burkell took second place with a 4-fish bag totaling 8 lbs. 3 oz. In third place we find Danny Giovingo with an 8-pound limit.
Upcoming
Tournaments
Florida Parishes Bass Anglers are holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on May 7. For more information call 225-278-5849.
The Bayou Lacombe Big Bass Tournament is holding their next event on Friday, April 15. Biggest bass wins. $10 per person entry fee. Blast-off is at 5 p.m. at the Main St. Launch in Lacombe.
The Double Nickel Bass Club is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Tuesday, April 19. For more information, please contact Joe Picone at 985-630-4170.
Pearl River Team Trails is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on May 14. For more information, please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
Liars and Lunkers is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on April 24. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com.Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)