Cool Front Specks
With the arrival of the cooler weather, the much-anticipated speckled trout run along the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain has officially begun. Anglers are taking advantage of an abundance of bait fish and shrimp that are spilling out of the marsh from Bayou Bonfouca to Bayou Cane.
Corey LaBostrie of Lacombe made at trip to the mouth of Bayou Lacombe and witnessed bait scattering across the surface. “The pogey’s are everywhere right now,” he said. “1/4-inch pogey’s, 3-inch pogey’s, 5-inch pogey’s, the bayou is full of them.”
In addition to the pogey’s LaBostrie witnessed shrimp skipping across the surface, so he decided to match the shrimp with a weightless brown Vudu Shrimp. “I’m a match the hatch kind of guy so if the brown shrimp are running, I use a brown shrimp; if the white shrimp are running, I’m throwing a white colored shrimp,” he said.
LaBostrie paddled back into a duckpond near the lake and started working his customized lure. “At some points it was like these fish were waiting on the shrimp to drop into the water,” LaBostrie said.
He fished from 6:30 a.m. and finished the day when the tide stopped moving at 10 a.m. and ended up with 17 speckled trout and 7 bass. LaBostrie said right now there’s a clear difference in fishing when the tide is moving as opposed to when it’s not. “You can just stay home if the tide isn’t moving – don’t even waste your time out here,”he said.
Jason Legaux of Mandeville made a trip to the shoreline between Goose Point and Bayou Lacombe armed with an unorthodox bait not usually used when targeting trout, “Crappie jigs tipped with Fishbites,” Legaux said. Fishbites are a brand of bait designed to stay on the hook a long time. Much like Berkley Powerbait, the bait adds scent and flavor to the lure.
Legaux started out in the morning fishing the marsh and said the tide was barley rising. He managed 13 speckled trout that averaged 13 inches, 8 white trout, 3 channel catfish, and 1 flounder. While the fishing was good, Legaux said it all came to an end when the tide stopped. “As usual, once the tide stopped, the fish stopped,” he said.
Tournament Results
The Double Nickel Bass Club fished the East Pearl River on a hot sunny day. As the 23 anglers who fished the tournament blasted off, they were greeted with high, clean water. In the end it was James Harris who ended up in first place with a 3-fish tournament limit that weighed 6.53 pounds. In second place was Ralph Williams with a limit that weighing 5.64 pounds. Rob Roberts took third place with a 3-fish bag that weighed 5.45 pounds. Roberts also won the big fish pot with a bass that weighed 3.47 pounds.
Fall brings some of the most beautiful weather and colors, but more importantly, the season brings much needed relief from the summer heat. Bass Assassins fished Bayou Bonfouca and while the weather was cool, the fall transition presented a problem for most of the anglers who fished the event as only six anglers weighed in fish. Jimmy Dorris’ familiarity with Bayou Bonfouca proved to be the deciding factor as he managed a 5-fish tournament limit weighing 8 lbs. 9 oz. Jimmy also weighed in a 4 lb. 7 oz. bass that won big fish of the day. In second place was Steve Hadley with a 7 lb. 15 oz. limit of fish. John Seghers won third place with 6 lbs. 11 oz.
Upcoming Tournaments
The Double Nickel Bass Club is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Tuesday, Oct. 4. 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 Oct. 8. For more information, please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
The next Bass Assassins tournament will be held at Bayou Lacombe on Oct. 2. If you have any questions you can email bassassassinsla@gmail.com or call Chris Basey at 985-707-7857.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com.Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)