It's what every fisherman has been waiting all year to hear! The trout are
back in Lake Pontchartrain. . .bigtime!
|
Mike
Millon / WWL-TV
Frank
Davis and friend, one of many trout in Lake Pontchartrain. |
Capt. Kenny Kreeger and I proved that beyond the shadow of a doubt just after
sunup this morning, and we proved it at almost every spot we fished along the
five-mile trestle.
"If they start at Rail Marker 175 and work southward to the quadrant
called South Point, where the trestle comes ashore near Irish Bayou, weekenders
in Pontchartrain can expect to catch near limits of biggie-size speckled trout
on nothing but artificial lures worked flush on the bottom," Kreeger
boasted, pulling a solid three-pound fish over the gunwale. "The top
producer of the week has been the Hybrid Flurry "Magic Minnow," a
clear plastic but silver-sparkled bait that somewhat resembles a chub. I guess
the see-through plastic and the highly-reflective metal flaking in the mold
obviously convinces these gamefish lurking under the trestle stanchions that
this creature could be a brown shrimp. And you gotta remember that brown shrimp
make up the bulk of a trout's diet this time of year. What do the old timers
say? Match the hatch?"
Kreeger and I both urge the Saturday and Sunday crowd to fish super-early in
the morning (and we mean right at safe light!) up until about 10:30. After that
time, regardless of what the tide is doing, the action seriously drops off. But
then, at least for the last couple of weeks, it has been starting up again from
about 4 pm until dark. No one I've talked with is sure why this happens, only
that it does!
Suggested technique follows:
1--Fish the eastern side of the trestle. Try to stay about 30 yards off the
structure, but get close enough so that you can make every cast fall well into
the pilings under the rails. Today, everyone who fished away from the pilings
came up near empty-handed; everyone who fished alongside the piles put trout in
the boat.
2--Fish the water between the Twin Spans, but place all of your casts under
either bridge. Do not fish out in the open. By the way, in addition to trout at
the I-10 you can also expect to pick up both flounders and redfish on
artificials, and both croakers and drum on market bait fished Carolina on the
bottom. "Those are some of the biggest croakers I've seen since I was a
kid," Kreeger hastened to explain. "Got sons and daughters you been
promising to take fishing? Take 'em out for croakers--they'll have an everlovin'
ball!"
3--How do you find the exact spots where the action is happening? Easy--you
look for the cluster of boats. But just finding the cluster isn't going to get
you the makings of a fish fry. You have to be able to place your casts in the
right spots; you have to be able to recognize subtle strikes; you have to be
able to play these fish properly or they'll throw the hooksets every single
time. And you have to be able to maneuver your boat in a crowd without
disturbing--or frustrating--your fellow fishermen. "There's gonna be a lot
of guys out there in pursuit of the same quarry," Kreeger warned.
"Please be courteous with them, okay?"
4--That part about being especially courteous is important because in
addition to the "casters" the lake also supports a rather big
population of "trestle trollers." These are the sportsmen who prefer
to slowly cruise parallel to the trestle and drag artificial baits 20, 30, and
40 feet behind their boats. There should be no need or cause for confrontations
between the two factions! Casters can allow the trollers to pull past them
between their boats and the bridges without any ill effect; trollers, however,
should approach the casters along the trestle with a little bit of courtesy of
their own. Believe me, the two can compliment each other, y'all!
Next week, we head on over to Shell Beach to check out the rave reviews we've
been hearing concerning fishing for trout along the Lake Borgne shoreline, just
off the Ship Channel, and as far out as the rocks and Bay Eloi. Right now all of
those stories are considered nothing more than rumor; next Thursday, though,
I'll highlight the full story and all the facts right here and on TV.
In the meantime, fishermen wanting to book a formal Pontchartrain charter can
call Capt. Kreeger at 985-643-2994. Do-it-yourselfers, on the other hand,
looking for boats and motors to rent by the day can get them at Tite's Place on
the North Shore (right at the foot of U.S. Hwy 11) on a first come first serve
basis. No advance reservations are taken.
Don't catch 'em all!
Frank Davis
