Marsh & Bayou’s
Rigolets
Fishing Forecast
Lake
Pontchartrain
by Chas Champagne
DockSide TV / Matrix Shad
985-707-9049
[email protected]
With the spectacular weather we’ve been having
to close out the end of June, the water quality and
salinity levels have spiked and conditions are making
a 180 degree turn for the better. From a dismal beginning of the summer, things are looking on the up
and up now. With long-awaited dry and calm
weather, the fishing has really started to shape up for
the summer. As far as speckled trout fishing goes, we
have large schools of small trout in the area, and
plenty throwbacks have also been reported in the
local area which is odd for the Pontchartrain Basin.
If you’re looking to load the boat with nice-sized
speckled trout, you better be prepared for a long
boat ride. Try areas like the rigs in Lake Borgne and
Half Moon Island. Try the islands along the back side
of the Biloxi Marsh and all the way toward the MRGO
rocks. If you want to stay close and keep pitching
plastics throughout the summer, put redfish on the
brain. Mostly use 5/16 oz Golden Eye Jigheads on
your choice of a Vortex Shad for the next few months.
Here at DockSide TV, we switch our focus toward
sight fishing and target sunny days throughout the
summer. We use these sunny days to help see redfish
swimming in the shallow flats all across the area. Get
as high as you can in your boat so your eyes can penetrate the water. If you have to, use a cooler to stand
on and wear good polarized glasses. This will help
22
July 2016 www.marshandbayou.com
you see the swimming and tailing reds. When we try
the shorelines of Lake Borgne and Pontchartrain we
always try to find the leeward banks. Check the wind
direction forecast for each day, and put a game plan
together for each certain wind direction. We all know
weathermen can make mistakes; but as far as the direction of the
wind, they are
usually dead on
with that. Wind
speed is not that
much of a factor
in the redfishing
game.
Actually, a little breeze helps
keep the brutal
summer heat off
you and some of
the bugs that are
ready to chomp
on you in marsh.
Now when the
tides are above
normal levels, we
Logan Suggs with a big bull
like to push deep
drum caught at the L&N Trestle.
into the marsh
and leave the
Lake shorelines, pressing inside the interior more.
You can find big schools of reds floating around like
bright red stop signs over the grassy duck ponds in
the marshes all over the Lake's estuary, along with the
marshes of Alligator and Proctor's Point. We also like
to float around the East and West Pearl's pond systems on high water situations. You can catch catch
these reds many different ways, but
watching them eat the lure every time is
a sight to see, and by far, one of the
most sporty ways to catch a fish along
our wonderful Gulf Coast. For all DockSide TV sight fishing episodes, subscribe to our channel or watch them at
www.MatrixShad.com
by Jeremy Suggs
Rigolets Bait & Seafood
(985) 641-8088
June has come and gone, and with it
came the bull reds and drum at the L&N
train trestle. The Pearl River system normalized and fell to typical summer levels. In
turn, water in the Rigolets and surrounding
areas was clean and alive with plenty of bait.
While the trout were on the
small side, anglers still managed to put a handful of legal
ones in the ice chest. Lake
Borgne produced plenty of
trout and sheepshead around
the gas rigs the first half of
June, but the bite trailed off as
the month moved along.
July should be similar to June
regarding water clarity, weather
patterns, and tidal ranges. As
June wound down, we started
to see some of the heat for
which the Gulf Coast is known.
This means you need to be on
the water early to fish the
shorelines while the fish are
feeding. Some of the areas
that began to produce nice reds at the end
of June should continue through July. In particular, you should work the points and inlets
along Lake Catherine’s eastern shoreline as
well as the southern entrance to Little Lake
(a.k.a. Mud Lake). As the day heats up, look
for the deeper holes to hold fish escaping
the blazing summer sun. Unknown Pass and
Rigolets Pass around and under the L&N
bridge have plenty of deeper water to fish
and maybe a little shade to cast as well.
If you are set on catching big trout, you may
have to make that run to higher salinity water
in the Mississippi Sound.
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