The speckled trout bonanza at the Lake Pontchartrain bridges has subsided somewhat the past couple of weeks, but Capt. Greg Schlumbrecht with To Fish Charters (985-960-1709) said there are still plenty of fish under the spans that will bite for anglers willing to slow down and finesse them in the boat.
Admittedly, the trout aren’t as big as they were a couple months ago, and, as stated, they aren’t really that aggressive, but a little patience will go a long way to putting together a nice box of fish.
“I-10 still has a bunch of fish around it,” said Schlumbrecht. “So do Highway 11 and the Train Bridge. I’ve been doing best tightlining plastics. The key has been to just barely move the bait. Think about fishing a finesse worm for bass, and you’ll get the picture on how to fish right now — slow with very little movement.”
Anglers striking out and getting frustrated with the eastern bridges should turn an eye to the Causeway. The pilings are reportedly stacked with trout, and the Causeway isn’t getting near the pressure as the other bridges.
The Lacombe rigs are also producing some fish, but they have been very busy lately. Schlumbrecht suggested the key to consistently catching fish off these crowded rigs is to find the few spots on them that are holding fish.
“Those Lacombe rigs aren’t like the Seabrook rigs,” he said. “You can catch fish all around the Seabrook rigs. You’ve got to look a little harder at the Lacombe rigs because they aren’t productive all the way around them.”
If you’re willing to take a number and get in line on the Lacombe Rigs, Schlumbrecht said you could do well fishing shrimp about 10 feet under a sliding cork. The key is to get it as close to bottom as you can without it actually hitting bottom. There are a lot of bait snatchers around these rigs, and this should help alleviate some of the frustration.
“The Lake Borgne rigs are also holding a few trout,” Schlumbrecht added. “I’ve been catching them over there with live bait under a sliding cork. There’s just too much stuff around those rigs to effectively work a Carolina rig. Start at the rigs just outside the Rigolets, and fish all the way to Alligator Point.”
Anglers interested in catching a few sail cats will be glad to know that there are schools the size of football fields in Lake Borgne. Schlumbrecht said he hit four flocks of birds the other day, and every one of them had sail cats under them. The fish are willing to eat just about anything they see.
“You can see that speckled trout aren’t the only thing we have in Pontchartrain,” Schlumbrecht concluded. “The lake is full of white trout, sheepheads and croaker. Get out there and try a few different areas, work hard and be patient, and you can put together a nice box of fish on the lake.”
