Redfish Bay lives up to its name during the springtime.
Captain Greg Schlumbrecht of To Fish Charters
(985-960-1709 or www.tofishcharters.com) moved to Tampa, Florida immediately after Hurricane Katrina due to initial reports that Lake Pontchartrain would quickly become a steaming cauldron of sludge stew. Three weeks ago, he came back.“The lake isn’t polluted, and I haven’t died from eating any of the fish yet,” he reported. “I’m fishing undamaged water on the Causeway. All the bad water that did come in went through the train bridge and around the point by Irish Bayou. And I wouldn’t even have a problem eating any fish from over there either. Those trout are solid and thick over there. They don’t have that “oh no, I’m about to die” look to them.”
Schlumbrecht reported that the Causeway is giving up the “Cajun Grand Slam” around mile markers 4, 6, and 8 from the north shore. These trout, flounder and redfish are hugging the bottom tight, and they are responding to a slow retrieve. The reds haven’t been too numerous, but there are enough of them biting to complete the slam.
“The specks are averaging about two pounds,” said Schlumbrecht. “That’s just an average fish for the lake. Six and seven pound trout have not been uncommon either. The reds have barely been keepers with a few throwbacks, and the flounder and perfect fillet size – about 16 to 18 inches. They’re not your typical three-pound Pontchartrain flounder, but they’re nice, solid fish.”
All three species are biting the junior sized Deadly Dudley in the Blue Moon color with chartreuse tail. Schlumbrecht said that he’s been able to pattern the fish based on which piling they are on, or whether they are between the pilings.
“Sometimes they’re on the first, sometimes they’re on the second,” he said. “And sometimes they may be between two particular pilings. Once you figure out where the fish are and how they want the bait, you can repeat it all up and down the bridge. The hardest part is figuring out where they are, because the best retrieve has been pretty consistent – SLOW.”
Anglers fishing soft plastics on the bottom at the Causeway needn’t worry too much about loosing as many rigs as they might at the train bridge. There is hardly any structure on the bottom near the Causeway and you’ll seldom get caught up on anything.
Schlumbrecht said that the water had been down in the 40s recently, but that it had come back up around 57 within the past few days. He believes that anything above 52 can produce some good fishing.
“Keep that bait on bottom and work it slow,” he said, “and you’ll catch enough fish to keep you happy.”
