Calm days are best, but even when the winds blow, there are spots to catch fish in the Grand Isle surf.
Capt. Greg Schlumbrecht of To Fish Charters (985-960-1709) was one of three boats launching at Chef Harbor on Tuesday morning. Either the workday was keeping folks off the water, or more likely, they didn’t want anything to do with Lake Pontchartrain during August. First, let me set the record straight. I’ve been with Schlumbrecht enough to know that he would probably be doing most of the catching. I’ve watched him reel in trout after trout while I could only stare empty-handed.
After reading Todd Masson’s last chapter about Eastern Lake Pontchartrain in Specks, I saw that Rusty Tardo had the same problem a few years ago fishing with Terry Googins. Apparently, these Pontchartrain guides have a sixth sense that tells them a trout is biting.
Schlumbrecht and I began our morning lobbing Carolina-rigged shrimp to the pilings below the Twin Spans near the southern shore, and sure enough, he began pulling in trout. I thought I had a bite and set the hook, but there wasn’t anything pulling back. Schlumbrecht got another bite and set the hook on another trout. I thought I felt a rock or something after that, but I wasn’t sure … better not set the hook on a rock.
After pulling in a few small trout off the Twin Span, we headed out in search of what Schlumbrecht dubbed hurricane debris. There wasn’t much too it, but the trout were there for some reason as Schlumbrecht’s bowed over rod could attest. My rod continued to stand at attention. The debris surrendered a few more 2-pound trout and a grilling-sized redfish, but none to me.
We hit the Lacombe rigs after the hurricane debris dried up on us. I still couldn’t get, or rather didn’t feel, any bites. Only this time, Schlumbrecht didn’t either. It was a shallow moral victory.
“That’s the way it is out here during the summer,” he said. “You’ve just got to keep trying different places until you come across some fish. Some places might not have a fish on them like this rig right now. You might catch a bunch in one spot, but you’re more likely to pick up two or three here and two or three there. You can wind up with a decent box of fish if you hit enough spots.”
Schlumbrecht kept thinking about the hurricane debris, so we headed back and tried to position a little farther off the structure. He immediately caught a flounder, and I caught nothing. That was it on this stop, though, so we headed to the Rigolets Bridge, which was apparently hosting a hardhead convention.
“I guess we’ll burn the rest of the shrimp in Unknown Pass,” Schlumbrecht suggested.
I immediately agreed as I recalled catching fish at Unknown Pass before during the summer.
I actually got in on the action as the competition among the fish to eat caused them to bite aggressively enough even I couldn’t mistake it. We used our last 20 shrimp to put several 12- to 18-inch trout in the box, and I had about a 10-minute fight with a brute of a redfish that finally broke my line after it decided it didn’t want to play anymore.
Our timing was impeccable as we ran out of shrimp about the same time as a storm started brewing over the Rigolets. On our way in, Schlumbrecht passed along a bit of advice on feeling the bite at Lake Pontchartrain.
“A sensitive rod with a soft action is a must,” he said. “These fish do bite funny. It’s often nothing more than the feeling that something is different. Set the hook and start reeling if anything feels out of the ordinary.
“Sensitive line is also a plus. I’m hooked on 14-pound Berkley Vanish Transition because of its low stretch and near invisibility underwater. Other than that, you’ve just got to get out here and get some experience on the lake. Put in enough time, and you’ll learn what it takes.”
