No Place Like Home!!

Man, there’s just no place like home and I’m not talking about Kansas, Dorothy! I attended a class the other day taught by a lady that was originally from New York. As the introduction was taking place, she asked us why we thought she chose to stay in Louisiana. Her reply was, “The people of course!”

We are blessed with some of the most hospitable, nice and just pleasurable to be around people anywhere on the Earth. Our state motto is “Sportsman’s Paradise” and the title has been earned over and over. This past weekend was another fine example of being with some great people and getting to experiencing Louisiana’s outdoors at its best!

It all started on Thursday morning with a ride down to Reggio and meeting Mike Smith, a five-time state duck calling champion and a top notch duck hunting guide. This day was not a “duck day” as far as the weather was concerned. Clear skies, no wind and nobody in the marsh fishing or hunting to move the ducks a little is what we faced. (Not to mention the millions of gnats that wanted to feed on our flesh)

But hey, it is what it is and we took advantage of the opportunities we had. Mike worked the ducks as good as it gets and Goosie along with his sidekick, Nathon Williams bagged five ducks that included a couple of gadwalls and a pair of mottled ducks or black mallards, as we call them in Louisiana. (I had camera duties; shooting film)

Along with swatting lots of gnats in the blind was the sound of much laughter as the fellowship with friends is as much fun as participating in the hunt. So if you’d like to make an unforgettable duck hunt with one of Louisiana’s best guides, give Mike a call at (504) 228-4506 or take a cyber trip to www.laduckhunts.com> and check it out.

The next day, we headed east to the town of Mandeville to do a little spec fishing in Lake Ponchatrain with Captain Greg Schlumbrecht. The forecast for this day was probably better for duck hunting than fishing but the “mule” trout have been tearing it up along the Causeway for a few weeks so we weren’t about to miss this opportunity.

Captain Greg is one of the best guides that fishes Lake Ponchatrain so our anticipation was very high as we pulled up to Mandeville Boat Harbor’s public launch. The boat was already in the water and Greg was getting things prepared to take off for the bridge and whack those big trout.

The “Bridges” of Ponchatrain are legendary but need to be fished a little different than the regular techniques usually used to catch specs. Depths run from eight to fourteen feet and those big specs sit on the bottom and wait for unsuspecting baitfish to swim by and in one gulp, it’s over. So fishing plastic baits on the bottom is the best way you can catch them in the fall. They won’t move very far to feed because they don’t have to.

The most successful pattern to run goes a little like this. First you need to fish downstream of the tidal movement to you can drag your bait with the current. That determines which side of the bridge pilings to fish.

Second, fish the pilings. You can catch a straggler or two in between those concrete stumps, but 99% of the fish will relate to the pilings. Third, it’s imperative to let the bait get to the bottom so a 3\/8 oz. jig is pretty much the minimum weight to use but if the wind or current is bad, don’t hesitate to go to ½ oz. Then fish basically like you would a plastic worm for bass, fishing it slowly along the bottom.

November and December are the best months for fall fishing and it will stay good until the water temperature reaches 49 degrees. Then Captain Greg heads to the marshes of Delacroix to fish until the water in the lake heats back up. Then the spring run of those same mule trout is back on.

After about a five minute ride, Greg shut down the big engine and put the troll motor over the bow and it was on. On his third cast a 2# trout made its way to the fish box and the fun began. We had John DeFrances aboard with us, so the action was very steady as we went from piling to piling, putting more specs in the box.

For bass fishing fools like me and Goosie, we were in “hawg” heaven. Fishing along 26 miles of concrete stumps with plastics on the bottom, feeling that tap on the rod and then jerking hard enough to cross their eyes; man it don’t get no better than that.

A little after noon, a small shower developed to our south that had a little lightning mixed in that chased us back to the marina, but no one was disappointed at all. We had 82 speckled trout and one flounder in the box and enough memories to last for a long time.

Mule trout, you bet! We had 60 trout between 2 and 4 pounds. Captain Greg has a few days in November and plenty in December, so give him a call at 985 960-1906 or visit www.tofishcharters.com<\/a> and check him out. So until next time, have fun in the outdoors, be safe and may God truly bless you!!