Keith Lusher 04.20.23
Lake Pontchartrain has all the time been identified for producing trophy trout. In truth, three of the highest ten largest speckled trout on report have been pulled from Pontchartrain. Of these, all of them have been over ten kilos.
Mike Gallo has been fishing the 5-mile practice bridge, that connects the South Shore to the North Shore, for over 20 years and mentioned the scale of the fish has dwindled in the previous couple of years. However, on his newest journey, Gallo was in a position to reel in a fish paying homage to the nice ole days when he was in a position to catch no less than one trophy trout yearly.
Gallo lately was fishing the practice bridge and determined to do some drift fishing “We had fairly moderate winds and we were drifting the train bridge with the wind to our back,” he mentioned. Gallo was fishing the bridge on the midway mark between mid-lake and the South Shore of New Orleans. “Earlier in the week we caught some nice speckled trout at the bridge,” Gallo mentioned. “When I cleaned them I noticed several of the bigger trout had pogies (Menhaden) in their stomachs.” Gallo determined to tie on the closet factor to a pogie that he had in his sort out field – A Matrix Shad Minnow within the “Glow” colour.
The constitution captain mentioned it was like some other day fishing the bridge. “It was just your standard bouncing plastics off the bottom – nothing special at all,” he mentioned. Gallo set the hook on the fish and it got here straight to the floor. He admits that he didn’t suppose the fish was something particular till it made a tough dive. “When it bought near the boat, it made a run and pulled some drag. Then, because it got here shut I bought a greater take a look at it and thought, ‘Maybe it might be a good idea to get the net out,” he said. After getting it into the net, he weighed the fish and the scale displayed a weight of 6.6 pounds. “It was a thick fish with really broad shoulders and it was fat,” he said. “It’s been a number of years since I’ve caught one which huge,” He mentioned.
Gallo recommends fishing the bridge across the full moon if you wish to attempt for some huge specks. “Some of my biggest trout have always come around the full moon in April,” he mentioned.
As far as the way forward for trophy trout within the lake, the water is steadily enhancing and the salinity ranges are on the rise. The Bonnet Carre’ Spillway that drains water from the Mississippi River when river ranges prime 17 ft, hasn’t been opened in over 5 years. Gallo mentioned he hopes issues will proceed to enhance so far as catching trophy trout in Lake Pontchartrain and this fish is a good signal that they’re!
