Here comes the heat! June brings a completely different way to fish on Cane. This month you'll have to pay attention to the daytime heat that can often shut down the bass bite on the bayou. Leaving earlier in the morning will benefit bass anglers. Remember that Cane is broken into two distinct areas - Marsh and wooded hardland with overhangs. Concentrate on early schooling marsh bass feeding on the surface in the mornings then work north to the shadier areas near the closer to the launch. Saltwater Assassins on the surface rigged weedless should provide plenty early morning action. As daytime heating sets in, throw Baby Brushhogs near drains and overhangs. June should make for productive blugill fishing with surface poppers or crickets under a cork. As always Cane is famous for an abundance of goggle-eye also.
Summertime is here and Bayou Castine has cleared up quite nicely. Try the back cuts that are closest to the trace. Target lily pads with artificial frogs in the early mornings and late afternoons. Crankbaits at the intersections of canals works as the bass group up on shad at those crossings. Fly fishing is also a way to go on the bayou. Anglers are picking up goggle-eye and bass in the late afternoons just before dark.
What a turn around for the Causeway! It seems the spillway closure for the last two years has improved the speckled trout bite along the concrete pilings of the Causeway. Anglers saw their best May in over 5 years at the bridge with numerous reports of limits being reported during the spring. As what once was with the Causeway the fish were larger than average ranging from 15-19 inches. The Causeway bite is one of the toughest to pattern so pay attention while fishing the bridge. if you are fishing close to the Northshore and the water is murky don't hesitate to make a run further out. Various plastics on a 3/8 oz jig head will work. Try different techniques when jigging the bridge and when you pick up a fish concentrate on the area using the same technique. while the trout won't be as plentiful in June, the relish bite should rival the old days when anglers could easily pick up a limit on the bridge.
Daniel Sissac Roger Sissac
June is upon us, and the pattern on Bonfouca will switch from a spawning one to the
typical summertime one. Bass will be on the bank in the mornings and evenings; they
will move to shade and/or slightly deeper water during the hottest part of the days.
This move could be as simple as going from the bank to outside the grass line once
the temps start to rise. Bass will utilize any shade they can find, be it a
boathouse, tree, or even a single piling casting shade onto the water. Topwater
lures - a Chug Bug, Boy Howdy, or even a weightless worm - have been doing well in
the mornings and evenings. Once the bass have moved deeper, a Carolina Rig or a
Texas Rig with a soft plastic such as a worm, fluke, or Senko have produced the most
strikes; however, a jerkbait or swimbait should also yield some fish. If possible,
casting parallel to the grass will allow the lure of your choosing to cover the most
area where the bass should be midday.
Bream have been biting well and will continue to do so in June. The panfish will be
spawning around the full moon and will create colonies - groups of individual nests
within close proximity to neighboring nests. The best time to find the bream
congregated is three days before through three days after a full moon. Sexee Shad
and crickets are the top producers; both can be fished under a float, but the Sexee
Shad is quite effective while fished with a cast and retrieve presentation. Whether
using crickets or the aforementioned artificial, catfish will quite often partake in
the offering, so make sure your drag is properly set.
Ronald Pierre
Bass fishing in June on the Tangipahoa River system will be lights out. Bass will be past their post spawn funk and will be in full feeding mode. They will be chasing shad and other baitfish in the shallows along the main river. Look for run outs and other small cuts that empty into the main river on the south end. Concentrate on the cuts that have mixing water and baitfish present early in the mornings. These areas will hold actively feeding bass while the sun is still low. Use spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, and topwater lures in these areas. Once the sun comes up it will be time to switch gears and head upriver. This is where you will find isolated cypress trees that cast shady areas along the banks of the river. The shade will concentrate bass tightly into these areas. Key in on the shady areas that are in the deep bends of the river, these areas offer shade, moving water, and deeper drop offs for bass to ambush baitfish. Use jigs, soft plastics, and hollow bodied frogs. Skip these lures as far back under the shade as possible and work them back out making contact with any piece of cover possible.
With the revival at the Causeway this spring things should pick up at the reef. But in June the reef typically dies out so get out there before the bite completely dies out and the hard-heads are the only thing pulling drag!. The bite with chartreuse plastics in May have transitioned to anything with a red flake now that the shrimp have moved in. Mornings are your best bet for light winds and a more productive trip. Redfish will be your main target in June.
Luke O'Neal
The bass are in their full summertime pattern! When the water is clean the bass are schooling on shad. Swim baits are good and topwater early. The river has cleaned up considerably and the lack of rainfall has helped bring back normal conditions that what we've seen on the Tchefuncte in early spring. Sac-a-lait are still biting but have moved deeper. Bass are easy targets in the morning and afternoon when the temperatures drop. Shu-Shu's in the Gunmetal color skipped across the surface imitate these shad perfectly.
Lawerence Lemoine
While the Sacaliat bite has tapered off a bit, the bass bite is stout on the creek. Crankbaits are the name of the game this month. Bass will be busting shad on the surface and shad colored cranks will serve to be a valuable lure in your arsenal. As daytime heating sets in try and concentrate on shaded areas such as overhangs and piers. Jigs are great for targeting shade seeking lunkers on the creek in June.
Ronald Pierre
Anglers will have to think deep when it comes to June on the Amite River. Bass will be positioned on deep drops along the main river channels, on deep rip rap banks on the main river, or on long points that meet with channel swings. Bass will spread out and position themselves on the flat side of the drops early in the morning or late in the evening while the sun is low. They will move up to feed on schools of shad that are positioned near the surface of the water. Lures to use are topwater spooks, swimbaits with a heavy jig head, or a lipless crankbait. Once the sun comes up bass will position themselves on the deep side of the drop offs. They will bunch up in schools and hold tight to any structure that is near the drop. Use reaction style lures like deep crankbaits, and umbrella rigs to get the schools of bass fired up. Once you find a bite on these deep drops, make repetitive casts to the same area until you have found that certain sweet spot that the school is relating to. If you catch a fish, try to quickly repeat that same cast at that same angle to keep the school fired up. This will keep the school in a feeding frenzy and will help you put multiple fish in the boat in a small amount of time. When fishing slows down, work heavy jigs, and ribbon tail worms in the same area to pick up any fish that was left behind. Areas like these often replenish itself with fish over time. Finding a few deep areas that are alike and fish them at different times of the day are a key to catching bass on the Amite River in June.
Conditions have improved immensely in the Rigolets area. Water cleaned up due to the Pearl returning to normal, water coming from Lake Pontchatrain is cleaner than last month and some east winds have added some of the pretty green water from the sounds. Water temps in the eighties and signs of shrimp are a good addition. Lake Borgne train bridge , 4X byu , hwy 90 car bridge are a few of the deep spots to collect cooler saltier water, live bait makes catching easier, BUT, a drop shot rig with your favorite plastic will fool a few. Hospital wall early on a light falling or incoming tide usually makes for a good start. Lake Catherine at miller’s ditch, unknown pass and St Catherine’s pass are worth a try, keeping an eye out for birds for a quick bunch of fish.
The specks should be leaving left the marsh for the summer. Time to head for the bays and sounds to the east for your speck fix. From 9 mile out to fishing smack and all Islands between with tide lines using corks and live bait will be where the action is, can’t hardly get lost, just mark a way point at 9 mile and head out till you run out islands or energy then return to your waypoint where you started . Lots of clean water to run in, just don’t cut corners or go thru narrow openings WAO. Lots of Islands were not long ago long stetches of land. Try rigs in lake Borgne fron byu Biloxi all the way to St Milo. Reds stay in the marsh till the water gets too hot (90deg) then try the deeper canals.
Patrick Engerran
River's up and rivers down. The Pearl complex is one of the most confusing systems I've ever fished. South of 90 it can be so low you see bank 2 ft in front of reeds. Go north and the water is high and in the woods. Insert shaking my head here. I do it a lot fishing the Pearl. The thing I love about it tho is you can always find fish. Maybe not big ones or big enough to win money on but you can catch plenty. Drains, laydowns, grass or trees. There is plenty of all this and if you run them you will find fish. Maybe a couple off each or maybe load up off of one type. Wind or the tide will generally have water moving, you may just have to run north or south to find it. Key this time of year is to find it. Don't sit in one spot if your not catching. Change it up. Spinnerbaits and cranks in drains and maybe some of my favorite Bogue Chitto Custom Rods buzzbaits over grass or in some pads. If I'm flipping or punching, which I do most the time, it's Toups's Tackle Mighty Mudbug. Local companies that make lures that catch fish as good as the major brands so try them out. Remember if not catching change it up and move. North or south or east to west or grass to trees but the fish will be biting.
the creek is finally clearing up and the fishing is improving drastically over what May had to offer. With the spawn over, things are getting back to normal and bass should be returning back to their normal patter. look for bass busting on shad near drains and concentrate on jigging structure whether it be overhangs of wharfs. Anglers should be able to locate catfish in June and catch good numbers whether by pole or trot-lines. Basically any bait will work. Stick to the deep channels and be patient. Always keep an eye on the rainfall around the creek as the water will muddy in a hurry!
Todd Oalman
The excellent bass bite will continue throughout the summer months. Limits should be the norm, with days of 30 plus bass a realistic expectation. Look for moving water and bait. Ideally, you want to find a drain in the marsh that has pogies, shrimp, or minnows coming out. The bass will stack up and ambush the easy pickings. Early mornings, late evenings, and overcast days are the best times to fish soft plastics on the shore/weedline. When the shoreline bite slows, try casting pogie colored crankbaits around the mouths of the trenaisses. The fish will hang out along the shoreline and then transition to deeper water as the day heats up. Redfish will be in the marsh and the lake shore. Speckled trout can be caught on shrimp or artificials, but probably the best and cheapest(free) bait are the pogies that are in the bayou. Get an early start, just before daybreak, and look for them on top of the water. One or two throws of your castnet will yield plenty. Croaker, white trout, drum and sheepshead will be at the mouth of the bayou too. Dead shrimp on the bottom will work for them. Crabs are starting to pick up in the lagoon and bayou. Now is a good time to drop some nets in the water. Good fishing!
George Seibert
Lake Borne is in good shape with the closing of the spillway for over years! In the early morning fish top water lures about 20 yards from the shoreline. As the morning heats up change to popping corks with a single or tandem rig of your favorite plastic. The gas well heads should also be holding plenty of fish. When fishing the well heads remember to fish the outside of the shell pads too. Fish the whole well head before moving on. Look for diving birds and water slicks which are an indication of bait fish. And don’t forget to bring a couple of live shrimp as they can get the action started. Fish early in the morning or late evening as the days will be getting longer and hotter. Don’t forget the sunscreen. GOOD LUCK!
Taylor Valios
June is here and so is the heat! Surprisingly anglers have still been catching trout along the bridges through various techniques even with the heat. My thoughts are as soon as we have consistent days with little to no showers to keep the water temps cool, the trout will be on their way. For now put your main focus on the North end of the bridge. As always finding clean moving water is key when fishing any area but the trestles is extremely important during these months. Anglers are mainly using live bait as well as chartreuse colored baits for success. Shu-Shu Marsh Minnows in Chromis or Matrix Shad in Lemonhead are the top contender baits to use. Don’t hesitate to get out soon, these fish are on the move and will soon be missed for summer heat. Good luck and good fishing..
We've had a really pleasant spring with low humidity which has helped the fishing, however we should start seeing typical south Louisiana weather. Hot days with high humidity and scattered afternoon showers. The fishing should start settling in also. Early morning should be a great time for topwater action. As the day heats up a switch to shift to soft plastics should keep the action going. Matrix shad in ultraviolet, shrimp creole and lemonhead are good choices. Suspending twitch baits like mirrodine are excellent for specks. We had a lot of freshwater dumped on us the past couple of months. We should start to see salinity levels coming up. Of course if hurricane season is anything like last year the salinity will be off the charts. Have a great month and happy Fathers Day.
John Farley
The springs winds will slow down but so will the salt water fishing. Any of the offshore shell pads can hold Red Fish, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Trout. Dead and live shrimp will work the best but jigging plastics can still be productive. Also look for schools of Red Fish along the shore lines. Bass fishing will be best in the morning or late afternoon. Top water baits like frogs and buzz baits will produce well. Bream will still be on the beds and can be easily caught using a fly rod or live crickets under a cork.
Chris Basey
The grass is slowly coming back in Liberty! Use spinner baits along the edges, or over the top. You could also use swimbaits, or top water. If you want to get nasty, go in and get them under the thick mats. Depending on the thickness of the mat you will need anywhere from a 3/4 oz. to over a ounce weight pegged to punch through. Stick with smaller profile plastics like a craw worm. If you don't want to deal with the weeds you can run way up Bayou Liberty. Up close to the park there is not as much submergent vegetation, and far less floating mats. There you can fish rocks, or cypress trees with a array of lures. You can flip the trees, crank the bends or mouths of the smaller cuts, or chunk a spinner bait to the cypress knees. Each pattern will produce this time of the year, so fish your strengths. Good luck out there guys.