After a brutally cold, rainy and windy January we rolled right into an abnormally warm and calm February. A lot of anglers relate the bridges in Lake Pontchartrain as an April and May place to fish but nothing is further from the truth if these certain starts align. If water temps get over 55 degrees, the bridges need to be checked. If the Pearl River level’s stay under control, the bridges need to be checked. If loons are lurking the bridges well thats a tell tale sign trout are near by and typically large ones. If all of these things occur together in the Month of February than big trout are simply a guarantee to be around and that has just been the case for February 2018′. Does this mean the spring will be banner or epic one? Not necessarily, if the Pearl swells too much a lack of salt becomes an issue and bigger breeder specks will seek saltier waters to lay their eggs. But if conditions do happen to stay the same, trout up to six pounds or even greater may be caught.
There are several methods to effectively catch trout in February on the bridges but none are better than trolling. The lead line and wire line works great but we simply switch our casting poles to trolling poles. All we do is cast our line out a full cast and let several wraps roll off the spool. The distance of line let out will change each day as the tide dictates that. Braid, mono, and flouro all work fine. Several hard baits work well for trolling but so far this year simply dragging a Matrix Shad on a 3/8 oz jig head has proven to be effective as any methods. We troll using the trolling motor in order to get the boat to go slow enough. Somewhere between 1.3-1.8 mph is an ideal speed for dragging soft plastics. The Matrix Shad seems to be a great plastic to troll due to its aerodynamics in the water as is pulls straight and swims perfect at these speeds. Give it a shot now as the crowds will get way too thick in the spring months for trolling. Watch Video Below for more details and make sure to subscribe to our DockSide TV Channel.
Until Next Time
“Good Fishing”
Mr. Walter shows off a beautiful February trout.
