Weekend Locks!

Hey bud, I’m introducing a new feature to NFR and wanted to reach out to you for feedback.

Every Friday, I’ll be sending out an email with what I believe are the two top options for fishing on the Northshore.

One pick will be on the saltwater side, and the other for those looking to do some freshwater fishing.

I figure it would be interesting to see how my picks pan out and hopefully help out a few fishermen who are heading out on the weekend.

It’s by no means scientific or AI-generated. It’s basically a way to sharpen my “where to fish” skills and also open up the lines of communication directly through email with members of NFR.

Feel free to respond directly to this email, ESPECIALLY if you disagree with my picks. What gets measured gets improved right?

RIGOLET’S

After a successful fishing trip to Bayou Bienvenue and the ICW catching speckled trout, it was hard not to go with that area as the Saltwater Lock for this weekend.

BUT I’ve heard from 3 anglers today who said the Rigolet’s is cleaning up and the marsh between Sawmill Pass and Grand Coin Pocket is on fire right now!

A variety of fish have moved into the marsh, and you should be able to catch an easy limit of redfish with a mixture of drum and flounder mixed in.

The speckled trout are scattered so you should pick up a few trout as well, but it’s the redfish that will steal the show this weekend.

Live shrimp under a cork is best, but with the cooler temps, plastics will produce almost just as good, so don’t waste your money on live shrimp.

The hot bait has been Marker 54 Shrimp in the Glide or Jerk. Whatever your preference.

High tide is around noon this weekend with only 0.6 ft. so it will be important to target choke points in the marsh that turbo-charges the tide.

East Pearl River

I’m getting results from the local tournaments that fish all the way from Manchac to Mississippi and the best results are coming out of the East Pearl River.

The Double Nickel held their tournament at the East Pearl Tuesday, and Dwain Crumby, who runs the event, told me there is a lot of bass being taken from the river.

While the heaviest bass taken was only 3.29 pounds there should be plenty of green trout action this weekend.

The River is in great condition with the lack of rain we’ve seen. A dry season up north to Jackson, MS, is also helping.

The warmup we have seen should allow you to stay in somewhat of a summertime pattern with an early morning buzzbait or frog fished along the shoreline.

Drop down deeper after the sun starts to warm things up.

Black and blue Delta jigs should produce bass even during the mid-day hours.