Weekend Locks!

Hey bud.

I’ve got some good feedback from last weekends picks and am going to try to build on the momentum with using the same criteria of a mix of guides with some of the best anglers on the Northshore.

Just as a reminder, every Friday I’ll be sending out an email with what I believe are the two top options for Northshore fishermen.

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

Feel free to respond directly to this email, ESPECIALLY if you disagree with my picks. Thanks!

Bayou Bienvenue

Last week I gave the nod to the marsh between Sawmill Pass and Grand Coin Pocket and held off on recommending Bayou Bienvenue. But there’s just too many specks in Bayou Bienvenue not to make this my lock for the upcoming weekend.

The marsh has been inundated with specks since that first front a couple of weeks ago. This warming trend hasn’t done anything to change the pattern.

The entire eastern end of Bayou Bienvenue, from the Guillotine to Lake Borgne, is your target!

Get out there early and make a run to find birds. This past week I’ve gotten numerous reports of specks being caught under the birds and the birds were diving early.

Be prepared to work through some 12-inch fish to get to the 13-incher’s for the box.

The water temp in Bienvenue is 69 degrees, which makes plastics more than viable. Live shrimp is another option but there is so much trash in the water (ladyfish & needlenose) that you’ll end up going through 8 or 9 shrimp to get a keeper speck.

Right now, the hot bait has been the Marker 54 Shrimp under a cork. “Glide” works best under a cork.

When free-lining, the “Jerk” style is working.

I’ve included the tides for Bienvenue below.

East Pearl River

The East Pearl River is in fantastic shape at 5.50 ft. The water is relatively clear with a beautiful stain to it.

The latest Double Nickel Tournament on Tuesday saw Ralph Dunn bring in 3 fish all over 2 pounds, with his heaviest weighing 3.08 pounds. That’s a solid bag of fish.

While there were worries of saltwater intrusion in the marsh, anglers are still catching fish.

But even better than the marsh is an area simply known as “Steamboat” near Logtown, MS.

The canal branches off the main river and is located exactly 3 miles north of the Hwy 90 Green Bridge.

The water in Steamboat right now is Beautiful and it’s chock full of bass.

This weekend you’ll want to concentrate on wood. Trash, cypress knees, floating logs, and fallen trees are where the fish will be.

Throw white spinnerbaits early and after 8 a.m. switch over to plastic worms or craws on a 1/4-ounce bullet weight.

Below is the Pearl River Gauge at Pearl River: