The ‘dog days of summer’ make July fishing tough
By Bruce McDonald
The “dog days of summer” make fishing tough this time of year.The area lakes experience light winds and the water temperature heats up.
If thunderstorms weren’t brewing here and there, then we’d would bake out there on the water. Fishing comes to a halt when it’s this hot. Sometimes it seems that the fish have lockjaw.
Grand Isle crabbing
This past weekend, we tried Lake Des Allemands with zero success. We didn’t catch a single fish and the water was a greenish color. The algae bloomed causing the water to have zero visibility.
So when the fish aren’t cooperating, try crabbing. John Brady and Shane Parr caught 12 dozen in Mud Lake to Tarzan Bay.
And having a crab boil was great. The family always likes sitting around and eating crabs.
Although the Parish Canal along Lake Pontchartrain has slowed a little, if you’re willing to work a while, you can catch 10 to 12 dozen crabs along Grand Isle crabs are in the surf.
Lake Cataouatche
We fished Lake Cataouatche and caught plenty of fish. As July 14 the diversion is running at 8,300 cubic feet per second.
The average for this time of year is around 800 cubic feet per second, which means that a lot of water is being pushed through the lake.
Conditions are great for bream, bass, sac-a-lait, and catfish.
Right now Lake Cataouatche is the place to be. The river water going through the diversion is cooler and clear.
All the cuts have moving water. The bream like crickets, earthworm, and any color mini jig (1/32 ounce).
Bass like the watermelon worm, Baby 1-Minus, and the swim baits. We did catch a few sac-a-lait using red, white and chartreuse, black and chartreuse, and blue and white tube jigs.
If you have a chance, catch a few grass shrimp and put it on your tube jig. This helps a lot.
Make sure you catch enough. Bream will hit a grass shrimp just as fast.
There are a lot of fishermen wanting to catch sac-a-lait. Here is my secret. When they get lockjaw, use grass shrimp with your tube jig.
Grass shrimp are the No. 1 food bait for sac-a-lait year round.
Redfish
Little Lake has been producing good numbers of redfish.
Ease up to them and throw black and chartreuse under a cork or a gold spoon. The redfish are schooled up. Captain Tommy Lanata considers himself, a lucky fisherman in south Louisiana.
He likes the Lake Salvador area this time of year and uses a gold spoon for redfish. Watch the tide movement for you favorite saltwater area.
Up and coming
Check out up coming outdoor reports. We are planning some doing a little frogging, fishing for specs at the Twin Spans, and more bull red trips.
Best suggestion for fishing is to fish the early morning or late afternoons. If you want to be brave, fish after the thunderstorms. You will beat the “dog days of summer.”
New LDWF logo
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has a new logo.
The LDWF unveiled a new logo at the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting on July 8.
The new logo is an updated and simpler version that represents most of the vast Louisiana outdoor landscape. The logo design includes silhouettes of three major species managed by LDWF: deer, waterfowl and fish.
The coastline in the background is the outline of Vermilion Bay and cypress trees fill in the horizon set against a Louisiana bright blue sky.
“The old logo served us well through many generations,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham. “The new logo is a bold symbol of the conservation mission we are responsible for overseeing.”
LDWF will be using the new logo on all future projects, publications, programs, signage, trucks and other department objects. The old LDWF will be slowly phased out as equipment and publications are replaced and reprinted.
LDWF’s Public Information Office researched and designed the new logo with input from local graphic artists, marketing firms and LDWF employees.
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