Inshore Lake Ponchartrain

[lpquick]

Fished 1/2 day on Tuesday (7/24/12), from just before sunrise to almost 1 PM. The tide was very poor only .3, the water temp was just a tad above 85 degrees F. Fishing the trestles caught and released a ton of ladyfish, can’t remember ever seeing this many in the lake. Caught the usual Sheepshead, Black Drum & Trout. On radar we could see fish being suspended between 8 & 10 feet in only 12.6’ of water, so I used two presentations for fishing live shrimp. I Carolina rigged my NRX 853C JWR/ Calcutta Conquest 101DC, Momoi Hi-Catch 12lb. mono, 1/2 oz. weight connected to a swivel and a 2’ leader of Shooter Invisible 30# to a Gamakatsu 2/0 circle hook. I hooked and landed a unusual fish for the lake, a Jack Crevalle, approx. 30 lbs. Took me about 30 min. to land it. We chased it all over until she tired, being very lucky to maneuver around the many crab traps. Fist time catching a Jack for me and I was under gunned for this fight but the rod and reel did a great job. Just before the tide quit at about 10:30 I hooked another Jack, slightly smaller maybe in the 23# range on my Poison Glorious 173ML/ Calcutta Conquest 51, Mpmoi Hi-Catch 12lb. mono, 1/2 oz. wight, slip float, swivel, 3’ leader of Shooter Invisible 30# to a Owner 2 or 3/0 circle hook. The fight again lasted maybe 25 min. and we chased the darn fish all around the lake. I have some of it on video, which I’ll attempt to post in the next few days. Both set ups were targeting Speckled trout and stood up to the rigors of 20-30# Jack Crevalle, I was impressed.