Keith Lusher 07.31.24
Max Patrucco of Slidell, LA, has been fishing Lake Pontchartrain for over a decade and has caught a wide variety of fish, including speckled trout, redfish, and flounder. In July, Patrucco targets the Trestles train bridge in Lake Pontchartrain. The 5-mile bridge is a favorite among fishermen for its consistent production of sheepshead during the summer months. Patrucco refers to his annual trips to the bridge as “Sheepshearding Trips.”
When Patrucco arrived at the bridge, the tide was incoming and blowing out of the North. Max baited his hook and dropped his line straight down alongside a concrete bridge leg, using a drop-shot rig with live shrimp. “On my first drop, I felt that familiar tap..tap..tap. I waited a few seconds, then reeled my line up slowly,” he said. “I managed to set the hook and land a 16-inch sheepshead.” As Patrucco was reeling in the fish, he spotted another sheepshead following the hooked fish, so he hurriedly baited his hook for another drop.
Patrucco proceeded to catch two more sheepshead, all keepers, which he tossed into his ice bag. Then he decided to throw out another line at the back of his kayak to improve his chances.
As he focused on the pylons to catch more sheepshead, he heard the reel in the back of the kayak start to pull. “I heard my drag start to scream, so I turned back to see my old 6.5′ ugly stick in the rod holder doubled over,” Patrucco said. “I swapped rods and turned to face the back of the boat where the fish was stripping drag. The large fish had already taken 50 yards of line off of his spool.”
Patrucco fought the fish for over 10 minutes. Upon looking up to gain his bearings, he noticed that his kayak had been pulled over 100 yards away from the bridge.
After slowly reeling in the fish, he was able to identify it as a Jack Crevalle. He got the fish near the boat, grabbed its tail, and hoisted it into his kayak.
“This was the Jack I’ve been trying to get for the past few years. That was seriously one of the best battles I have ever had,” Patrucco said.
After the excitement, Patrucco resumed catching sheepshead at the bridge and ended the day with over 10 sheepshead and 2 redfish. The best part about fishing Lake Pontchartrain is catching those fish when you don’t expect to catch them. “The beauty of fishing in the lake is not knowing exactly what’s on the other end – it could be a jack, a bull red, a bull shark, a big stingray – you just never know,” Patrucco said.
