Today's haul from New Orleans City Park

[John C Watson]

Went fishing with my buddy today and caught seven bass, a few bream and two Texas Blues.  I caught the larges Texas Blue while my buddy caught the most bass.  I was trying to tease the bream with my Tenkara rod with a black and red ant, caught one, tried other flies without success.  By then my buddy had caught three nice bass.on minnows.   I switched over to minnows and caught a couple bass.  Put a cricket on a hook with a small bobber on my Tenkara rod and caught the large Texas Blue.  Good fight.

[John Sheehan]

What an alien!!

[JBplusThuy]

What exactly *is* that Texas Blue? I've never seen anything quite like that before.

[John C Watson]

According to a friend who was into tropical fish, it is a cichlid same family as the Talipia. They are an indigenous fish from south Texas, where they get the name Texas Blue and are also called Rio Grande pearch.

Don't know how they got into the New Orleans City Park system but they seem to be all over. We have caught them in several different lagoons.

John

[tim ricks]

do they still make you pay for permit??? where do i pay at?

i aint fished there since...probably 1990 or so

[John C Watson]

You don't have to pay now. They didn't get that up and running since Katrina. We have had really hit and miss luck there but it is such a pretty place and lots of available water for a bank fisherman that we drive from Slidell to the park.

John

[tim ricks]

oh i see...

yeah.. man... i was going to the spillway..fishing at the boat launch closest to laplace... and was catching bass, sacalait, and brim,, and an occasional tchoupique, but.. suddenly,,i'd say about two or three weeks ago, it went sour.

i caught two big sacalait one day, and a bunch of brim when the cold weather came, and now its really pathetic out there.

i caught all 6 or 7 fish Monday (in the rain) on my fly rod with a small green popper. We cant find a decent selection of baits for fly rods around here. I like the Accardo Ligon bream special..the little green and blank sinking fly,,, and nobody has it..Academy has nothing really.

Chag's on veterans has some, and Puglias told me "We got some coming", and they were gone within a week, I didnt make it back.

gonna try spillway today if i dont get any more service calls.

[John C Watson]

I was thinking about the spillway but don't know anything about it. Are there easy places to fish from and if so can you tell me what road to take to get to them? I have read about fishing in the spillway on Bayoushooters web site by never went.

John

[tim ricks]

Yeah if you get on the interstate...from slidell..come into new orleans and thru metairie and then Kenner..there will be two kenner exits...Williams Blvd, and Loyola...Loyola is further west than Williams.. when you pass Loyola get in right lane and there will be an exit for "I-310" and it says Boutte, i believe..but regardless you get onto that ramp on the right and just follow along on I-310 for a mile or two then get off on the Kenner/Norco exit...stay RIGHT and take the Norco exit at the fork..stay right....

that will bring you to Airline Hwy. Airline highway has a canal that runs along the side of it...just keep on going..its a good ways.

you will pass some refineries.....like Motiva..etc.. then you will come to the spill way.. dont take the first right... keep on going down airline and you will cross a bridge on airline.

Once you get off the bridge you will see a boat launch (this is the West Spillway boat launch... that first right is the East Spillway boat launch.. but you want to go over a long bridge... several miles..then you will see a second boat launch.

turn right.. and you will go down a hill and you will run into the boat launch, and its all visible from Airline.


Once you get there to the boat launch.. i dont know how you plan to fish... its not too good if you bank fishing. If you get in a boat, you just go along the main canal and fish for sacalait and bass...perch. whatever.

I went today and i am going to post a bit about that trip in a few minutes.

take care

[John C Watson]

You got me interested in what a Accardo Ligon fly looked like. I looked it up and wanted to tie some like it but don't have green chenille so I tied thee yellow, black and brown to try out. Soon as I get a place to flyfish I will try them out.

[tim ricks]

wow that is really good handwork!

[tim ricks]

ahh man those look GOOD!.. did you try them out yet? if you can make some green chenille and black ones i will buy from you. i cant find. Puglias and Chags cant keep them in stock.

[John C Watson]

I took one out today to try but didn't get any bites on it. I did hook and lose a 11 inch crappie though on another fly that I put together.

When I get some green chenille I'll let you know.

John