Paddlepalooza Week Part 5 The End

Flounder have been abundant in lake Pontchartrain this spring

Sunday is it the end of one week or the beginning of the next who knows. Lets just call it the Beginning because I didn't want any of the suck of my two days in Grand Isle to carry over.I hooked up the old plastic flat for some nostalgic pre kayak fishing. For this trip I was keeping it simple two rods one rigged with a 3/8 jighead and a frog's breath deadly dudley. The other taking a hint from the paddlepalooza winner a dropshot rig with a Eagle Claw Bait Holder 2  for some dead shrimp.  My intended launch area was on catherine island and a small section of marsh near chef pass that is sheltered from the wind on three sides. But the area we were headed to was blocked because of the 112 mile bike riding portion of the  New Orleans Ironman Triathlon. After realizing we couldn't get there we headed to a  launch area that we had never used before on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain. this area would be sheltered from the 25 mph south wind by highway 90. This would also allow me to fish the hospital wall area that is a spring time speckled trout hotspot. After all the detours and decision making we made it on the water around 10 o'clock. I started the day off with a rat red on the deadly dudley working it with a straight retrieve. I wanted to tag this fish before it was released but I realized I left my tackle box and my tags in the truck.

Approximate location of hospital wall on hwy 90

 Very soon after my line snagged on the bottom and I lost my only lure and it was dead shrimp the rest of the day. The action on the market bait was pretty steady and we caught some pretty good fish. The first fish on market bait was a nice 24 inch redfish then the hardhead catfish swarmed and we moved to a nearby point. First cast we hit a perfect 18 inch puppy drum and then th  hardheads moved in again. Finally we made it to the remains of the Hospital wall I wish I had some jigs because there were probably some trout down there. The fish were abundant  and most likely drawn to the structure the hardheads were here in abundance but between catching catfish we caught a rat red a couple puppy drum then an eighteen inch red then a sixteen inch redfish. I also caught a nice flounder the one I was searching for the day before the one that would have got me paid. After catching at least 20 hardheads a stingray and a couple of nice fish we headed back home with a couple for the dinner table.

Bonus satellite image of the submerged wall location finding the launch is the hard part.