Lake Pontchartrain fishing pier in Mandeville

Was real dirty on southshore last week. There was an alligator by the Causeway about 5 miles out. I was just cruising. Curious to see how the northshore looks.

There was a story on La sportsman or Nola.com with a report from Bayou Bienvenue. I might go to hopedale In the next few days.

I've never had any luck at the Mandeville pier. Fresh bait, live bait, artificial... Nothing.

Last year there were several nights I spent 5-6 hours out there without a nibble and not seeing anyone pull anything up either. One of the guys I saw regularly out there brings a small cast net and catches small 2"-3" crabs. Said the best time to fish is just before sun up and be casts the crab near the rocks at the beginning of the pier and does well with the reds. I never hung around that long to witness it though. Otherwise, It's very hit or miss from what I read about it.

I've been seeing pics of catches recently being taken from the Slidell pier. Trout, reds and a nice cooler full of crabs from a couple old guys.

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Is it safe to eat fish caught there?

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Why wouldn't it be?

it's a estuary, not an enclosed lake. It's safe to swim.

I used to catch sporadic specs out there on live shrimp or cranking plastics. This was before it was a huge arse pier though and a gravel/grass parking lot