re: Lakefront NOLA fishing

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We are entering the peak season for shoreline fishing from the South Shore. Redfish, speckled trout, white trout, Black drum, flounder and the occasional striped bass are regularly caught from the bank. The Industrial Canal used to be fantastic for speckled trout. When the rock damn was built closing MRGO, that fishery cooled. It is still okay, but no where near what it was.

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Friend,
You speak the truth
Myself and the wife landed 9 red fish and 5 trout last evening on the shell pads where the rigs near causeway used to be.
It’s only gonna get better in the next couple of months.

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TulaneLSU

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Are you general Wade?

Friend,

I would love to know the name of that plantation to which you refer. It sounds like you were quite close to the fifth Time Saver ever built. The year was 1956 and the location was 4008 Chef Menteur, not far from your adventures. In the 50s, the Chef was the high road out of New Orleans to points East, a place where kids roamed freely with rod and tot in hand to catch scores of trout, before there was a limit. Great Grandfather, his father, and his son took this passage when going to the Tally Ho. Its shoulders were lined with modest yet respectable motels and gas stations, now seedy centers of sin. In the 50s, though, it was the perfect spot to put a gas station and convenience store. As economies changed, reading about this location’s many armed robberies reveals the growing crime wave of that community in the 1980s. Today, #5 is a Discount N-Out next to that swamp tour company.


As for the pits, Uncle confirmed with me these were for filling a drainage canal in New Orleans East, mostly with sand, not shells, although the top layers may have contained some of these shells.Those white shells were quite a popular fixture in mid and late 20th century New Orleans parking lots. Rangia cuneata, they are, a bivalve that covered much of Lake Pontchartrain's muddy bottom for centuries. In 1933, a company, whose owner was a neighbor of Great Grandfather, realized that these shells were quite useful in making roads and parking lots. For the next six decades, millions of tons of these shells were harvested. While it helped pave the streets of our town, it also helped to destroy the Lake's water quality. The reputation for Pontchartrain being a dirty, polluted lake comes from this period when water clarity was down and pollutants up. Any winds would stir up that muddy bottom, causing it to mix with the water. More than that, these bivalves were the Lake's natural filtration, and now they were gone. At one point, this industry was worth over $30 million a year, but ultimately, Save Our Lake pushed to ban it. The success of SOS in stopping this scarring practice helped slowly restore the Lake to a place where fishing, crabbing, and swimming are enjoyed without stigma. While you may miss the noise of walking on those chalky white shells, keeping them in the Lake is vital to our Lake's health.



Yours,
TulaneLSU

Yes that Time Saves was built next to the Ice House on one side and a Tastes Donut on the other. Used to catch the bus that to get home after school which was in Gentilly Woods.

an on demand top 10 list

GOAT

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What did the old Chef Highway bridge look like? How y’all was it and how many lanes of traffic did it hold,

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The old one was a 4 lane draw bridge that split in the middle. Much lower and smaller then what they have now.

New Orleans is just a former place of itself now. On Facebook, there is a site called Gentilly Woods. Great info from many people that grew up in that area in the 50's,60's and so on. Many old pictures are posted there. Back in that time, New Orleans was a real busting city. Now, all that area turn into crap. But, the old neighborhood is starting to turn around. They took out many houses and opened green spaces. The home I grew up in is now gone.

FB link. LINK

Yes, that is it. There was a clam shell plant/ stock piles on the Gentilly side. A lot of shells has fell down to the waters edge. Under in around the base was also covered in clam shells.

Friend,


I'm really confused now... I use to think you were a millennial..

Unless your grandfather, or uncle, told you, I din't think a millennial would know what the frick a Mr Champ was...

You did leave out a Side-winder though...




Yours,
Hangover Haven

Friend,

Most of my speckled trout tackle comes from Grandfather's tackle box, which he bequeathed to me. I was horrified when I lost Grandfather's Mr. Champ spoon to some structure in Lake Pontchartrain several years ago. I know they sell them at Walmart, but the new ones are not of the same solid quality of the ones from the past, which were actually manufactured by the Mr. Champ company.

Here are some of Grandfather's old spec rigs that I received. I have tried to arrange them in an artistic way on my crafts table.



You will be happy to recognize the Side-Winder spoon.

Yours,
TulaneLSU