Isaac back; cold front approaching

You can cross off more places from the list of fishing spots than you can add this week.

And with Isaac making a circle and winding up in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, then a cold front pushing through the southern parishes Sunday, there’s not much hope of finding calm, fishable water.

Lake Verret and Belle River are filled with dead fish.

Isolated fish kills are being reported from the Atchafalaya Spillway and most of the Florida Parishes rivers, bayous and creeks.

The Venice area is off limits and the launches, and bait shops in the Lake Pontchartrain area remain in clean-up mode.

The good news is that Grand Isle and Fourchon marinas are open for business and redfish action in that area and over into the Dularge, Theriot and Dulac areas is solid. There have been a few speckled trout taken this week in those spots, too.

Offshore conditions will be rough this weekend with the tropical system butting up against the approaching cold front.

Weather

Expect rain through Saturday, and a shift in 5-10 knot easterly winds to 10-20 knots from the north Saturday and Sunday. Monday’s low will dip into the lower 60s here, but we’ll have mid-80-degree afternoons by Tuesday.

The forecast is for 2-3 foot nearshore seas into Saturday before stronger north winds bring 4-6 footers Sunday.

The Mississippi River fell more than 10 feet last week (on Isaac’s surge), and is predicted to hit 1.9 feet Saturday at New Orleans. The Atchafalaya remains high for this time of year, and is running between 2.8-3.0 feet at Morgan City.

Freshwater

Old River and False River usually survive a storm’s onslaught. Bluegill continue to take crickets 8-10 feet deep under the houseboats and the “planted” brushtops continue to produce sac-a-lait on shiners and 1⁄16- and 1⁄8-ounce jigs with blue/sparkle and blue/white tubes in 12-foot and deeper water.

Bass were taking spinnerbaits and soft-plastic creature baits in the Atchafalaya’s Grand Lake area, an location where bass usually survive a storm.

Saltwater

Maybe it’s because the launches and other services weren’t hit as hard as places along and east of the Mississippi River that reports on redfish, flounder, drum and some speckled trout were showing up in catches from Grand Isle west into the Terrebonne Basin and over into Bayou Dularge.

Redfish were reported to be very aggressive in the lower Terrebonne waterways, and redfish and drum were eating everything thrown their way along the barrier islands.

With rough conditions predicted for the weekend, staying “inside” will be the best option and Bayou Dularge, Bayou Salé and Oyster Bayou should have enough to catch for fish fries before the LSU and New Orleans Saints games.

There has been no news from Shell Beach, Hopedale nor Delacroix.