The famed brackish bay that forms New Orleans’ northern border is offering great fishing again thanks to decades of restoration in the Pontchartrain Basin and Mississippi River

Lake Pontchartrain was the picture of consistency for speckled trout catches throughout the spring and summer of 2025.

Generally, the hot trout bite in the eastern part of the massive brackish bay that creates New Orleans’ northern boundary peters out in early June and returns around mid-October when massive schools of white shrimp begin leaving brackish marshes.

Climbing water temperatures, longer days and the itch to make babies in saltier waters push trout into Lake Borgne and towards Chandeleur Sound for the summer. This year was different, however. Trout catches stayed consistent through the Fourth of July weekend.

One veteran Pontchartrain guide and avid angler reported he was having trouble finding trout inside Louisiana’s recently implemented 13- to 20-inch slot, not because the fish were too small to reach the bottom end but so many fish were pushing past the 20-inch mark. Louisiana’s trout regulations only allow two 20-plus inch long trout to be kept in a day.

Lake Pontchartrain has always been a decent fishery, producing redfish, drum, sheepshead, big jack crevalle, and the occasional tarpon as well as a host of freshwater species like largemouth bass, panfish, and blue catfish in addition to the trout.

But, 50 years ago, after shell dredging operations had mined the majority of the lake’s extensive water-cleaning Rangia clam beds to make roads and concrete and poorly treated sewage was pumped into the lake from bordering cities, it seemed unlikely the lake and surrounding wetlands would one day be held in as high or higher regard as other well-known Louisiana trout producing ports like Grand Isle or Cocodrie.

Saltwater intrusion had killed off historic submerged grass beds that had long helped clean the water while providing vital fisheries habitat.

Lake Pontchartrain’s recovery can be traced back to 1989 to the creation of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, now called the Pontchartrain Conservancy. A group of New Orleans-area citizens and scientists had enough of the constant poor water quality and loss of habitat that had plagued the lake for nearly a century. Throughout the 1990s and beyond, the Foundation’s “Save Our Lake” campaign became ubiquitous across the region with countless cars and trucks emblazoned with the simple and direct message on blue and white bumper stickers.

Shell-dredging operations were banned in 1990, allowing the mussels to begin a slow comeback. Hundreds of millions were invested in updating sewage treatment facilities, while dumping solid waste like tires and old appliances was curbed by increased enforcement and fines.

Saltwater intrusion from the ill-fated, manmade Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), the culprit for much of the flooding in the New Orleans area during Hurricane Katrina, had also killed off many of the historic submerged grass beds that lined the lake and tens of thousands of acres of fresh and brackish marsh. That grass had long helped clean the water while providing vital fisheries habitat.

While some argue the super-salty waters coming up the lightly traveled and destructive ship channel improved speckled trout catches, the increased salinities also led to broad areas of low oxygen along the lake’s south shore while poisoning wetlands and cypress swamps throughout the broad basin.

The Conservancy’s work has been aided by a program it helped create in 2000. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program was first authorized by the Lake Pontchartrain Restoration Act, authored by then Congressman David Vitter. Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, the program began making small-scale grants in 2002. Towns, parishes, advocacy groups, universities, and others capable of developing projects, science, and public education programs that improved the Pontchartrain Basin’s water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and increased public access to healthy water and fisheries were all eligible to receive funding.

A 1995 comprehensive management plan and subsequent 2006 comprehensive habitat management plan have guided the decision-making for projects receiving funding from the program.

Of course, much has changed since 1995 in the Pontchartrain Basin, which ranges from southern Mississippi across lakes Maurepas, Pontchartrain and Borgne as well as the cypress swamps and coastal marshes east of the Mississippi River all the way to its delta.

The saltwater intrusion from the MRGO has been slowed by closure structures on either end of the channel, while new connections between the Mississippi River and adjacent marshes have opened south of New Orleans bringing in additional sediment and freshwater.

TRCP has been working with the region’s best water quality, habitat restoration, and fisheries management scientists since early 2024 to develop a new management plan for the basin.

Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes and tropical storms exposed major weaknesses in storm protection levees and floodgates leading to more physical structures to protect communities. Growing communities between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and along Lake Pontchartrain’s Northshore have put pressure on sewage treatment facilities and aging septic systems and increased stormwater drainage. Also, invasive plants, fish, and snails have found their way into rivers, bayous and lakes across the region.

Recognizing the need to update the management plans and expand the restoration program, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy secured $53 million in 2021 to, in part, fund an update to the comprehensive management plan to reflect the changes in the Basin over the last 30 years. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has been working with the region’s best water quality, habitat restoration, and fisheries management scientists and experts since early 2024 to develop a new management plan. It’s set for completion in 2026 and will guide decisions to continue to develop the best projects, science, and community engagement needed to keep Lake Pontchartrain and adjacent waters healthy and productive into the future.

The success of Lake Pontchartrain’s restoration should be celebrated by all who live in South Louisiana and the entire region. The boats fishing the lake’s famous bridges or chasing birds diving on schools of white shrimp in the fall are a reminder of just how much progress has been made in the last 30-plus years. Hopefully, thanks to the hard work of a handful of elected officials, advocacy groups, and residents working to update the Pontchartrain Basin’s management plan, that progress will continue for the next 30 years and beyond.

(Note: This story originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Louisiana Sportsman.)

All images courtesy Chris Macaluso