: Photo by Ron Sinfelt

At the time of this writing, there were still lots of question marks regarding the issue of accessing parts of Lake Borgne after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area.

The fishing doesn't seem to have been affected at all, at least not in the short term. And anglers wanting to score on summer reds can find plenty of opportunities.

Lake Borgne offers a variety of ways for anglers to fill their redfish fixation -- in the lake itself, and also in surrounding marshes and channels.

A word of caution, however, to anglers who want to run the lake as they did before the hurricane: Katrina deposited quite a bit of debris throughout the New Orleans area, so be careful when navigating the lake.

This is especially true for those not familiar with the system. Make sure and err on the side of caution. Time spent slowly running the lake is worth the price of a new motor.

As far as the fishing goes, let's start with the main body of the lake first. During mid-day "slick-offs" when the water gets as flat as a mirror, reds will school heavily on Lake Borgne.

Watch for the obvious splashing of feeding action and also sitting birds. If the reds have their prey corralled below them, the birds will sit on top and nab any of the escapees. Many angler pass by sitting gulls, but they are likely passing lots of fish.

"Sitting gulls are one of the real red flags that I pay attention to during the summer when targeting schooling reds," said longtime angler Kriss Stephens of Slidell.

"They are a key indicator at Lake Borgne, especially during the latter part of summer going into fall."

Look for the area on the main lake about a mile in front of some of the big cuts on the eastern shoreline on strong outgoing tides.

Stephens said that when the bait is coming out with full force in spots like Bayou St. Malo and Padre Bayou, you can often find the reds feeding on top, just out of the main line of tidal influence. They're easy to find this way, but not so easy to approach. (Continued)

These reds are notoriously spooky, inspiring many anglers who seek them to carpet their boats so as not to make any unnecessary sounds. Feeding reds are sometimes not as easily spooked as solitary ones, but they can be. The best advice is to approach slowly with a trolling motor. Stay within easy casting distance, but get no closer. Close boats can give them lockjaw.

When the tide slows down, look for reds to be bunched up around small to medium-sized schools of baitfish, attacking the remnants of its purge.

Lipless crankbaits like the Rat-L-Trap are good to throw into these, as are soft plastics that drop slowly, like a Wedge Tail or ChatterTube. These baits allow you to cover lots of water and are proven redfish-getters.

Another good choice is a DOA Shrimp fished on the bottom and crawled at a snail's pace. Reds like to hit the bait as soon as it hits the water. But if they don't, be patient and fish slowly for best results.