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Running from I-10 to Pass Road in Biloxi is Popps Ferry Road. The centerpiece of this road for anglers is the Popps Ferry Bridge. Bisecting Mullet Lake and Big Lake off Biloxi’s Back Bay the waters are a home to healthful populations of both saltwater and freshwater fish. Location and directions Take Exit 44 (Cedar Lake Road) off Interstate 10 and head south. The second red light intersects with Popps Ferry Road. A turn to the west along Popps Ferry Road brings you to the foot of the bridge sharing the same name. The last road before the water, Causeway Road, will take you under the bridge and to the public pier and boat ramp. Warnings and notes The 3900-foot long Popps Ferry Bridge is an indispensable link in the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW). Its 25-foot drawbridge span opens no less than ten times per day to concede recreational and mercantile traffic to pass through the waterway. With numerous pushboats moving multiple barges lashed together, these leviathans take a high degree of caution and a wary eye. In 2009, a towing vessel with eight barges struck the bridge and collapsed a 150-foot section into the water below. What to bring The waters of the Popps Ferry area including Mullet Lake, Big Lake and Back Bay lay closely completely in the brackish water among Interstate 10 and Highway 90. According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, a saltwater license is required south of U. S. Highway 90 and a freshwater or saltwater license is valid amongst I-10 and U. S. Highway 90. This means that the area may be fished with either license. Saltwater licenses are not valid north of I-10. Any person (65) or older, or any person other than as supposed or expected exempted from obtaining a freshwater fishing license, ought to have documentation with him/her at all times and effective July 1, 2010, residents 65 years of age or older are required to buy a lifetime recreational saltwater fishing license. Louisiana residents ought to nevertheless buy both the Freshwater and Saltwater license to fish in the marine waters of Mississippi. Typical fishing The old pylons of the fishing pier are good spots for flounder. Slow trolling natural baits such as shrimp along the bottom work well for these flat fish. Good sized black drum come in close to eat crabs and logically those baits, rigged decently fetch success there. The mouths of the tidal streams entering the lakes are preferent emplacements for juvenile redfish (Red Drum) up to twenty inches. Night fishing with a good moon for the duration of the summer months may popular a good amount of white trout. Because the area is brackish water, a good number of freshwater fish are oftentimes to be found in the area including brim and bass. Big stripers (Atlantic Striped Bass) haunt the reed banks running baitfish and are often times a outstanding catch. Fishing close to the bridge brings nice flounder, in particular when fishing under the lights at night. Hints and tricks of the locals Clint Shows of Ellisville and his fishing buddies standard the Popps Ferry area whenever they have downtime. Fishing from a 21′ semi-v put in at the launch there, Clint is proud of his bestloved spot. Shows affiliated when asked if he has had any luck this spring so far that: “Yeah, we’ve got a good deal of gorgeous nice ones. We always get big reds among the VA and just the other side of the Popps Ferry Bridge.” When asked what they are having luck with he advised, “We were using spinner baits like redfish magic. Root beer-colored cocahoe minnows seem to work as well as just when it comes to any glitter or chartreuse tail. Flukes (a bass lure) are good too.” Clint and company prefer open-faced baitcast reels including Cabela’s Prodigy. Bass pro shop Pro Qualifier and Daiwa Magazine Force V’s on Berkley Cherrywood graphite rods. The whole boat confesses to use Spider Braid 20lb test. “No need for a leader.” Clint explained with a smile. His buddy, Brad Hill, holds up a nice 17-pound striper caught on a DOA shrimp lure for example. James Randall of Biloxi, a local resident who fishes from the bank with a medium sized spinning reel likes to use split shot weights and 1/0 hooks to grab the always-present Sheepshead, white trout and the occasional croaker. He confesses that the croakers are just for cut-bait on larger hooks for redfish. Besides his spinning reel, Randall uses Zebco 33 closed-faced reels strung with 10-pound test. After a day of fishing, James lines up a good collection of flounder and trout down the tailgate of his truck and smiles. “It’s always good fishing down here off this bridge” |
