cliffhall
Forum Replies Created
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Jig heads – 1/2 and 3/8oz will work. I go heavier with more tide and/or wind. You absolutely HAVE to focus on getting your lure to the bottom out there
I’m of the opinion that color doesn’t matter most of the time. At the very least, I think it’s one of the last variables you should consider. I throw ultraviolet probably 99% of the time.
Having said that, the bass world generally breaks down color by 3 different conditions:
Dirty water – something that will stick out like dark colors or white.
Clean water overcast – something realistic.
Clean water with sun – something with some shine on it or a bit reflective.
Id recommend you go get some ultraviolet for clean water and avacado/green hornet for dirtier water while focusing more on the presentation and accurate caster.
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Had a buddy fish grass flats up the MRGO this week and only catch 3. The MRGO has turned into a ghost town. I’ve been getting my ass handed to me outside of one half decent trip so you are not alone.
I think I’ll set my sights on Lake Borgne or Hopedale to at least get my ass handed to me in a new area in.
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It’s been a really long time since I fished skippy but I’ve caught fish on the timeline marked by the pin in the first pic before.
The second pic is a grass flat where our duck blind is. It’s should deep enough to mess around with on high tide. Worth a look for bass or trout.
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Do some research on what type of brake system your reel has and then start with more brakes and more tension on your spool tension knob. I can only speak to Lews reels but they are pretty easy to adjust.
By over tightening everything you won’t be able to cast far but you will limit birds nest. Loosen things up as you feel more confident.
Larger diameter braid like #30 or even #40 will make it easier to fix birds nest and the line won’t bite down on itself as much so I’d start with that. You can move to lighter lines and mono then fluro as you get better.
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Fluro on spinning is known to birdsnest. You can get away with it with the higher quality Fluoro or trying some line conditioners but, in general, it’s probably best on a bait caster.
I’m constantly trying different braids but keep coming back to 10lb suffix 832 with a 20lb fluro or mono leader depending on what baits I’m throwing.
Also, to add, many people are struggling right now to get on consistent bites. There’s a reason all the Facebook groups are most devoid of box shots right now. Rest assured that people will let you know if they are catching fish. If you learn a little from every trip then every trip is a success relative to the bigger picture of becoming a better angler.
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This reply was modified 3 days, 5 hours ago by
cliffhall.
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This reply was modified 3 days, 5 hours ago by
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No doubt a good day given the conditions. You definitely made the most of it. The best part of that trip is you have some good intel to go off of when conditions set themselves up to make a good trip. You found bait which a big part of the battle out there. Now go wait for these W winds to calm down for a few days and make sure you are out there for overcast days with SE winds and big incoming tides. Rest assured there are some big ones out there right now who are about to need to fatten up before the spawn.
You mentioned spot 11 but I did not see it on your original post. Was that around Amedee? I totally understand if that is something you want to keep close to the vest.
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How much time do you have?
Lots of trout nerds on here who could probably write a novel on the subject. I’ll speak to my experience of transitioning to only being interested in trout.
To me, catching redfish was too easy, at least in the time period that I started fishing (I understand that things have become increasingly more difficult). It seems like you used to be able to find a redfish in every clear pond with grass in SE Louisiana. I can remember catching limits of redfish as bycatch when targeting trout. I feel like they are rather simple creatures as well. Redfish are like a really fun game of checkers.
On the other hand, I’ve said figuring out trout patterns are like playing chess n a blender inside of a tornado. There are patterns and rules to the game but be prepared to adjust year to year and trip to trip. For instance, the patterns that have worked so consistently for me in the Bayou B area for years have completely changed this year. Last couple of years they were more consistently on the rocks and this year they’ve been on the grass flats. They are also unusually picky eaters. I’ve had a buddy who never fished jerkbaits in his life outfish me before doing the most wonky retrieve you can imagine while I stuck to the patterns that consistently worked in the past. They often times just do what they want and each day is a new puzzle to figure out.
I also feel like the diverse environments you can catch them in makes things fun. You can go from catching them on jigging bridges in Lake P in October/november to jerkbaiting rocks in the MRGO in December/January to topwater in hopedale in February/March to jigging deep croaker holes in Delacroix in April, back to jigging monsters on the bridges in May, to wading the beaches in grand isle in June. You get to try different presentations while seeing different views throughout the year.
There’s also something that sticks out to me about people who get obsessed with trout (Trout nerds). Theo Von might call it “a touch of the tism” but there’s something about trout that feels so fun for people who get obsessed about patterns and techniques. My fly fishing buddies will probably disagree but I think of trout fishing as the bass fishing and red fishing as catfishing of the inshore world. There’s nothing inherently good or bad about either species but trout are a really fun creature to pursue if you want to get completely keyed into something that you can never fully figure out.
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This reply was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by cliffhall.
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This reply was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by
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My buddy fished some flats off of the MRGO yesterday and only caught 3. He was doing really well in January and into mid February. He’s a good fisherman so that tells you something about that area
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Yepp, great time of year to fish the afternoons. I’d be launching as the water was coming in
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One thing I’ve learned from perusing bass fishing forums is there are countless ways to skin the cat. There is no perfect science when it comes to any of this stuff. I get so geeked out sometimes picking a reel/rod combination for a precise presentation before realizing there are tradeoffs for everything.
I’d recommend using braid for learning as well, for the reasons mentioned above, but I’m sure there’s an argument for why learning on mono would be helpful (maybe easier to pick out birds nest even though birds nesting is more likely?)
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It’s honestly wild. The comparison game in the fishing world is entirely unreasonable. If not for being compelled to do stuff with conservation then I’d probably turn into a ghost.
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Skippy is the lake between Point Fienne and Oak River. It’s part of my duck lease and I can tell you there was a TON of grass over there in the fall
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👍<div>Charlie Thomason had that as one of his big trout spots from back in the day. I love all of that stuff from pips to amedee. I used to do well on the ponds off of Catilano but it’s been awhile since I consistently fished it. </div>
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Texas rigged craws are the goat. I’ve also caught a lot of reds fishing weedless spoons on grass edges. Can cover a lot of area with that and throw it in some thick stuff.
Aquadream spoons were always my go-to
