[cliffhall]

Well done. You boys ( @Geremy ) have me wanting to learn the Delacroix/PALH area for trout next year

[cliffhall]

I saw you made the sweetwater’s hall of fame. Well done! I’m not mentally strong enough to fish without a trolling motor so good on you for making the most of it

[cliffhall]

My buddy ran into a 23”

One 19” and the rest were around 15”

I feel pretty confident you could run into a big fish in there but the guys I was with weren’t interested in that type of grind. We drifted a couple areas and I have almost zero confidence drift fishing there but it wasn’t my boat.

Water wasn’t bad. Definitely some silt but you could see almost 4-5ft down. It seemed to be cleaner the farther north we went

[cliffhall]

What would you say your “home base” is as far as fishing goes? You seem to hop around a lot like me lol

In other news, I fished the Chandys on Saturday with very little to show for it. I think we caught 6 trout total on two separate wades. Like you guys, we mostly just rode around making tracks for my buddy because it was his first time in his new boat. Thought you may be interested to hear they haven’t quite turned on yet out there.

[cliffhall]

About half way through and I’m loving this one. Already changing the way I think about a couple of things.

• This reply was modified 4 months ago by  cliffhall.

[cliffhall]

Excellent job at messing with different patterns until you figured them out. There’s something so satisfying about that grind paying off.

[cliffhall]

@timbofishn @WestbankJosh

Thank you guys and everyone else who commented. Josh, that’s some really good information.

It appears as if the leak is coming from the cap at the top of the helm. Thankfully, Uflex has a seal kit for this exact part. I’m going to start with that and see how things go from there. I’ll keep you guys updated incase anyone else ever runs into this issue.

[cliffhall]

Thank you for the kind words. I owe a lot to this community. Devin’s work creates a great foundation for you to build on and refine with time on the water. The people in here are just the type of folks you want to build your fishing network out of as well.

[cliffhall]

Yeah, f that.

It’s a uflex hydraulic system. My boat doesn’t go too fast but I still don’t want a problem to turn into a catastrophe.

I’m gonna try to rig up a new helm myself but I may also reach out to those guys to see what it would cost to professionally get it done for some peace of mind.

[cliffhall]

Thank you for your thorough response. It talked to a guy at UFLEX this morning and they said they also recommended that I tighten the fittings and any screws that go into the helm. They said they would send me a new helm if necessary.

[cliffhall]

My buddy actually did with no luck. I try to have a topwater system but I usually end up throwing the one knocker or skitter walk if it’s windy or I’m fishing the surf.

I’ve been using the 6th sense wake bait but some old timer in Delacroix gave me an old h20 one to try so I’ll report back on that.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by  cliffhall.

[cliffhall]

Friday was only epic in terms of how much gas I burned lol. Saturday evening definitely made up for it, though.

Holler at me next time! I love meeting all the people on here.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by  cliffhall.

[cliffhall]

It’s just the trout gods repaying me for the cruel and unusual punishment they put me through in February.

[cliffhall]

Jumping mullet (the right size) and what I think were mehaden. Little maybe 2-3” bait fish that would just flicker a couple inches out the water. I’m sure the mullet helps but whatever that flickering bait fish seems to be the ticket for hopedale/delacroix.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  cliffhall.

[cliffhall]

Way to grind them out and smash them at the same time. Your catch was impressive but running through 15 9mg nic pouches just launched my respect for you to heights I didnt know existed. You are the David Goggins of nicotine.

In other news, I have some sneaky suspicion that some of the outside Delacroix stuff could produce some big trout this year

😏