[cliffhall]

Upping bait size does not always mean bigger fish. I have caught a lot of bigger fish on Mirrodines and I have buddies who primarily target bigger trout who do well on smaller jerkbaits.

To me, the biggest factor in catching big trout on purpose is going where they are. I’m not familiar with vermillion bay but on the east side of the river I’m generally looking for things that hold what big fish like: fin fish. Grassy flats and rocks can hold fin fish and big trout from November to April.

Water temperature is something I look for as well. I’m not as concerned about what the temps are as much as what the temp trend is. 55 degree water temps are not the same when it was 45 or 65 days before. Look for warming trends or for when cooler temps have held for a few days.

I would also be looking for grass flats 3-5ft that are near deep water refuges during the colder months. Seems like a cold front will consolidate fish in deeper water and they will be looking for the nearest flat or structure with bait as temps warm up.

Finally, learn how to throw topwater. I catch most of my 20”+ fish on topwater (might be skewed because I throw topwater every chance I get). Seems like many people think the magic number is 63 degrees to find fish willing to feed on top but I’ve occasionally gotten them to bite in water temps slightly lower than that. I generally do well in late winter/early spring on overcast days and windy days. It helps if there are pogies and mullet in the area.

This is all for the east side of the river so you may have to extrapolate or even move to different areas if vermillion bay doesn’t hold big fish anymore.

[cliffhall]

Good thoughts and well done. I’ve been harping over preventative maintenance all summer and last night I discovered my fuel/water separator housing was a corroded mess. Doing the deep dive now on replacing it with a stainless option.

While we are at it, does anyone know if a get the 3/8” housing option can I get an adapter to run a 5/16” hose on one side?

[cliffhall]

Welcome! What part of Brazil are you from?

[cliffhall]

Completely anecdotal but I’ve gotten the sense the angling population is aging out. Also, like Devin said, this is not a hobby for fair weather fans. You need resilience to know the thing you love is almost entirely influenced by factors out of your control.

It’s even worse in duck hunting right now. It’s fallen off so bad that what’s left is people who just love the sport or young kids who are so far removed from the good ole days that they don’t even know shooting 3 ring necks is a poor hunt. It’s the shifting baseline theory that Ty Hibbs proposed and Devin talks about.

The good news with fishing is that less pressure should produce better fishing and then better fishing will likely create a resurgence of people wanting to give fishing try.

[cliffhall]

Pellegrini Marine is who my buddies used. My boats wiring is relatively simple so I haven’t had to use them but I know that the owner is a good dude.

https://pellegrinimarine.com/pages/contact

[cliffhall]

I wanted to see if you guys who use this function have any updates on this? I just saw where the garmin in-reach mini 2 came on sale along with some other satellite communication devices. I was wondering if it would be best to grab one of those or see how the Iphone’s satellite capabilities play out.

[cliffhall]

I’ll do a little Google earth scouting when I get home and let you know what I think. Again, I have zero experience with Vermillion bay but sometimes new eyes can offer a helpful perspective. That or give you a decent excuse if it turns into a bad trip lol

[cliffhall]

My thoughts as well. I just think of a place like bievenue 7-8 years ago and how old the average angler must have been. There would be what seemed like 100,000 boats out there and I think most of those guys have to be in assisted living by now.

[cliffhall]

I have some with your name on them for when we hit bievenue this fall. Get that hand healed up (glad you are doing better) and we will get on them soon enough.

[cliffhall]

“But what I’ve found is what we knew all along: just find biting fish in the first place. If jigging Matrix Shad isn’t catching fish at The Trestles then putting on a fancy Japanese soft plastic probably isn’t going to unlock a bite. The fish probably aren’t there, is what more often than not turns out the be the case.”

This is absolutely the reality of our fishery. We have so much area to cover compared to the bays in Texas or heavily pressured bass lakes around the world. At the end of the day, if you find a school of fired up fish it really doesn’t matter what you throw. I guess my hopes are that I can pull out a better class of wary fish on heavily pressured spots like HWY 11 or the MRGO rocks. I think you can break down bites into two categories: feeding fish and reaction bites. Jay Watkins, a Texas trout legend, says to think of big trout like cats, sometimes they will instinctively swipe at something passing by whether they are hungry or not. When looking for bigger fish you can afford the time it takes to look for that type of bite.

At the same time, this represents a massive contradiction in my head because I’ve slowly reduced the overall amount of tackle I bring out over the years. I’d rather be really good at a few things then half-assed at many. After the first few jig bites of the fall I usually switch to the handful tried and true baits (topwater and jerk/twitch baits) that I have confidence in and I enjoy catching them on even if that means fewer bites overall.

[cliffhall]

If I’m 100% honest, I could probably fit the lures I use 95% of the time in one Plano 3600 tackle tray. Give me a spook jr, One Knocker, handful of jerk/twitch baits, and 3/8-1/2oz jig heads with matrix ultraviolet and I’m good to go.

I only become a tackle nerd when I can’t/dont get on the water and need something to think about lol.

[cliffhall]

What are your thoughts on using the iPhone for communicating with the wife/asking for weather updates and getting a PLB (ACR Reslink 400) for emergencies.

[cliffhall]

I remember when someone on the LA Sportsman fishing forums asked about other online forums and they said “some marine fella made a pretty good website” or something like that. I have a lot of respect for Devin’s resilience and ability to outlast pretty much everything else out there.

[cliffhall]

The amount of things I’ve put in my tacklewarehouse cart is starting to become alarming. I’m almost to the point that some Japanese fellas on YouTube (god those guys know how to fish) have convinced me to throw 12” swim baits for trout. If you see a retard in bievenue this winter throwing double rigged A-rigs you’ll know who it is and I’ll be blaming it on this long summer hiatus.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by  cliffhall.

[cliffhall]

+1 on the importance of keeping filets dry. Cold and dry are probably the two most important things when it comes to taking care of fish/fish filets. Ideally you’d throw the fish on shaved ice right away but ice/water works well too.