Devin
Forum Replies Created
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“the facebook group decommissioning”
Which brought me great pleasure. Zuckerberg can kiss my ass.
“I particularly wanted to check out this darker water on the north shore of Lake P with theory being that it was river water rather than good, clean salt water.”
That dark water is from Bayou Bonfouca and the surrounding marsh. It comes out when the water gets low.
“5 minutes in – BOOM – 21″ slab trout – “it’s going to be a great day!” – successfully released and on the ReleaseOver20 board.”
Hell yes.
Good report! You’ve got giant balls fishing Lake P when she looks like that. My hat’s off to you. The fishing will only get better, and this weekend is looking pretty good.
Thanks for posting!
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Boat flip or die!
lol jk
The key is to use the fish’s momentum against him. When he runs toward the kayak, lift him out of the water and use that forward motion to help him land in your lap. Obviously in a boat like mine there’s a cockpit they can fall down into and that makes boat flipping a lot easier.
After that, I’d only flip the fish into the kayak if I was absolutely on them. But if I had been grinding for awhile and that was the only fish I had, then I’d take more care.
I’m also looking for how well he’s hooked. If he’s not hooked well at all, then I take it easy. If it’s obvious that he’s never coming off without my help, then I’m more adventurous.
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Thanks for uploading! Gave it a thumbs up.
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Good luck out there! Now is certainly a great time to catch a biggen. Water and motrin, your jigging hand will thank you. lol
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It looks like you’re using the Shell Beach forecast. Use Comfort Island and Bay Gardene since those are “outside” areas that more accurately reflect where you will be fishing. When you do, you’ll see that the wind is gonna be a tad bit bumpier. The tide timing is also different by about 5-6 hours. That’s a big deal.
After that, there’s a hazard (with more information about it linked here) that’s near Platform 2 and Oyster Reef 2.
After that, there’s no problem with fishing shallow water. If you think some place could be shallow, then come off plane further out and idle/trolling motor in and fish it anyway. I caught some nice trout yesterday in water that was as shallow as 18 inches. They are there. Stop throwing mud everywhere, slow down, be as stealthy as you reasonably can and fish them anyway. Your boat can do it.
Bring a cajun anchor or Danforth if you don’t have Power Poles. I don’t have a jackplate or Power Poles and I can make it happen. You can, too.
I think your plan is good and worth executing. If I were starting from scratch that’s what I would do to begin learning the area. That’s because the spots you picked out are protected from a SE wind and that’s what has been blowing this whole time and would have been blowing the whole time by the time you get in the water (if the prediction doesn’t change).
But it isn’t my first time fishing that area, so I’m actually going to recommend something a little different than what you’ve got planned.
** Plan 1 **
I think you should shoot straight out further than what you’ve got planned. If I were you, I’d be at the Long Rocks first thing in the morning and fish against the rocks with an 1/8oz jig and Matrix Shad in Ultraviolet. Then I’d fish off the rocks in the deeper stuff (~5-9ft) with a 1/4oz or 3/8oz jighead. Start somewhere further southeast and let the wind blow you down the length of the Long Rocks. I’d also try the end of the Long Rocks. There are three “ends”. Even consider fishing the middle of the break in the rocks.
Then I’d shoot to Raccoon Island and pop corks on the lee side of it. Then I’d scream to Platform 1 and fish that. I’d be on the trolling motor aggressively fishing around it with a 3/8oz jighead. Then I’d have the throttle punched through the dash to fish the Trash Rig in Bay Eloi. Then I’d go to the rig southeast of there and do the same thing. Jig both spots. If you have a helpful person with you, then that helpful person gets to throw a cork with a 40″ leader. Then I’d pop corks at Deadman Island. Beat them with a stick if they try anything else. It’s also that helpful person’s job not to fly out the boat. It’s a bass boat, it eithers idles or screams at top RPM. There is no inbetween.
Then I’d scream to Comfort Island.
I could also condense this trip to Long Rocks -> Trash Rig -> Comfort Island. I’d even consider doing that in reverse order because the Long Rocks is probably gonna have everyone and their mom there on a Saturday.
When you fish Comfort Island, know the shallow water on the west side usually does best. Cork it with a 40″ leader.
If it’s too bumpy because the weather man sucks at his job then go inside to the MRGO and fish those spots I picked out. Cork ’em. Or you can do what you picked out from Trout 1 to Trout 9. I think those could work but do not dilly dally. You are moving with a purpose.
You need to be mentally prepared to forget the Long Rocks in the event the river is splooging crap all over it. If you get there and see garbage water, LEAVE. Jump to Warp 9 to clearer water. I would not fish the rigs southeast of the Long Rocks (Five Wells and 32 Block) because they are most certainly covered in crap river water.
** Plan 2 **
Use this plan to guarantee calmer water and where water is definitely not gonna be threatened by river water or having been dirtied by that strong SE wind for days on end. Plus the wind is predicted to be calmer out this way. Bring bug spray.
I’d go straight to the rocks on the east side of Lake Borgne. Fish a topwater against the rocks for quality trout, have your helper fish a cork with a 24″ leader.
You will see there are coves in breaks in the rocks, definitely fish in those and fish the end of the rocks.
You will also see bright white shell banks on GED. Fish those.
Then you’ll see a rig off of Point aux Marchettes at 29° 59.034’N 89° 37.247’W IIRC. Fish that. It will be calm enough. Jig and drop shot that bad boy. Maybe a cork. Lots of snags there, be ready to break off.
Then consider fishing the reef balls at 30˚ 04.283’ -89˚ 35.107’. Due east of that is a big shell bank on Lake Borgne.
Magill Lagoon is Plan Redfish.
There you go. Good luck.
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I also like to see consistency leading up to the day of my trip. For example, if you look at my report from yesterday, I was feeling warm and fuzzy because the wind had consistently been blowing its ass off out of the southeast. If it had been cork-screwing from every direction, that wouldn’t have allowed for areas to be consistently protected and finding good water and fish would have been tougher to accomplish.
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Also, to be clear, I knew it wasn’t gonna be a quantity day. It was a “quality” day. Of course, that didn’t keep me from trying for 15 trout, but I’d take the toilet flushes and potential >20″ trout over a box of 13 inchers.
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“I’m thinking this is a mistake.”
It’s a giant mistake and good on you for having the self-awareness to recognize that. Most people go years without realizing it.
What Levi said is spot on, but FWIW (you know what I’m going to say) this topic is beat ad nauseam inside 101. Specifically in Mastering The Tide and Judging The Conditions.
There is not anything I can say here that will match the completeness and depth of those video lessons.
In a nutshell, the conditions preceding the day of your fishing trip can drastically change the water level so much that it will be radically different from what’s predicted. You want to account for that. The above lessons detail how.
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That’s a great day on the water. Maybe I’ll get out there this weekend.
Thanks for the report.
Yeah, I drove across the Twin Span this morning and saw it was slick calm, but had a dental appointment for 10:20am! So no fishing. Had to get tooth work done that I’ve been putting off for 20 years lol
How did the water look out there? I assume it was stained?
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I’ve got them, I just need to sign them and get them to Gus’s Tackle.
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I wasn’t warm and fuzzy with something that big, but after that trip I definitely am. That bait casts better, doesn’t somersault in the air, therefore tangles less and doesn’t fly out the water as easily when trout swipe at it. I also threw a Super Spook from the 1990s and it didn’t cast as well and tended to fly out the water when trout hit it. It’s a great lure, don’t get me wrong, but that SB 150 is better, I think. Where the SB fails is choppy water, it tends to plow rather ride the ripples. Otherwise, it casts a country mile.
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Racoon Island is at 29° 43.277’N 89° 26.106’W
It’s right next to the Long Rocks.
Trash Rig is at 29° 46.177’N 89° 22.701’W
It appears to be the northern-most rig you’ve got marked in Bay Eloi.
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Okay good to go. Let us know what you find and we can get this resolved, then this thread will be here for when the same thing happens to someone else.
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I’ve fished topwater and shallow spots suited for it in that area for years. This is part of my “long term success”. I’ve kept fishing reports to reference and have a good memory of what works, what doesn’t and when and where. I can apply that template to similar spots/conditions and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
No, that isn’t something you can get right this minute. It just comes with time and is part of the reward applying the process of LTS and seeing your fishing trips not as individual events but as being a journey in becoming a better, more experienced angler.
For example, in my Delacroix/Pointe a la Hache reports from last month and January they were hitting a cork better than anything else. I tried a topwater and they just weren’t having it. Yesterday was opposite. Even both areas set up the same, the fish just behaved different. Same thing for Dularge in December.
But sometimes applying the template elsewhere does work.
This is one reason I punch out to new-to-me areas, rather than fish my alma mater over and over (Hopedale).
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Experience.
