Devin
Forum Replies Created
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“In years past bigger trout were being caught in Vermillion Bay.”
Well, in all fairness, they were caught everywhere in years past. The Freshening saw to the end of that.
If I were you, I’d look at where/how they did that in the past then look to replicate that now since the river has been behaving herself.
“My plan is to fish the docks this fall for the bigger ones.”
Where did you get this idea? Has that been done before? I think you should do it, but will probably discover there’s not much there. I could see some redfish, croaker and sheepshead coming out of there, but I don’t see it really being a game changer. Those docks are also exposed wide open to a northwest wind. Doesn’t seem like a good place for fish to hide from wave action after a cold front. Maybe I’m wrong, so go fish it anyway and learn.
Where I would look are those oyster reefs south of Marsh Island starting now. When it gets really cold I’d look at Shark Bayou, anywhere protected from a NW wind.
This will be a meticulous, unrewarding, kick-in-your-balls grind. You’re looking for a rare class of fish in a place not known to give them up more regularly than others (Lake Pontchartrain, Grand Isle and Venice, for example).
“The regular size matrix shad obviously doesn’t cut it because that is about all I fish and rarely catch anything over 20″”
They will 1,000% bite that 3″ bait. You’re just not on them. Find them then try playing with baits.
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lol what are you doing
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“play around with my Tohatsu’s RPMs”
That’s always fun!
“I’d imagine it kicks off in the next couple of weeks.”
We are danger close. It just felt cooler this morning on my run. Cool enough that I put a hoodie on. lol
“That’s a great sign for winter.”
Yeah, Ida killed off a lot of grass, and this last freeze didn’t help. Grass = great fishing. I wish more folks understood that.
“Still, I was incredibly happy to see shrimp flying out of the water everywhere.”
That is a very good sign. Something just moved in my pants.
“I did not whack the fish or burn all of the gas in my tank but this trip got me really really excited. It looks like things are coming together to give us a great fall (knocks on wood).”
That’s what I’m hoping for. Last fall was kinda lackluster until the water temp finally dropped in late November. IIRC, the water temp was 78 well into November!
Great report, thanks for posting.
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It seems like the redfish action could be picking up. To break down and “accidentally” come across that many is pretty epic. Maybe we all need less throttle and more casting.
Great report, and thanks for posting!
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Huge +1 on this post. Abso-friggin-lutely. I think February and August are the two times of year you want to be doing maintenance, GED scouting, etc.
Knock it out then before fall kicks in and it’s balls to the wall.
I’m telling you now, there’s gonna be folks seeing all the great reports in Venice or wherever and they’ll be too busy fixing their trailer or whatever.
Daniel Giglio has spoken.
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Thank you so much. I’m fighting for air over here. lol
Also, if it’s not in your profile, what boat you’re rolling out in. That really helps.
Furthermore, what tackle you want to fish with. If you plan on fishing The Jump and all you have are 1/4 oz jigheads, then that’s really good to know. What will you have tied the day of your trip? Knowing that would’ve saved more than a couple folks an unproductive trip.
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“Came up with a theory that the trout have started to make their way back in from their spawn and that they had to stop at Comfort Island on their way back in.”
There’s probably a few further inside than that, but I would still expect to be catching them on the outside, which (IMO) Comfort Island qualifies as. It’s a great choice this time of year, in general.
“to my surprise there was already someone there! They had to have spent the night there or something, lol.”
There’s always that one guy pulling a rabbit out of the hat. He probably just ran in the dark ahead of you, or maybe he fell out of the sky. Who knows lol
“Hauled booty to upwind of the bird and the shrimp were flying out of the water and trout were following. It was awesome!”
YASSSS!! What kind of shrimp? Whites, I’m assuming.
“After we caught our limit we decided to beat the heat and head in to clean the fish.”
Excellent decision. Just get home and get a head start on cleaning everything up.
So, FWIW, that area can turn on with shrimp this time of year. Look around Point Lydia for diving birds.
Comfort Island can be a winner, but everyone and their mom knows about it.
And don’t apologize for posting “late”. It’s a great report and useful for future reference. Thank you for posting it!
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After that, I’m not sure if fishing the river itself is productive for redfish right now. I just don’t know.
If it were me, I’d get closer to the Gulf and fish saltier water for trout and reds, places like South Pass, Joseph Bayou, East Bay and the mouth of the river itself at Southwest Pass, all tricky places to navigate to if you haven’t done your homework.
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Well, there’s this monitoring location in Belle Chasse that measures turbidity (how clear water is) in a unit called FNU and it’s been offline. Knowing what value to look for is easy, because all you have to do is compare historical data (satellite imagery and river level vs FNU). Typically, you want to see FNU in the single digits or teens. When the river is dirty you will see FNU at 20-100+.
Just bookmark that site for future use.
I really wished you posted this earlier instead of the night before, because it’s 9:30am right now and you’re gonna be hitting the water in a few hours. With the information you provided (I don’t even know where you’re launching from), all I can say is “stay away from Lery down to Grand” because there’s an algae bloom.” The bottom of Spanish looks good. I’d try that. Otherwise I’d run toward the outside and fish tidelines at major points.
If you gave me more information I could give you more feedback. Otherwise, last minute trips without much planning is asking for a bad day on the water, especially if by “Pointe a la Hache” you mean “launching from Beshel’s and fishing the surrounding area. Lots of silted in land to ruin your day around there. Bay Long, Uhlan Bay, Grand Bayou, and much more. Anywhere in the outfall of the river is a hazard, which is basically the whole area. If you posted which routes you want to take then that sure would be handy.
“I’ve never done any inshore fishing around Venice.”
Even more so around Venice. Yeah, it’s potential to be productive is unmatched, but there are tons of hazards around there. Did you see those routes I shared in this post? Are you up to speed on those USACE canals with all the rocks?
There’s so much that can go right and even more that can go wrong down there, and failing to plan is planning to fail. I cannot emphasize that enough. I know it’s extra work, but having a great trip is the extra reward. This is not bowling.
So, based off what you’ve given me I can tell you this: idle everywhere you go. Go slow. Have a float plan. Make sure someone back on dry land knows where you going, when you’ll be back and what to do if you don’t arrive on time (call the Coast Guard). I’d also have SeaTow handy. Radio, satellite communicator is good, too.
I’d chalk up tomorrow to a “learning trip”. You’re gonna learn your safe routes the most manual way possible: by going slow and getting those GPS tracks.
In fact, if it were me, I would forget fishing Pointe a la Hache and make my plan for Venice to ensure a safe and productive trip. The more planning you do, the more fishing you can do and the more you’ll learn things the easy way.
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+1 on the topwater
and throw a BIG topwater
another reason topwater can do well is not because it’s topwater, but because it can get over the top of grass in those grassy ponds, and not get hung up or drag grass on the hooks.
This video is a good example of that
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“I’ve spoken to some of the older guys who fished during the heyday and many of the stories of big trout came from docks in the area.”
Ahhhh, that makes sense now. Okay, well give it a try. Beat it up!
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ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
If this is some kinda FB group drama, then I missed out on that LOL
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+1 on this
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I know of Cody Obiol, he’s really good at running the river, PLH and Buras areas.
I really like that setup. Rory Rorison has something similar. I think that’s peak bay boat setup for running coastal Louisiana.
