[Devin]

Is your graph powered by a lithium battery, too?

Is that battery putting out 13 volts with the outboard off?

Either way, getting 13 volts at the bow is some pretty impressive electrical work.

But, it is a Ranger 😉

[Devin]

Cliff Hall has spoken.

17 is GREAT given what I saw out there, especially starting from scratch.

Excellent work.

Get your boat squared away. The fishing is only gonna get better.

“Come winter it seems like the rocks do well in years the MRGO doesn’t have as much grass so keep that tidbit in your back pocket.”

I agree with this 100%.

But I made that same observation at the height of the Freshening.

I bet that the MRGO rocks/Wall won’t be as good as years past, and that all the trout out in the Sound right now are gonna move into/around the River.

I’m probably gonna keep it close to home until all the kinks are worked out in the boat (it’s 11 years old, it needs work) so I am thinking the usual spots, Trestles, Hwy 11, Seabrook, grass beds, etc. until I’m 100% that boat is not going to fk me at the end of the River. lol

Great report, thanks for posting!

[Devin]

Also, very good planning/execution.

That spot is a great one for neap tide days.

The tide wasn’t totally neaped out but, if it were me, I would not have taken any chances and gone straight there.

When I used to guide, it was always a race to the ends of the Long Rocks to fish where water moves first.

You did that and it paid off for you. Sounds like a great day on the water.

Awesome report, thank you for posting!

[Devin]

Yeah, that’s pretty much the same thing I saw out there.

And based off a friend’s Breton Sound report, it sounds like the main mass of nice speckled trout are still on the outside.

Which is fine, because there’s a lot of maintenance to do on my boat, lots of work to do for LAFB Elite.

I see air temps in the high 70s coming later this month.

[Devin]

Yeah, you see that across Louisiana’s coast in the saltier marshes.

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen it in person, but certainly have seen it on GED over the years.

I don’t have a good explanation for you, and have wondered the same thing.

All I can think of is that you’re seeing shallower water that got dirtier and is draining into deeper water.

Other than that, I have no idea. lol

[Devin]

Also, I had a friend go deep into Breton Sound and smash a 2-man limit of nice trout for 7:50am. No throwbacks.

Also got another report of trout limits on the outside.

Virtually all the trout I caught inside yesterday were males.

So, until we get cooling weather, I think the majority of the trout are still outside.

[Devin]

“I rarely fish the matrix on 1/8th or 1/16th jigheads as I feel the tails don’t move.”

Well, a paddle tail isn’t going to kick much on the fall with a 1/16th oz jighead.

But a quality Matrix absolutely does.

And that’s the rub: I’ve heard that some Matrix shad are made at one factory and others are made at another.

I’ve been told that one is Chinese, and that one tends to be tougher/stiffer, and the other is American, which is softer and has more action.

I only fish the “American” Matrix, and I’ve ordered those straight from Chas or found them at Gus’s. I’m sure they’re at Chag’s, too.

Anyway, the benchmark for me for a good paddle tail is kicking on the fall with an 1/8oz jighead.

If not, they tend to spin, get tangled and introduce line twist.

[Devin]

No, you did the right thing.

The rest of us learned the hard way. LOL

[Devin]

Where at in the MRGO? By the Long Rocks?

Thank you. The Intracoastal Comanche is the boat I’ve always wanted.

I figured I had time to invest in one until Ranger discontinued them, so hopped in one before they all got too old.

No one boat does it all. No single boat is “the best”. But for the style of fishing I do and the goals I have, it meets those perfectly.

The boat was really well-kept. It’s in good condition, but it’s still 11 years old and needs some work before it can fish at 100%.

[Devin]

I should keep it off of YouTube for as long as possible.

Being incognito on the water is amazing. I can just fish like a normal human being. lol

[Devin]

I like that.

Actually, now that I think about it, I have some 3700 trays with bass lures in them that I am 1,000% never going to use.

Those soft plastics are going in an Amazon cardboard box (and clearly marked as such) then being re-purposed for corks, HDS and whatever else I am actually going to use.

Thank you for the inspiration.

[Devin]

Hop in the Ranger this fall at the Trestles. Braid vs monofilament. Let’s settle this. lol

[Devin]

I’m also kind of perturbed that it was that easy to spot me. lol

Maybe I should keep the Ranger out of b-roll for upcoming YouTube videos. lol

[Devin]

It’s a 45 gallon tank.

The Evinrude engine monitor is broken (getting a new one on the way) so I cannot read gallons per hour, but it seemed that running 38mph gave me the best.

Running balls out obviously drinks gas. lol

50mph didn’t seem to be so bad on fuel consumption, but I’m not taking any chances when punching way out into Timbuktu. LOL

But after doing the math on distance traveled and fuel consumed, it came out to about 4 miles per gallon.

In the beginning and at the end of the trip I was running it pretty hard.

[Devin]

This is why I put such an emphasis on posting reports. Having a strong community of like-minded anglers is so important.

Without diving into detail, Facebook more or less killed the Internet forum, and I hated that.

So we have the Community now.

With quality reports, you can get a much better feel for what’s going on out there.