[Devin]

I think your plan works, but I may have mentioned it elsewhere: last year on 4/15 I caught the hell out of the trout under birds on the south end of Barataria Bay, over by Independence Reef IIRC.

I’m going to Port Fourchon on Sunday, so we’ll see how the outside performs against the inside.

With Josh’s recent report catching them in The Pen, who knows?

[Devin]

Guys, thank you so much.

This kind of feedback/support/camaraderie is what I love to see. It is priceless. Surely you can understand why I am trying to foster this here.

Thank you for being part of the solution and operating at a higher tier.

[Devin]

Is your ghost rated for 36v? You were running a 36v trolling motor on 24v?

If so, that thing is gonna pull a wake!

[Devin]

Okay, very good insight and great point about the EPIRB: it works without a subscription. I swear, tech has made it easier to take a payment on everything and paying for every little thing has gotten super annoying.

Yeah, I need to get an EPIRB and call that a day.

Now, the Garmin InReach serves as an SOS (not sure how well that works, if it’s comparable to EPIRB or not), satellite communicator and tracker. The communicator works best with the Garmin Messenger App. FWIW, the Android version uses GMS (Google Mobile Services) and some people don’t enjoy that or run exotic OS’s that are de-Googled and can’t run an app with GMS. That probably doesn’t apply to anyone here, but it is something to consider if that’s what you’re into. You’ll have to carry a secondary phone. Maybe just glue-gun the InReach to the mobile device’s case.

Anyway, there’s a unique, password protected webpage that select friends and family use to see where I’m at and track my progress, especially when at the furthest reaches of the marsh. And they can text me to see what’s up.

Actually, WAIT A SECOND, on SECOND THOUGHT I’m not putting AIS in my boat because then the rest of Louisiana can see where my ass is at. Like on this public-facing website where you can look up where someone has ever been with their AIS. Ain’t no way. lol

No sir, not doing that. No fkn way. lol That’s getting turned off or going in a Faraday bag and I’ll just have to remember to pull it out when I’m drowning. LOL

Ha ha ha ha ha! Still gonna invest in an EPIRB though.

Now, as for Starlink, I already priced it for Slidell area and I got $150/month, which is kinda pricey for Internet. I currently pay $83/month for Spectrum and my firewall is reporting 482.34 down and 11.41 up, right now. Not bad, but of course I’m not using all of that.

I don’t use streaming services, just about everything most people need Internet for in their house is hardened against Internet loss in mine (i.e. DVDs over streaming services). The point here is that I’m not using that bandwidth.

I could write off Starlink, however, that’s not a problem. Anything to keep the IRS’s greedy fingers off my money.

But I didn’t get the big home dish, I got the portable Mini. I had to buy the hardware, which was $545.16. The 50GB plan I’m on is $50/month and it can be paused. So I can shelve the hardware, pause the subscription and it won’t cost me a dime. When a hurricane hits, I can break it out and have Internet and communicate with the outside world.

Of course, it’d be a great way to stay in touch when camping at Pass a Loutre WMA in Venice, for example. Do you want same day fishing reports from Venice? lol If I bring my laptop I could probably edit videos in-camp and get them out while I’m down there. Like, this could be big for LAFB.

Thanks for the heads up on the EPIRB

[Devin]

Thanks for the research. I’ll look at it.

As for the Mini, I guess I really only need to turn it on when I need it, or when in camp. I think it’ll be a learning process.

[Devin]

I got a tour once. It was great. I really hope those folks can pull it off. They’ve already done so much and are doing a lot now, but I don’t know if it will be enough.

[Devin]

ha ha ha ha ha ha

I’ll take a @WestbankJosh bobble head for whenever I fish Lafitte.

[Devin]

That’s the idea: Belle Pass, Timbalier Rocks and Fourchon Barges. It will probably happen somewhere in there.

[Devin]

And that’s a wrap folks! lol *knocks on wood*

I may still scout out routes in Venice, but the water over there is so garbage right now. lol That and the fog is gonna be insane. So maybe just Port Fourchon. Straight shot and I’ve already got routes for everything.

[Devin]

Not to brag, but that is a mind fck I deal with: if someone says they caught a few somewhere (but not many) I fall prey to thinking “well, I can get in there and catch a lot more”. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. The deciding factor is figuring out how they were fishing. If their tackle looks do-do and they unwittingly indicate they weren’t getting good presentations, then that’s a wrap: I’m going in.

[Devin]

Shhhhhh……

[Devin]

I guess I could just find a battery with those specs and call it a day. Maybe find one that works with a solar panel to give it extra juice while I’m out fishing.

Perhaps what I need to do is come up with a standard or parameter to shoot for. I guess three days is a good goal. Three days of beating the snot out of Venice and hammering it hard. I think I can do that.

[Devin]

You will want to have something with an SOS feature. If you your boat flips over and all your stuff goes in the drink, then how are you going to get a distress call out? The radio is still good for that, and so is the InReach. An EPIRB probably even better. That’s worth researching: InReach vs EPIRB. What’s gonna send the cavalry when you flip your boat at SouthWest Pass and you’re drifting into the Gulf of America?

I don’t know anything about Starlink cell coverage.

I do know that I got the Starlink Mini yesterday and had it fired up and surfing YouTube in under five minutes. It is mind-boggling how simple and easy this thing is. It just works. It makes Spectrum look stupid. Thank you Elon for making something so sleek and good. Thank you.

Powering it on the water would be an issue. It runs on 12-48DC and needs 60 watts. I’m not sure I’d be comfortable running that on the house battery. There is a company called Star Batt that sells a self contained battery box that protects and deploys the Mini.

Find it here: https://star-batt.com/product/star-batt-mini-battery/

But that’s a cool $1,600 and that’s pricey even for someone like me who can write off such an expense (this is my looking at you, IRS….stop sending my money overseas and FIX THE FKN ROADS!!!) lol

So I’m sure there’s another solution I can come up with, or maybe I can build something. I like the idea of something that’s protected against the elements.

For now, I can tell you that this piece of equipment is a winner. It just works flawlessly. Now I just need to solve the power issue.

[Devin]

It can do both. Wow.

Man, I love good tech. Enjoy that badass trolling motor and battery.

[Devin]

This right here!