[Devin]

Man, if you posted this sooner I could have helped you do some GED homework.

Otherwise, I’m the only guy monitoring this thing at 9pm on Saturday. lol

Off the top of my head, I don’t recall any grass at Ship or Horn.

Given that Cat produces and Cat has grass….

Not saying trout can’t be at those islands, bc they certainly have in the past.

Also, there’s an AOC on the SE corner of Deer IIRC. Might wanna look at that.

And you can run TT between islands.

[Devin]

That’s a good “cajun slam” or whatever it’s called. I’m not sure. lol

I just want to find the fish down there.

This report is very encouraging, and I am sure those spots will load up with more fish in the coming weeks.

Great report, thanks for posting!

[Devin]

“this trip reinforced my belief that some of the best fishing in the Delta is over areas that were dry land within our lifetimes (especially if you’re an old guy like me)”

I’m only 40 and marvel at the amount of land I’ve seen wash away in the last 25 years. I can only imagine what you’ve seen. It is heart breaking.

But there’s still no place like Louisiana.

[Devin]

Man, that’s a giant +1 on #3.

It can be worse than the Trestles down there. But worth it!

I’ve been waiting to hear the reports of too many fish over 20″!!! So glad to hear that from you and have heard it from others down there as well.

Very good report, very classic Louisiana fishing.

The triple tail on the east side have been absolute monsters. They’re not the wimpy EBM TT. They’re real TT. They hit back. lol

“rocks in 8-10 ft. of water with current howling across it”

You tryin’ to give me a heart attack over here?! MUSIC to my ears!

I love that you went out. Yeah, the heat’s not bad on the water and it’s even cooler when you eventually find the fish.

Excellent report. Thank you for posting it!

I can’t wait to get back on the water!!! Go again so we can read another great report! lol

[Devin]

Venice has spoken.

[Devin]

Hey Ashley, welcome to the forum. Thank you for making this planning post.

The way these things work, the more detail you give the more input we can provide.

You’ve provided a good amount, and I appreciate that. I could give more feedback on routes with a .kml, but I’ll do my best with what you’ve provided.

So, let’s knock out triple tail first:

I have not targeted triple tail in Coco. I’ve targeted reds and specks, though.

If I were to look for triple tail, I would hit the bay side and gulf side of the islands.

You’re looking for anything intersecting the water’s surface. You will be burning an amount of gas running and looking for them, but it is fun and nice if it’s hot (cajun air conditioning).

For whatever reason, they really like floating next to stuff at the surface, like in the B-roll you see in this video.

Pilings, PVC poles, crab floats, etc.

When you see one, you will know it.

The thing is, I don’t know how many crab floats, PVC poles, etc. you have out there. There’s certainly a good deal of platforms, but you really can’t run those on plane. I wouldn’t.

As for trout, I think you’d be good hitting all the platforms in Terrebonne Bay like I did in this video and in this video.

I like those rock piles at Raccoon Island and always wanted to fish them, but haven’t had the chance to yet. That could be a little far to the west for you guys.

After that, I would not be cavalier running around the islands without solid safe routes. There’s a good deal of shoals out there and you can get in a bind in a hurry.

Your GED homework as per Advanced Inshore Navigation is your key.

IIRC, the Terrebonne Sheriff is your version of SeaTow out there. I could be wrong and you should check that.

Otherwise, if it were me starting from scratch (and it 100% would be as I have not been that way in a few years) I would absolutely fish the daylights out of those platforms.

The sunk rocks at Timbalier Island could be good, too. Just watch out for those shoals. I wouldn’t go out there without doing my GED homework.

Triple tail are going to be a commitment if you’re serious about finding/catching them.

So I would choose tripletail or redfish.

If you do go for redfish, I would identify major tidal highways for bulls and points with water moving around them to cork slots.

If you’re willing to commit to redfish and have a decent hand at sight fishing, I’d go into the marsh north of Lake Boudreaux, or the north shoreline of Boudreaux itself.

[Devin]

That is good to know. Totally enclosed is what I want. I HATE leaving a boat outside! Even if it’s under a cover.

I’d rather do the cover + enclosed. LOL

I’ll hit them up tomorrow.

Thank you!

[Devin]

I could not pin it down last night, guessing what make your boat was. Vexus! I’ve seen those boats but just couldn’t remember them.

Those are great aluminum boats. Real nice fit and finish. I’ve never ran one, just seen them and thought they were thoughtfully-designed boats.

I’m pretty good at figuring things out, learning new skills, but sometimes I know just enough to screw it up. LOL If I tried welding something it would look like hot garbage. LOL

I’d 1,000% take you up on your kind offer, thank you so much, but I need something that would allow me to remove graphs without tools and bring them inside, then remount them on the computer desk.

This way they’re not sitting on the desk, in the way, and are taken care of (instead of getting knocked over or whatever). Like what you see here.

If I were just fishing without all these other needs from Elite, I’d totally just use whatever to get the graphs mounted and save the $$$.

[Devin]

I had ram mounts on my Tracker and loved how I could get the graphs to wrap around the side.

I’d rather not use a dual mount in front of the steering wheel, I’d like them to be lower and to the side.

I will say that having them on the side sometimes exposed them to the dock when tying off. Not a deal breaker, just something to think about.

But I plan on swapping out between makes to learn them all better. Lowrance has been king just because it can take a .USR and show it in its entirety. I’ve about had it with HBPC. Such a PITA. My Garmin would take a .gpx then only show half the track. So annoying. lol

I also need to be able to pull the graphs off for security purposes, or just to bring inside to work on (loading/unloading and backing up GPS data). So not needing tools to that end is pretty much necessary.

So I aim to learn it, figure it out then report back here.

I really like the Geiger Tech because I can rotate the graphs inward as needed.

The Precision Sonar mount looks like I won’t have to buy new gimbals for graphs.

And there’s other decent looking ones out there, but the Beat Down Outdoors mount looks like the ticket!!!!

EXCELLENT recommendation! Thank you! I didn’t think I’d actually get anything from the Community, but you pulled through @timbofishn

Man, that thing looks great and functions great. It looks like it can do everything I need. Just need to get metal gimbals for each graph, but that’s doable. There’s always a bass-junky on Marketplace looking to offload his toys! lol

[Devin]

Nice boat! Is that an Avid?

[Devin]

It would work great if I planned on keeping the same graphs, but I will swap graphs out and need something adjustable. I should have mentioned that.

Also need to be able to remove graphs without tools.

[Devin]

Woah bud, I apologize, I didn’t mean any offense. We’re talking about apples, not oranges.

I’m not encouraging anyone to push their kid out of his/her comfort zone. Absolutely not.

We’re not sadists. lol

I was under the impression that what was implied is that we are referring to able-bodied adults. Grown men.

Believe me, we’re not dunking on anybody. Def peer-pressuring, I am guilty of that and fine with it. lol

Anything I’ve said or I’m about to say is not out of spite. It’s out of genuine empathy for everyone to experience the best magic Louisiana has to offer.

Because just about everyone I’ve got to get down there can confirm the hype is real. I know a couple guys had tough trips, those still happen. But the good has outweighed the bad.

Yeah, you should definitely get your kid on some fish. There’s tons of places closer to wherever you live that can fit that bill. Easy day!

You’ll easily post at least a few reports of whacking the daylights out of the trout with your son in the next 45-60 days, given your pedigree.

Now, as for PLH: well, maybe.

Look at my reports for PLH.

I’m not saying you can’t catch fish in PLH between Oak and MS rivers this fall/winter. I have. And I’ve caught limits of speckled trout just about everywhere else during that same time frame.

But if the river is low and stays out of the 40s, I don’t see why a fish would be anywhere else. Nothing beats the river in terms of habitat and forage during fall/winter. The majority of fish will be there. Hell, they’re already there.

Anytime I hit PLH was because it met the conditions.

Now what I’m overall saying in this thread is that the most epic fishing you’re going to find will be down the river in Venice. On a day I caught 15 trout by myself in Biloxi Marsh is the same day I would’ve caught 50-100+ trout or limits of multiple species.

Nobody showed me how to fish Venice. I did that all 100% myself from scratch.

And all of you have access to the exact same process/knowledge I used to figure the river/Venice out. Now, whether or not they actually use it is a completely different story. lol

And what I’m telling guys here is to apply that process now while they’re ahead of the power curve, rather than at the last minute and risk ripping off a lower unit. Consider how I know.

GED homework takes up time. Time a lot of folks say they don’t have. I realize that.

I’ll point something else out, too: the people who naysay the extra 30 mins to 1 hour (or two lol) of driving (depending on where you’re coming from) have not posted pictures like the ones I did above.

And where I come from, you can’t talk a hard game unless you can back it up. So I make sure to hold myself to that standard.

And I have, so when I talk about Venice (or anywhere), it isn’t from anything other than personal TOW at that exact spot and a genuine desire for everyone here to have fishing trips just like the great ones I’ve been on (while preventing the bad ones).

[Devin]

Sound about right. The reports coming out of there have been unreal.

[Devin]

I’m curious to know how an Xplore takes a GPS file. Does it take a straight .GPX off an SD card, or is there some proprietary PITA process like using Humminbird PC?

I stopped a Bass Pro to ask the “pros” there and they had no idea what HBPC or a GPX was. lol

So annoying. lol

[Devin]

On a serious note, I don’t think Breton Sound is a bad idea, or the islands. There’s def fish out there.

You have a minute before the fish really transition inside, but some have made their way inside already.

But let’s consult my crystal ball:

What I’ve seen happen in this forum and the FB group that existed before it this: a few of us will really hammer the daylights out of the fish in Venice. Trout, bass, redfish, flounder, triple tail, you name it.

And Lake Pontchartrain, Biloxi Marsh, Dularge, etc. won’t compare. Nowhere else will.

Most of the usual haunts of The Greater NOLA Flotilla will become Throwback City, people will complain the MRGO/Wall doesn’t produce (like the Saltening hasn’t been happening for the last six years), yada yada yada.

Meanwhile those few who make the drive to Venice will hammer the tits off the fish.

And that would be because we put in our time to get those safe routes and spots.

Navigating down there is trickier than Bayou Bienvenue. That’s why I would take a day or two to sit on GED, use this forum, make routes, put them on your GPS and then run them without any fishing pressure.

That’s not the most fun thing to do, but when you’re hammering the fish next month, October, November, December and January (pending the river and freezing temps) it would have been worth it.

I’d rather nag all of you now than be asked “Why didn’t you say anything?!” when we’re posting dock shot thirst traps all fall/winter.