Devin
Forum Replies Created
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Good planning according to the conditions. I see spots that are picked out based on the strong SE wind and you are trying to fish out of it as much as you can, and get the wind to your back.
Glory hallelujah.
With that said, I bet the aforementioned “rip” is going to lay along the tidal highway from Spots 1 to 10. That’s just been my experience over the years. If water looks cleaner on those northern shorelines and your picked out spots don’t produce, fish them.
“Spots are near where I might find the rip and in the lee. The wind might force me to sneak from spot 5 to 13 and skip everything on the SE portion of the loop – if that’s the case then I might have more time to make more observations and stops between spots on the return leg to oak river.”
Bang. Agreed.
As for the drift sock, you probably won’t need it. Just fish your spots like normal. If the wind aligns, drift across the fishing spot. The fish will tell you. If you pick up one, cast back out and get another then you can probably power pole or spot lock and whack ’em. If not, and you keep drifting and catch another further down, then you should be drifting.
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Look for diving birds in Pointe Fienne and Four Horse. Those should be turning on with shrimp very soon, but should only be happening at first daylight and/or during a falling tide (which you won’t have).
Still worth a look, especially in Fienne. Drift that bad boy and watch your graph.
Don’t be surprised to see a last squirt of white shrimp. But they could be browns. If you do see them, tell us which one they are!! That’s good info.
After that, I think you’re crazy for not looking further south. Hit points/tidelines along that north shoreline in Wreck and Third Bay.
I know that area hurt your feelings awhile back, but this time you’re approaching it from the north. Get in there.
The guy who does this for a living and recently crushed the daylights out of the trout is telling you where to go. Consider that.
I fished spot #5 and didn’t catch anything. Also fished a little further north on that shoreline and didn’t catch anything, though that is historically a good spring spot for trout and reds. It can be good during the fall, too! So keep that in your back pocket.
I’ve never done well in Adema, but I know folks who have. So it’s good to have it there in your plan.
The wind is gonna suck ass. Bring the biggest drift sock you can find to slow your drift down, or be ready to stick and pick with a shallow water anchor. Maybe stretch out if you plan on using a Cajun anchor lol
Otherwise, good luck! I think you’ve got this!
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I’d also like to add that now I have found where fish are and what they are doing, I am very confident that I would find more in less time. This fishing trip I knew that it would be a long, relentless grind. But I also knew that once I figured them out I could find more.
Alas, I am boatless, so that is up to you guys. Y’all can do it. Make me proud.
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Now, when you say “bait” what do you mean?
Rafting mullet?
Are you seeing little menhaden exploding on the surface?
What constitutes “bait”?
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“we consistently caught trout on top with blue bird skies”
These fish blow my mind. They never cease to flabbergast me. Who knows? Maybe those fish were bred in a test tube to only hit topwater. lol
“Swap out your topwater hooks with really good hooks. I finally did that and I genuinely believed that helped the hook up ratio, at least today.”
Absolutely. Mustad Triple Grips for me, but there are a lot of great options out there.
Man, all I can say is that you’re the man. What an epic report. Every trout caught on topwater is worth 15 under a cork.
Excellent report, thank you for letting us know that they are indeed out there and chewing!!!
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“Maybe a crab trap?”
Who knows. lol There’s all kind of trash down there. Probably an old piling from the original structure is what got you.
As for the leader knot…..well, I recommend fishing with a baitcaster and spooling the whole thing with 15lb mono. It just fishes better. This whole leader thing is just unnecessary. You’re relying on too many weak points, figuratively and literally. That and I just would not dream of fishing the Trestles with spinning tackle and braid no more than I would bring a .22 on a duck hunt.
Over the years I’ve seen people wanting a different answer, but I cannot possibly recommend anything different to people when the way I do it (and Chas, and Kreeger, and Dudley, etc.) have been doing it for years to catch who knows how many speckled trout.
That grass flat between the bridges is also worth your time if the bridges aren’t producing. That shoreline on Lake P south of Irish Bayou is also worth drifting/corking.
Otherwise the bridges can be tough. The south and north end can be good. I really like the south end of Hwy 11, but so does the rest of the Greater New Orleans area. Fish can be spread out right now, and if the pressure gets to be too much on the bridges, they will leave.
It’s also early for the bridges. They’ll probably turn on more, but so will the fishing pressure.
On the bright side, you sure as hell haven’t been getting skunked. You are on the path.
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“it was dirty from the river water.”
And find that rip and fish just north of it. Get just outside of it in water that’s barely green and that will get you a lot closer to getting on the fish.
“My plan was to ride, explore”
Hell yeah!
Do you use sidescan sonar at all? That helps with noticing bait that drifts by.
Great report, thanks for posting!
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Okay, now I’ve got time for this.
Well, now that I’ve been on the water and seen what’s out there, I can say that the fishing is definitely challenging. There’s a lot of water the fish can be in right now, and they’re only gonna be in the best place for them to chill and feed. With a low river in March (which is nuts) they can be pretty much anywhere, to include the river itself.
I will tell you that I fished that exact area and stomped the fish. You were *this close*.
You are looking for a needle in a haystack. The fish are there but you gotta cover water.
After what I saw yesterday, I have little faith in anything north of Oak River. I do think Reggio is worth looking at, however. It historically turns on with spring. Tanasia, Ameda, Amedee, Petain, etc. could turn on in the next week or two.
Even if they do, they will be covered in boats. PLH won’t be. I didn’t see a single boat down by the River yesterday. So I’d develop that area if I were you.
Navigation down there is challenging. I am absolutely stumped that three members got stuck down there. I thought about it and I wonder if you guys are treating that area like anywhere else on Louisiana’s coast not influenced by the River.
You cannot cut corners on bayous in areas affected by siltation. It’s a hard/harder bottom and it fills in. You’ve got to stay dead-nuts in the channel. That marsh is not soft and forgiving like the Biloxi Marsh (or Coco, Lafitte, any marsh not affected by the River). Otherwise I’ve ran that exact body of water and have not had an issue doing it.
Getting stuck down there is part of the game, but you can certainly minimize it. I didn’t get stuck yesterday. Didn’t run aground or come close at all.
Anyway, I’d look hard at fishing tidelines along that main tidal highway stretching from Wreck to Third to Battleground Bay. If the river doesn’t come up too high then you can probably follow those fish from there to American Bay to Black Bay.
All I did was throw a cork. No technical skill required. When you’re anchored, watch your graph for the shadows of bait and fish swimming by. If you see that, you’re warm. If you don’t, you’re cold. The attached pics are from when I was catching.
A final note, I’m sure you saw the gators in PLH. I’m sure you’re strapped and won’t let an enterprising one get your doggo. It’s warming up and the monster lizards are out.
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I’d like to add that I saw ~20 boats north of Oak River and just south of it but saw zero near the River.
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That’s why I use MEGA Imaging. I can see the outline of the fish a lot better. Sometimes hyacinth does float past in the beam, but it’s an obvious blob. Fish have tails.
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Thank you! Yeah, I’m feeling better now. Just gotta take it easy then I’ll start running and hitting the gym again. When I lay off my supplements and gym time is when I start falling apart. lol
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Definitely use it.
Otherwise the spot I crushed the fish at looked the same on the surface as the 20+ spots that didn’t give up a single one. But underwater they looked totally different.
The fish are under water.
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Just don’t be surprised if they’re in the dirty stuff. Not straight thick chocolate milk, but like a lightly stained brown color that sits just outside of the slightly stained green.
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Okay, that makes sense. Totally agree. Glad to see congruency here. Thanks for clarifying. I saw some of the little bait in Tanasia but not much. Looked like a ker-plunk raindrop of little silver shards. Saw little bait flicking in PLH, too.
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I passed out in PLH after trout #39. The Red Bull and dip drove the boat up the Pencil Canal.
It’ll be up to you guys to go find that outside bite.
