Devin
Forum Replies Created
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Speckled trout are certainly more popular, and I’ve reached that conclusion from personal experience fishing here forever, to making inshore content (and watching the trout content do much better) and even A/B split testing landing pages and signup forms: the trout always win.
But this has not affected how I wrote 101. IF101 does address redfish, but moreso trout because catching speckled trout is harder. This has to do with their biology: they become sexually mature by the time they’re as short as 9 inches in length.
Redfish don’t hit maturity until ~27 inches in length. So the sought-after slot is a big dummy compared to slot specks and they’re available in the marsh year round. You can pretty much catch them in the same pond year-round.
If you can figure out trout, then redfish are easy. There’s a reason they’re a backup fish to the speckled trout for accomplished charter captains.
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Okay, so reading your Overall Gameplan. Yeah, in theory that all works but I think what you’re missing is what is the primary forage? And that’s probably gonna put the fish somewhere that’s less reliant on moving water. I’m not discounting moving water. I’m just saying don’t worry if you fish somewhere and the water isn’t ripping. The potbelly minnows, bay anchovies, etc. don’t really need that flowing water like shrimp do during their fall/spring runs.
What was in those past reports? Grass. @cliffhall has posted something similar.
Boy, will the entirety of the LAFB Elite membership tell me they don’t read past reports without telling me they don’t read past reports? Why do I even pay for the extra PHP workers to run this forum? LOL Might as well delete it. LOL
Just kidding.
“Just trying to go through the full cycle of planning and reporting.”
Well, this post is a great example for others to model off of. Just be sure to add that #11 and drift with a cork.
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Some extra notes I thought of and pulled from those fishing reports:
You will want to drift. You will have virtually perfect conditions for it. When you do, you want to drift about 0.5mph to 0.8mph. Use a drift sock to slow down. Stick and pick with a shallow water anchor if you cannot drift.
From the fishing report where we caught 67 speckled trout:
“A few were caught on topwater, but all they really wanted was the cork.”
“The trout were feeding on some kind of small minnow. If you don’t see small minnows breaking the surface then you’re probably in the wrong spot.”
“I’d fish oyster reefs, shell banks and anywhere there were grass mats before the freeze killed off the grass. This is classic non-shrimp pattern.”
From when I caught a limit by 8am:
“I was drifting in about 2ft of water. It was shallow.”
“They wanted nothing to do with a topwater. I tried and tried and they wouldn’t even smack it.”
From when I caught 20 by myself:
“Once the sun came out at about 10am or so the bite quit.”
“Drifting worked best.”
This is the only trip I could make a topwater bite work and that was because it was hard overcast.
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Yesssss, a beautiful planning post!!
Yeah, this is where we want to be. Let’s take a look….
“Looks like the South half of Petain may be shallow.”
It can be but, uness the water is unusually low, you’ll be fine. There you have a soft bottom. Worst case scenario: “When in doubt, mash out.” I fished that whole area with stern-squatty bass boat and did fine. You won’t have any problems.
Also, I would not trust Navionics (now Garmin) Sonar Chart in the marsh. That’s a product really meant for bass fishing, where you have people who know they are contributing to a shared product with their sonar readings, and are actually using sonar a regular basis.
Inshore anglers in Louisiana rarely have their transducers mounted right, and I’ll leave it at that.
As for tackle, you will more likely than not catch the majority of your fish using a popping cork.
If you’re not sure, watch this video of me doing the same thing in the same area. IIRC, I tried a few different lures and it was just the cork that did the best.
It will be that kinda bite. You will more likely than not be wasting your time throwing a suspending bait, jerk bait or jig. A topwater could be good if it’s hard overcast.
A diving crankbait will 1,000% lawn dart the mud. I’ve tried everything from deep cranking 10XDs in deep passes to square bills in shallow ponds and all they really catch are non-trout. You’re welcome to find out any which you want to.
Anyway, I fished out that way for several trips last year….since you were so thoughtful to post an actual planning post, here are some reports from last year to the same area:
And add Spot #11 in this planning post to yours.
Are you not able to fish first thing in the morning? I think that’s gonna be your chance.
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Okay, so with that out of the way, if I were you I would look hard at fishing either tomorrow before the front hits or Wednesday after it’s warmed up. The tide tomorrow isn’t great, but it’s better Wednesday. The wind will be blowing Wednesday out of the SW. If I were you, I’d hit the Rock Dam, dedicate to both sides and work for specks and reds that ran there after the cold front. You’ll be protected.
I would not fish Irish Bayou on Wednesday like I recommended in another post because the wind would have been beating on it that entire time.
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“so this is my first attempt to gather info to the end”
Cool, let’s do it.
How is your kayak motorized? Electric, gas, dilithium crystals?
“I’m still a little mixed up on how cold fronts affect fish.”
Fortunately for you, I made this video detailing that exact thing.
Honestly, your post reminds me of a time I wasn’t prepared. I really wanted to go to the range to do a night shoot, but I wasn’t prepared with the correct targets, target stands, clamps/staples, lighting, etc.
So instead of going to the range and half-assing it (and not having a good time), I instead made the point to create a packing list of everything I would need. Now all that equipment resides in a range bag. As long as that range bag makes it into the truck, I will have everything I need to enjoy a good night shoot.
Failing to take the time to invest in that preparation would result in one half-assed experience after another.
If you don’t know how cold fronts affect the marsh and fish, then now is a good time to figure that out. That way you can make automatic adjustments based on new information, rather than suffering from not knowing what you don’t know.
That’s why I made the courses. It’s all in one spot. It has not ever before in inshore fishing history been easier to get up to speed on what took me a very long time to learn the hard way.
The Achilles Heel to all this is self-application. If the angler does not take time to get through 101 and the seasonal courses, then he cannot possibly expect to come to this forum and be on the same sheet of music as the ones who did.
It is work consuming the deep-content of LAFB Elite. But whatever amount of work that is, the reward will be worth it.
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“I was going to keep pushing through to the rocks until I noticed no one was fishing the top of the scoop from the gate leading into Bayou Villere (I think?), so I decided to give it a shot.”
Which is almost always where you want to be. Excellent work noticing that.
“trolling way to close to the rocks”
Do you mean conventional trolling as in dragging a lure behind the boat, or moving down the shoreline and jigging?
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Get Kenny Kreeger, Dudley Vandeborre, Glenn Sanchez and Daryl Carpenter.
Those are the old goats and BTDT’s who have been around and really know inshore fishing. They were navigating the marsh without a Standard Mapping card or spot lock trolling motor.
Those are the guys who just shrug when they boat flip a 20″ trout before kicking that trash fish back in the water.
Get those guys over any dipsh*t who lied on his CG-719S to get his big, whoopty-do OUPV before changing his Facebook name to “cAptaIn <insert first name>” and started guiding last year but would get lost if his Lowrance ever sh*t the bed.
Do that and I will blast my newsletter with the arrival of Louisiana Legends.
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“How much time do you have?”
LOL
“(I understand that things have become increasingly more difficult)”
Only by virtue of them having been shot/fished to near-extinction.
“I think of trout fishing as the bass fishing and red fishing as catfishing of the inshore world.”
That’s an interesting take I haven’t considered.
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“The next time I have that thought I’ll pause and go to the video catalog.”
That’s nice but, if you ask, chances are I will know the URL off the top of my head. Doesn’t hurt to ask. I’d rather people consume the content.
Good to go on the trolling motor. Good to hear.
“Is your suggestion of fishing Wednesday based on the “3 Day Rule” mentioned in the video?”
Yes, essentially. I do think Tuesday could be a good day to hit the Rock Dam, too. But Sunday and Monday you’re gonna get creamed on the north side of the Dam due to all the north wind.
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Some things I’ve got the hook up on, some things I find myself. Some things I keep close hold, some things I make entire courses on.
Lucky enough, I’m sharing what I find here with you guys. Or I could’ve kept it close hold.
Thank you.
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It sure does make bowling look a lot more appealing. At least in bowling you can see the pins. lol
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Please post a separate report so folks see it in the correct forum. Thank you.
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Yeah, I don’t frequent TD, Facebook or really any social website outside of this one. I’ve just found pages at TD via word searches.
Otherwise I have no idea what you’re talking about. lol
Good luck!
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“I’ve been a GED nerd”
Cool! Yeah, it’s not proprietary, secret GIS tech by any stretch of the imagination, but things do move slower (and arrive later) in Louisiana.
But use GED and Delacroix won’t be a problem. Of course, if there’s something you see that is screwy then know that we are GED nerds, too. Screenshot it, post it here and let us take a look at it. There isn’t much between Terre aux Beouf and the MS River I haven’t run (as well as many other talented anglers here).
“As that warm lagoon water drains out on a falling tide into those deeper bayous then those cold fish might want to seek it.”
Yeah, I get that. Classic anthropomorphization of something that’s not warm-blooded. I just haven’t seen evidence to lend toward that. It’s been my observation that fish prefer stable water over water that’s warmer. Which is detailed in this article.
And see the graphic attached below (from that article). Which area looks more stable for water temp over the month of December? That’s right: the River. Which area gave up more fish over that month of December? The River.
Otherwise, take a pet fish and throw him in water that’s 10 degrees warmer and watch him die. And, FWIW, the Shell Beach temperature was more or less analogous to that of Grand Isle. It usually trends the same.
Anyway, if you want to get serious about Delacroix, then the time is now to begin prepping for it. Good reports are already coming in and I’d get out there before the Flotilla does.
