Devin
Forum Replies Created
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An interesting juxtaposition between a place like Louisiana and Florida, is that in Florida things get paved over, developed, renovated, bought/sold, lived in/used, etc. but in Louisiana there’s a sense of decay. A sense of trying and failing. Nature is constantly hitting back and saying “not today”. lol
Everywhere else the old forts are museums, here they’re left to subside into the Gulf.
Honestly, I kinda like it. It’s not for the faint of heart, and it keeps the jet skis away. lol
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That final sentence before the Scope & Content Note slaps.
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What’s the word, did you run that route?
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“I must Institute veto power on my boat.”
Yeah man, especially when you put in the time studying, applying the process, honing judgment, etc. Have they done that? I’m guessing “no”.
I can be a giant a-hole about what happens and doesn’t happen (when I’m running the boat, of course). I’ve just seen too many people fk up a fishing trip, or worse. It is a two-edged sword: what if you’re wrong? But I can accept my failures. I’m way past that point. I’ll own it. I think you do, too.
At the end of the day it’s just three fishing trips under very tough conditions. The wind has to play nice if you’re gonna fish trout out there.
This is just three fishing trips in the longer and broader journey of inshore fishing. Just remember what you learned. Writing it down helps. Your future self ten years from now will thank you.
“12 fish over 3 launches in 3 days is depressing.”
But you did catch fish and safely navigate the area. That’s a win and better than nothing.
Now, not for the opportunity to let comparison to steal your joy, but what did the local guides do? That’s a litmus test I like to use to discern what I could have done differently.
For example, there were days in Breton Sound I just got my ass kicked but somehow Rory Rorison had the wherewithal to fish redfish in Biloxi Marsh. I have no idea why he did that, but I just kept a note of the conditions. Just looking at someone’s dock shot can reveal more information. Like, if that man has a pompano mixed in with his trout, then he 100% went deep into the Sound. If the redfish are very copper-gold colored, then he probably caught them in the marsh in more tannic water. Conversely, if the redfish are more silver colored, he probably caught them closer to open/saltier water.
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Great book. You’ll love it. It gives a broader sense and makes one realize that it’s all been done before, we’re all just newcomers.
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It’s also a safe assumption that map doesn’t detail every bayou, lagoon, pond, etc. and could possibly mislead to think there was more solid marsh/land than what there actually was.
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I really dig this kinda stuff because it goes hard. It shows very plainly that the only constant in Louisiana is change. It also how much humans have fkd it up, and continue to fk it up.
The MRGO should have never been dug. Same for the Houma Intracoastal Canal or whatever it’s called. Same for the other one at Lafitte.
Seasonal spillways should have been put into action from the start so a “new normal” never happened for people.
Oil and gas companies are good, but should have been held accountable for strip mining the marsh.
But to judge what happened in history through the lens of now is intellectually shortsighted, dishonest even.
Back then people saw the marsh as mostly a wasteland, and it was marked as such on maps. If they had a decent bay boat to get out there and see it, they’d probably change their mind.
Ty Hibbs really nails this whole thing with his “shifting baseline theory”. People just accept the new norm, or come into the new norm without have known the old one to have a frame of reference.
I’m all about RO20, but then I remember that sometimes (especially in Breton Sound before the Freshening) that was all we caught. Today 20″ specks are more rare than they’ve ever been, even prized by some anglers.
People catch a 24″ and sh*t their pants. lol
So, to study the history you have here (and more), then go to Baton Rouge to a WLF Commission Meeting and have some room-temperature IQ troglodyte tell me that “nothing is wrong, the fishing is as good as it’s ever been” makes me want to play in traffic.
Fifteen years ago, if all I caught was 15 trout, I would shoot myself. One time I caught 17 trout across the canal from BSM, in a friggin tropical storm. Not kidding. The fishing was literally that good. But back then I could not imagine going out in otherwise good conditions and only landing 17 trout.
Today people are stoked to get there.
We need to practice more conservation before the fishing ends up like that last line: Burrwood no longer exists.
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That was a great book.
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“3500 mile road trip”
You mad man, you DROVE that?!!
You better drive to Venice this fall. lol
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Yeah, I don’t really care about name brands, because name brands don’t care about me. lol I think they all make a good enough motor.
I can’t really make a good comparison between the Yamaha F70 on Gnartooth and the Mercury 150 4S on the Tracker because bigger motors tend to be more of a headache.
The Yamaha definitely has a better fit and finish, kind of like a Daniel Defense rifle versus a cheap AR-15. The Mercury 150 definitely seems like it had more boot-in-your-ass torque over the (believe it or not) the Yamaha 150 VMAX I had before. Granted, that was on a Pathfinder. Def seemed like it had more torque than the Suzuki 140 we ran at the swamp tour which was mounted on a 24ft wide flat boat.
The Mercury has certainly required more maintenance than any other motor I’ve ran.
I guess what it would boil down to is practical stuff like rigging, monitoring and maintenance. The Mercury is easy to do oil changes on. The Suzuki DF140 required removing a fkn panel. lol
Fortunately, this future boat will be trailered. That makes life a lot easier.
I have a lot of research to do in order to figure out what I don’t know what I don’t know in order to make the best decision possible. It’ll probably go hand in hand with whatever electronics package works best.
I’m not in a hurry at all. I already know everything I need to know and have 30+ terabytes of video/photo of just about everywhere on Louisiana’s coast doing just about everything related to inshore fishing. So I really don’t need a boat. And when I get into a good routine of making content, well that’s good. And that’s easier to do when I’m not out there running amok trying to scratch out a limit of fish.
Like, there’s a lot of content that needs to be cranked out. I’d rather be on top of that and have it scheduled out than know fish are at Martello Castle (or insert whatever spot).
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Yeah, not the same boat. But still interesting.
What is that location? Are you telling me there’s a sunk pogey boat there? Or a pogey boat was sighted there?
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My friend writes technical site surveys, advance reports and a lot more using Grok, ChatGPT, etc.
He said Grok is better.
I’ve used ChatGPT to research fishing ideas, but at the time it could not write an article like I can, not without tons of errors and inaccuracies. I still write all my own stuff. I probably always will, as I think the authenticity goes a long way.
With AI, we are entering a weird part of human history. I’d rather be permanently stuck in the 2000s. lol
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You’re welcome, good luck out there!
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Aw man, looks like y’all had a blast out there. Good stuff.
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Yeah, imagine walking into your backyard, dropping the boat down and rolling out. lol I miss having a slip. One day.
