Devin
Forum Replies Created
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“id see a little sheen on the surface of the water”
Yeah, the power trim is leaking. Or, at any rate, something is leaking.
It’s common, but not something to let go indefinitely.
Man, it being “cold” is no excuse. It’s not cold. Cold is when everything freezes indefinitely until spring. lol Cold is when you have to use engine block heaters or the oil pan freezes solid. That’s real cold.
On a side note, I think the relatively warm weather affects us southerners. It’s too easy to blow off something until tomorrow, whereas up north there is a definitive cutoff date: get that thing done before it’s covered in three feet of snow and frozen solid. lol
Think about it: how did so many Yankee bass anglers kick so much ass in the south, especially Louisiana? Their lakes are frozen over half the year. They can’t even fish! So one could say that, by southern standards, they have as much as half the fishing experience. So I wonder if the cold improves their ethic.
I mean, Kevin Van Dam (Michigan), Mike Iaconelli (New Jersey), Jacob Wheeler (Indiana) and more have absolutely dropped the hammer on Bassmaster win after Bassmaster win in southern waters. That says something.
Just saying!
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You guys are troopers. Way to stick it out and make it happen.
Above all, thank you for letting us know about it. A big shift in the fishing is about to happen. Great report and thank you for posting.
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Chas Champagne talks a lot about where to fish in his area with the coming weather in this recent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mn6OLV9aEk
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Also, The Pen in Chalmette will probably load up with redfish. Just a heads up.
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Excellent questions. The links below to LAFB have great graphics to illustrate my points, so be sure to check them out.
It’s gonna put the fish in a funk. Crabs and whatever shrimp are left in the marsh will burrow in the mud and basically hibernate. In Chesapeake Bay where it’s much colder this is what happens and crabbing is pretty much done. So they’re far more seasonal in that regard.
Trout will go into survival mode. They won’t be biting much if at all when the water temperature gets into the mid to low 40s, which is most likely what will happen. Remember, areas that are protected from that harsh NW wind will be warmer. The Great Wall of Chalmette is an excellent example. Speckled trout will definitely be taking a time out. If the water temps stay in that range of mid to low 40s you can pretty much count on them just not being catchable.
I’ve observed them on sonar being glued to the bottom and only confirmed they were there by snagging them with a jig.
So, it’s Plan Redfish, kinda like what I did in this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96r20IhUomA
You can see water temp on the south side of the Rock Dam was 47 degrees.
Redfish are just hardier and will continue to eat. You will see them get leeches and parasites on them, maybe even see some fin rot.
A fish kill is likely: https://www.lafishblog.com/what-caused-this-massive-fish-kill/
The majority of mullet and menhaden are gone for their own spawn to begin with, so that’s not really a factor.
The best places to fish will be the “bottom” of the stairs: https://www.lafishblog.com/redfish-jubilee/
“the last significant snowfall in the New Orleans area was 2008”
Where did you get that? The Northshore has definitely had snow in far more recent years. The last off the top of my head was 2018.
“Will baitfish get killed off?”
Any fish that can’t get somewhere safe will die.
“Are shrimp and crabs able to survive?”
They burrow in the mud.
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I haven’t been approached by anyone, but I also don’t bother with it because so many folks know who I am. That really changes what I can and cannot get away with. LOL
But I have heard of anglers getting kicked out of there before. I guess it is a pseudo sensitive site and sometimes I’ve seen them shipping expensive looking stuff through there. Given my background in working for The Man securing sites and personnel — if I were in charge of security there (and especially if I didn’t know jack about inshore anglers and especially given what just happened in NOLA) — I would 1,000% kick all of you out of there. Just one less headache.
With that said, what’s that saying? Better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission? lol
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Do you know what the other boats did different? Were they further south?
“Spent some time in the blue point canals for some deeper water”
How much deeper are those canals anyway? Doesn’t seem like they’d be ~10ft.
This last cold front definitely moved the fish around. We saw something similar that same day on the other side of the river. Very interesting.
Something we need to give ourselves a collective “pat on the back” for is the timely and detailed reporting we’ve been providing to this forum. What we are getting is better resolution on what the speckled trout are doing across a broader area. So it’s obvious that this last cold snap moved them around. Well, it’s about to happen again. I would approach the coming days with fresh eyes and not factor in previous reports from when it was warmer. This is when older reports from year’s past for the same conditions really come in to play.
LA Inshore on Facebook could be a good resource to that end.
“comparison is the thief of joy”
That it is. One of the things I hated about cleaning fish at the marina is seeing some dickhead come in with a slew of fish after I sucked all day. LOL Honestly, I was that guy more often than not. I think we all enjoy getting credit for good results, but I didn’t enjoy the extra attention (wHeRE diD u gO?) and learned not to do that to people. lol
The day I got a slip and could clean fish in peace was amazing. No more comparison.
Either way, thank you for posting a report. It’s helped and I appreciate that.
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“but after 3 hours it never did”
Man, I felt that. LOL You’re a beast. Way to stick it out.
It’s too bad, because further north it was *perfect*. No wind, no sun, just perfectly overcast. I’m sorry the rain was such a PITA in the ass for you, but I do think you were *this close* to an epic fishing trip. You are a machine for sticking it out as long as you did.
Tough fishing trip, but great report. Thank you for posting it.
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“a smallish white trout caught 20-ft. down with a chartreuse Sparkle Beetle on the drop shot rig, all by himself”
That’s brilliant! And, coincidentally, what I do. Just find a bunch of easy fish and let them have fun. It’s just a different fishing trip when kids come, and that’s just fine. No pressure.
I’ll also take my boys on long scouting trips, strictly to acclimate them to the environment and being on the water. They might poo-poo on it at first, but eventually love it. If it’s calm I’ll let them drive the boat in the lake.
Those spots you fished are gonna turn on even more with this cold front. The best days I’ve had in Geoghegan were the days water was freezing on the fishing line as it was reeled up.
Great report, thanks for posting!
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Yes, that’s definitely an opportunity!!!
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I wonder if the trout bailed into Bayou Dupont when it got cold, then came out and ate shallow when it warmed up. Perhaps they vacated the north end of The Pen.
I really don’t know, I wish I was in my boat when I fished Friday because then I could get a better idea as to what was going on deep.
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Ha ha ha ha ha!!! That had to have drove him bonkers. Nothing like a fish to prove you wrong. That hurts. lol
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“You were washing the boat and he was cleaning fish.”
I know my place. lol Yeah, that’s Ben. He bent my rod. lol I’ve known Ben since high school and we’ve fished together since we were kids.
Also, this post confirms my new reality: I must assume I am under observation at all times. I don’t recall a bay boat passing the dock. lol Gotta pull my head out of my ass.
“I think we should do this again sometime. Take an area we know holds fish, hit it from different angles, and compare notes.”
Yes, indeed.
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I think you can make do with either choice. Biloxi Marsh was doable when I fished there on the 30th, just lots of throwbacks and more boats than what I cared for.
Whatever you do, just make a planning post so I can help you on where to go and what to do. Wherever you’re going, I’ve probably been there before and can give pointers.
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Oh, and that feeling was correct. You picked out a lot of the same stuff I did. It was eerie seeing that. LOL You will see when that video goes live on February 10th.
