keithl
Forum Replies Created
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Great video. Those were some nice trout!
Thanks!
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<div>Great report and intel on different lures/techniques to try in areas. Learning an area through the different seasons of the year is the key to long term success IMHO.</div>
Thanks Devin!
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This is by far the best I’ve seen and having someone like yourself and the values you personify with the group and your forum are second to none. We’re thanking you for creating it! I’m still waiting for those signed books to hit the site!
Tight lines to you!
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Thank you again! I’m looking forward to the weekend!
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Hi Devin, This is wealth of knowledge and I truly appreciate you taking the time to help someone new to the area. At this point I was getting very frustrated but it was from a lack of applying ALL of the elements I studied in IF101. It all plays together as you try to impress upon students of the trout. I’m going to work this plan whichever one the weather brings about. I labeled a couple questions below to be sure I understand where I’m going like I don’t know where the trash rig or raccoon island? The others I have on GED. I have a great corker with me so she’ll love this.
“I typed in Raccoon Island but it brought me to the west?”
“I don’t know where the trash rig is?”
it looks like you’re using the Shell Beach forecast. Use Comfort Island and Bay Gardene since those are “outside” areas that more accurately reflect where you will be fishing. When you do, you’ll see that the wind is gonna be a tad bit bumpier. The tide timing is also different by about 5-6 hours. That’s a big deal.
“10-4 on the correct forecast to use, I wasn’t sure.”
After that, there’s a hazard (with more information about it linked here) that’s near Platform 2 and Oyster Reef 2. ” Got it Marked now.”
After that, there’s no problem with fishing shallow water. If you think some place could be shallow, then come off plane further out and idle/trolling motor in and fish it anyway. I caught some nice trout yesterday in water that was as shallow as 18 inches. They are there. Stop throwing mud everywhere, slow down, be as stealthy as you reasonably can and fish them anyway. Your boat can do it.
“Okay, got it”
Bring a cajun anchor or Danforth if you don’t have Power Poles. I don’t have a jackplate or Power Poles and I can make it happen. You can, too. “10-4”
I think your plan is good and worth executing. If I were starting from scratch that’s what I would do to begin learning the area. That’s because the spots you picked out are protected from a SE wind and that’s what has been blowing this whole time and would have been blowing the whole time by the time you get in the water (if the prediction doesn’t change). “We’ll see it’s early in the week, lol”
But it isn’t my first time fishing that area, so I’m actually going to recommend something a little different than what you’ve got planned.
** Plan 1 **
I think you should shoot straight out further than what you’ve got planned. If I were you, I’d be at the Long Rocks first thing in the morning and fish against the rocks with an 1/8oz jig and Matrix Shad in Ultraviolet. Then I’d fish off the rocks in the deeper stuff (~5-9ft) with a 1/4oz or 3/8oz jighead. Start somewhere further southeast and let the wind blow you down the length of the Long Rocks. I’d also try the end of the Long Rocks. There are three “ends”. Even consider fishing the middle of the break in the rocks.
Then I’d shoot to Raccoon Island and pop corks on the lee side of it. Then I’d scream to Platform 1 and fish that. I’d be on the trolling motor aggressively fishing around it with a 3/8oz jighead. Then I’d have the throttle punched through the dash to fish the Trash Rig in Bay Eloi. Then I’d go to the rig southeast of there and do the same thing. Jig both spots. If you have a helpful person with you, then that helpful person gets to throw a cork with a 40″ leader. Then I’d pop corks at Deadman Island. Beat them with a stick if they try anything else. It’s also that helpful person’s job not to fly out the boat. It’s a bass boat, it eithers idles or screams at top RPM. There is no inbetween.
“I typed in Raccoon Island but it brought me to the west?”
“I don’t know where the trash rig is?”
Then I’d scream to Comfort Island. “Got it.”
I could also condense this trip to Long Rocks -> Trash Rig -> Comfort Island. I’d even consider doing that in reverse order because the Long Rocks is probably gonna have everyone and their mom there on a Saturday.
“I like the reverse idea. I’m not much on taking a number and fish.”
When you fish Comfort Island, know the shallow water on the west side usually does best. Cork it with a 40″ leader. “My wife/fishing partner is a corker and she’ll love this!”
If it’s too bumpy because the weather man sucks at his job then go inside to the MRGO and fish those spots I picked out. Cork ’em. Or you can do what you picked out from Trout 1 to Trout 9. I think those could work but do not dilly dally. You are moving with a purpose.” Yes I am. I’m on a mission now! I’ve struck out enough. IT’S ON FISH!
You need to be mentally prepared to forget the Long Rocks in the event the river is splooging crap all over it. If you get there and see garbage water, LEAVE. Jump to Warp 9 to clearer water. I would not fish the rigs southeast of the Long Rocks (Five Wells and 32 Block) because they are most certainly covered in crap river water.
** Plan 2 ** We’ll make a judgement call the day before to see if we can get a better feeling of the weather. I’m excited to fish either one!
Use this plan to guarantee calmer water and where water is definitely not gonna be threatened by river water or having been dirtied by that strong SE wind for days on end. Plus the wind is predicted to be calmer out this way. Bring bug spray. “Have three different kinds on the boat, lol” I hate biting bugs”
I’d go straight to the rocks on the east side of Lake Borgne. Fish a topwater against the rocks for quality trout, have your helper fish a cork with a 24″ leader. “This sounds awesome!”
You will see there are coves in breaks in the rocks, definitely fish in those and fish the end of the rocks.
” 10-4″
You will also see bright white shell banks on GED. Fish those.
Then you’ll see a rig off of Point aux Marchettes at 29° 59.034’N 89° 37.247’W IIRC. Fish that. It will be calm enough. Jig and drop shot that bad boy. Maybe a cork. Lots of snags there, be ready to break off.
Then consider fishing the reef balls at 30˚ 04.283’ -89˚ 35.107’. Due east of that is a big shell bank on Lake Borgne. “Got it”
Magill Lagoon is Plan Redfish. Got it.
There you go. Good luck. You’re top notch!
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You may be right they’ve had a month to grow. I think the weather is going to be good especially forecasting overcast. I’m looking forward to trying this area and I’ll continue south. I’m hoping for some good water since I’ve had no problem finding dirty water lol! We’re going to give it a shot
Thanks!
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Hey Devin,
Yes, I did do my homework and thought I had a pretty good plan but obviously I failed the test. I looked at the winds in Wind finder and I saw 10-15 gust to 20 which I didn’t think was all that bad…WRONG!
Okay, so you really did do your homework, here’s how I would categorize your spot:
Category #1: I would rather fight Mike Tyson than fish these spots:
“When I got to this area the wind really wasn’t blowing that bad maybe 5-10, so I decided to try these but as I got further into the pond it became really shallow really quick. I know logically with a south wind and rising tide there should have been enough to float my boat. It’s a 20 foot aluminum bass boat so its draft is shallow.”
Fish 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 13, 14, 11, 24 and 18.
Mike Tyson will mercifully knock me out much faster than the brutal ass whipping I would take over a period of hours fishing those spots. No and hell no.
Category #2: these spots are either “doable” or protected from the wind:
Fish 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, Structure, and 23.
“The water in the pond was less than a foot deep so I couldn’t get to these spots that’s why I said the water must have been falling out of the pond, maybe from the winds I don’t know.”
Your route getting there is the worst one you could have possibly picked. I am assuming the yellow route is how you’d arrive, then you’d boat from there. “Yes.” That whole way you are facing into that brutal 20 knot wind. I’m going to make another reply to your post showing what I would’ve done, routes, spots and all.
“As I was reading some of your articles you have one in there that shows two possible routes and the one I took was before finding this video. If I had known I would not have taken the one I took. When I got to the white poles in Lagoon Brady I went to the right luckily there was a boat right behind me and he went to the left around 50mph and the whole way through the route to the MRGO. Dude knew this route and he was in about a 26 foot CC. He never slowed down.”
“but the water was blowing out”
What do you mean when you say that? There’s no way the tide was falling yesterday while you were out there. It was definitely ripping in with the rising tide combined with the 20 knot SE wind.
“When I got to this area the wind really wasn’t blowing that bad maybe 5-10, so I decided to try these but as I got further into the pond it became really shallow really quick. I know logically with a south wind and rising tide there should have been enough to float my boat. It’s a 20 foot aluminum bass boat so its draft is shallow.”
“…and fish a few spots on the way back to the pass…”
What pass?
“Pass LA Loutre’. Sorry.”
There were shrimp jumping everywhere and baitfish popping birds diving the area looked perfect but no trout.” There were shrimp popping in the MRGO near the first set of spots.
WHAT PASS?!?!?!?! Arggghhhh lol jk but seriously
I’m assuming you mean the mouth of Bayou Pisana. That sounds really good. Whatever it is you’ve got going on there, be ready to fish it again and downstream of it as the brown shrimp make their way out of the marsh. FWIW, I’ve fished there a bunch over the years and never really found trout stacked up their. That could change. I could tell you more about this spot you found if I knew where it was. Email me if you need to.
“I don’t know where Bayou Pisana is and when I searched GED it shows on the west side of the MRGO.”
“since every time I plan a trip the spots look great on GED”
Doing that kind of planning is good, but the icing on the cake is sharing that plan here. If you did then every other swinging dick in this forum would’ve looked at that plan and said “hell no”. Your last post was something about launching from Bayou Lacombe, not a word about the south side of the Rock Dam.
No two different trips. Lacombe is in the nest couple weeks.
I know it’s kinda weird posting your route and fishing spots, but that really is a great way to learn picking out good fishing spots faster. I wouldn’t post that to Facebook, but here you’re good. Otherwise, I’m not 100% clear on where you went. I could offer further feedback if I did.
“I will from now on and I don’t have a problem with posting here since I believe in this community and know we all hold the same values. Great bunch of people you have here Devin.”
Thank you Devin and for the help to everyone who responded! I’m new to the area and steadily trying to learn how to fish it and catch fish.
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Update: These are the spots I thought would produce fish.
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I think a full moon and clear skies make for a tough day fishing. This is nothing more than a SWAG but I believe you are correct. I also notice on overcast days I always seem to have better “luck.” I also fished last Saturday in the Hopedale area and didn’t do well at all. We caught a couple keeper size trout but that was it and those were released. I didn’t post the report because I saw everyone did the same and it wasn’t any reason to beat a dead horse. It was definitely a grind to catch what few we did catch.
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Thanks guys I appreciate the info!
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I have the same units. Have you tried this : https://youtu.be/axFSU0vW3mI?si=oxh5tDkIzxfwNzwf I save all of my trails I just name each one the day I fished and delete what I don’t need. Hope this helps.
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Gotcha! I’ll make the changes on my plan, thank you these are the things I have no clue to.
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Thank you Devin I appreciated the extensive feedback and LAFB Is the best man, no bs. I’ll post this weeks upcoming trip to get feedback we have some really good fisherman on this site that I can learn a lot from and the area I’m fishing.
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This reply was modified 9 months ago by
keithl.
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This reply was modified 9 months ago by
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Awesome feedback. I hope others learned from mistake. The Ranger is a killer bass boat platform light, quick and oh yeah it’s a blast to drive. Hopefully I’ll see ya out there and we can hook up and fish.
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Thank you so much I really do appreciate the maps and feedback. I made a huge mistake trying to fish where I fished. Just a note when we got back to Hopedale Marina Pat said the only reports of fish caught were on the north side of the rock wall. Makes sense.
