McLovin
Forum Replies Created
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Helluva trip!! Nice job on the topwater!
All you needed was a frigate bird and you would have had an igfa bird slam lol!
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NOAA has a few salinity maps. They aren’t as detailed as the Hydrocoast maps but they can at least show you where the salt line is.
Gulf of America: OFS Map Plots
Gulfport: OFS Map Plots
Lake P: OFS Map Plots
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I carry a few different things:
- Garmin inreach messenger, it only works with a cell phone but it lets me keep in touch with my wife and tracks my location. Much cheaper than the normal inreach but you need to have a way to charge your phone. Still need the subscription though unfortunately.
- ACR PLB, if the situation is FUBAR and you need help quick, that’s what I’m reaching for.
- Handheld VHF, if you have to use the PLB, the handheld lets you communicate with anyone trying to find you close by so you can help pinpoint them to you.
- Lastly, iPhone 15 or 16 and later have satellite communication capabilities for free. I have not used it but I’ve heard it works.
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I just got off the water and yeah I think that the long rocks may be worth checking out. I should have paid more attention to the MRGO but lake borgne was dirty. Grand Pass was dirty. I caught one small gaff top, had two take downs on the cork under a slick but never had one commit.
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I’ve definitely seen people bass fishermen in Duncan canal. Bayou Trepagnier itself is public, I have a buddy in the hunting club out there and has told me so himself. That said, it gets real shallow back in there, like bumping logs in a pirogue shallow. I used it to access a duck pond this past season, I came from bonnet carre though. I did see one guy running it in a mudboat though.
Likely way deeper closer to the lake, that was my experience this past January at least.
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One of the most last minute trips I’ve ever made but conditions looked good and I had already taken a vacation day for something else that got cancelled. I’ll be posting a report either this evening or tomorrow morning, found some redfish but nothing spectacular.
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Lol I actually did but it was back on March 5th, the most recent trip was farther south. I caught 11 bass, didn’t see any redfish but did see two sheepshead while the sun was out. Most of the day was cloudy though. I actually thought I typed up a report but I must have forgotten to post it.
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I think it also lines up with not seeing a ton of 12–16 inch fish. It’s like a missing year class. Anecdotally it seems like when I do find trout, they are 17 inches plus or they are 10-11 inches. I think if you saw a bunch of 12.5″ fish, then that would indicate fishing pressure, but I haven’t really seen them close to that mark on either side of the river.
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Dude, I didn’t even think about the freeze. I’m sure there are other factors, but I actually had a decent summer in 2025 but this year I have struggled. This is what I pulled from Gemini and it makes sense to me:
The Timeline of Impacts
- Late January to February 2025 (Immediate Kills): The physical evidence appeared about a week after the freeze. By early February 2025, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) had already investigated over 70 fish kills, documenting tens of thousands of dead speckled trout, redfish, mullet, and black drum floating or washed up in marshes.
- Spring to Summer 2025 (Disease & Sluggish Fishing): As the water warmed up in the spring of 2025, surviving trout were highly stressed and susceptible to illnesses. Anglers noticed a dramatic spike in fish with sores and lesions, and overall spring/summer catch rates dropped to well below average.
- Year 2026 (The Current Population Gap): We are currently in the window where the full extent of the damage is visible in daily fishing success. Because a massive number of breeding adults and juveniles died in January 2025, the natural “gap” in the population means fewer legal-sized speckled trout are available to catch right now.
- Early 2027 (Long-Term Recovery Data): Biologists expect it to take a full one to two years (stretching into early 2027) of continuous monitoring data to definitively calculate exactly how much of the relative trout abundance was lost and when the fishery will fully rebound.
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“You mean in the river? I’m pretty sure water there is going to rise/fall differently. Was the water level affected by wind in the days prior?”
Yeah I was mainly referencing the actual data there to confirm that the tide was doing what it was predicted to do. The wind had been blowing from the west the few days prior. That’s pretty consistent with what the data is showing but timing is still as predicted.
“I know you probably wanted the trout fishing to be better. They are somewhere out there, and I think the rigs are worth looking at. You never know what you can get into out there.”
Honestly at that point, I was only planning on tagging a few more trout. If I didn’t have plans to go chase snapper I probably would have tried harder at the rigs farther inside Breton sound or ran to Curlew or Chandy. I will definitely grab a 2 ounce HDS though next time, because that would have probably been the ticket!
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I was throwing a redfish magic spinner bait with a LCB swamp shad. I dosed it with a little pro cure since the water was dirty. Honestly I bet every one of the ones I caught were within a foot of the spartina grass, they were just sticking tight to the bank.
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I’ve taken my 17 ft flat down to pass a loutre and didn’t even think twice. I’ve also gone out in my bay boat knowing it was an iffy day and the pucker factor was real (same day I saw three guys loaded down in a 14 ft Jon that I thought were going to die). Pick your days, you will be fine. Don’t forget that people made it across the Atlantic in wooden boats without motors!
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Honestly that’s probably what I would have done if I didn’t start the morning with 4 16-17” keepers lol. That swayed my decision to stay at Jahncke’s longer than I should have.
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The two flats guides I narrowed it down to were the one I mentioned (roatan on the fly – capt Perry ) and roatan flats fishing JJ (captain jeovy). They both mention having spinning gear available though! Honestly if my trip had gone differently, I would have regretted not going with spinning gear. The east side of the island is known more for flats fishing from what I understand.
Be prepared for an adventure though, there are literally no red lights or stop signs on the island and they pretty much drive like people from New Orleans lol.
