Forum Replies Created

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  • McLovin

    Member
    November 5, 2025 at 9:14 am in reply to: Hopedale or Venice 11/6/25

    I don’t feel like Yellow Cotton will be your best bet tomorrow, but I haven’t fished there recently so take that with a grain of salt. Devin posted a report last year around this time, he found trout in the river by Bay Denesse. That may be a doable option for you since you could launch at Fort Jackson (I’d launch directly in the river and not at the old launch), the wind and ship traffic would sketch me out in a kayak, but it’s only a half mile crossing to fish the east side since that should be better with the wind.

    I don’t know, I feel like you will have less wind at Hopedale but also less cover to hide from the wind. Venice gives you more cover for hiding from the wind, but the wind is predicted to be blowing harder. Worst case, if the trout aren’t biting then you could go into ponds for redfish or even flip into canes for bass.

    That would be my advice, but if you aren’t comfortable with the river, don’t do it. I don’t know how often you are out on the water, but big ships can’t stop quickly so unless you have good confidence in your abilities, it’s easy to get in trouble.

  • McLovin

    Member
    November 4, 2025 at 6:37 am in reply to: Pogie Boat Podcast

    I haven’t listened to either podcast yet, but I was reading through the comments on Lake Pickle’s Instagram post. There is one advocate from the industry in there talking about the studies and makes some decent points. Although anytime someone says, “there is no shortage of X,” I am always thinking of how they said that with bears, deer, turkeys, quail, ducks, basically anything here in the 1800s.

    His main points are:

    • 90% of bycatch is released
    • Shrimp boats damage the ocean floor and are more impactful
    • Pogy boats catch <1% of the pogy stock

    I’ve been diving into this article here: A Gulf Menhaden Deep Dive – American Saltwater Guides Association

    My main thoughts are:

    • The average redfish caught in the nets is 37.5 inches long.
    • 26752 reds are released via “rollover” at 16% mortality; 17841 reds are released via “chute” at 98% mortality. Total redfish killed is 30,118: 4280 rollover; 17484 chute; 8354 killed as keep.
    • 750,000 redfish are killed via recreational anglers but are not sexually mature and not contributing to the breeding population.
    • It’s hard to get off my mind that we as recreational anglers fought hard to have the limit reduced further to 3 fish vs the current 4 but our elected officials decided against it.

    I still think our fishery decline is multi-faceted; it just sucks that we make a step in the right direction and one year later that decision is in jeopardy.

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 24, 2025 at 7:51 pm in reply to: How’s this plan for October 26 morning?

    The rain may be spotty so I think you could potentially avoid it. But I agree, the waves are 3-4 feet Saturday and 2-3 foot Sunday in the lake. Bienvenue is an option, you could launch at seabrook and ride out that way, I suspect the bienvenue and Dupre gates will be closed with the east winds.

    Have you actually seen Bonnabel crowded? Lol I have never seen more than 2 of the 4 ramps being used. I know they were building the pier at west end, not sure if they finished or not though. But I would not be want to launch at either of them with the wave forecast.

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 18, 2025 at 6:40 am in reply to: 10-17-25 Venice TOTS

    Was there a googan in a yellow boat fishing the Jump when you stopped on the way in?

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 16, 2025 at 7:06 am in reply to: VENICE 10/12

    Awesome report. If you had speared the hog, would that have been surfin’ turf?

    I’m guessing the tarpon had vacated? I am thinking about heading to Venice tomorrow, I may give them a shot as well if you saw any roll.

  • McLovin

    Member
    November 6, 2025 at 10:42 am in reply to: Pogie Boat Podcast

    Need to get Joe Bergeron elected to governor.

  • McLovin

    Member
    November 6, 2025 at 6:18 am in reply to: Pogie Boat Podcast

    LDWF does not give AF

    I don’t think the organization as a whole doesn’t. I think a lot of the organization (biologists and LEOs) puts a lot of their soul into protecting our resources. I do think that there are members of the commission who would see everything go up in smoke and be ok with it. As long as it padded their pockets.

    I don’t know what the answer is. You have to think why they hell aren’t CCA, TRCP, or any other conservation organization worth a damn fighting the hell out of them with civil suits using this data? These organizations have the money to hit these guys in the face, but it seems like they tip toe around.

  • Yeah for sure, I was in a yellow boat. I fished the rocks and wing dams that split south/southwest pass, on the southwest pass side. I’ve never fished head of passes before but that side is deep, 30-35 feet 10-15 yards from the pilings and it was hard to get to bottom even with a 1 ounce drop shot. I fish the spillways like I would for mountain stream trout, think eddies and current breaks. I fished river side this trip, but fished both river and marsh sides last time. I would fish the slower moving black arrows and avoid the faster moving red arrows in the picture attached.

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 22, 2025 at 9:38 am in reply to: Shrimp MIA?

    Ha I’m trying not to get my own hopes up, I’ll believe it when he says all the models agree. But I’ve become a huge weather nerd when I’m planning my fishing trips and found the forecast discussion is so much better than looking at numbers as a percentage.

    National Weather Service

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 22, 2025 at 7:50 am in reply to: Shrimp MIA?

    It looks like there is potential for that to happen mid-next week. From the NWS forecast discussion:

    As the weekend system clears eyes will center on the next much stronger front upstream. There are timing disparities between the GFS and ECMWF, however, the broad scale trough looks to sharpen as it moves east of the Rockies early next week. Another round of rainfall and again much cooler, drier air should filter into the region”

    Wunderground shows low temps dropping to 55-56, winds from the NNW at 10-20 mph Wednesday and Thursday.

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 21, 2025 at 10:48 am in reply to: 10-17-25 Venice
  • McLovin

    Member
    October 21, 2025 at 10:45 am in reply to: 10-17-25 Venice

    Someone will hopefully correct me if I am wrong but the first and second spillways are on southwest pass. The four spillways with the rocks are above head of passes.

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 21, 2025 at 10:40 am in reply to: 10-17-25 Venice

    I was calling the mouth where it dumps out into the gulf. Around these rocks

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 18, 2025 at 8:58 am in reply to: 10-17-25 Venice TOTS

    Yeah that was me, I can assure you that I harmed no trout yesterday though lol.

  • McLovin

    Member
    October 11, 2025 at 4:14 pm in reply to: Camping in the marsh?

    This is when I hate all the legal talk in regulations. They could make it so much simpler if they would put examples in there.

    My interpretation of page 19 is that yes you can keep two days limits. You just have to clean the fish at the camp site that night, bag it, label it, date it. Then you have to leave that cooler at the camp site while fishing on day 2 and be able to produce a receipt that says when you launched. It’s even easier if you stay at a WMA primitive campground because that shows you stayed overnight where ever you are fishing. Is that how y’all interpret it too?

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