Devin
Forum Replies Created
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I tie a loop knot at the end of the HDS and daisy chain the rubber band and sinker onto that loop. Does that make sense?
Like what you see in one photo toward the end of the guide here: https://www.lafishblog.com/best-rig-for-deep-speckled-trout/
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I haven’t been on Lake P at all, so I can’t tell you. It did warm up pretty quick, so who knows.
Or you have some new COVID that puts your smelling back. LOL Who knows?
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“I’m spiraling a bit”
Yeah, put yourself in my shoes. lol Usually a business like LAFB is one you can scale and count on having around for awhile. But seeing that Louisiana’s overall decline (land loss, continued menhaden reduction, smaller fish populations and a boneheaded constituency…to name a few) it’s pretty clear to me that my efforts have an expiry date. When that is, I don’t know.
I will say this: do this long enough (inshore fishing in Louisiana) and you will eventually experience the ups and downs. There will be good times, there will be bad times.
Maybe the Freeze isn’t that bad. We really won’t know for a while.
Finally, this is one of the tougher times of the year to fish, if not the toughest. We just came off a freeze that we haven’t seen in a very long time. The fishing got better after ’89, it will get better again this time.
Keep your chin up, better fishing is coming.
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Welcome to the Community and thanks for posting an intro?
Where do you normally fish or plan on fishing?
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Saturday is doable, just understand it will probably be a grind.
Where are you launching from and which boat are you taking?
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Fishing from a kayak is just a different game. It’s a tool that should be used accordingly. An advantage of a kayak over a boat is the launchability: you can kick it out off the side of the road in places boats cannot. Using a hammer like a screwdriver isn’t best use of a hammer.
Now, with that said, right now is one of the toughest times of the year to catch fish. So don’t get discouraged if your fishing trips are a grind. That’s kind of to be expected, bay boat or not.
If I were you, I would look hard at fishing the Rock Dam in Hopedale, or the canals/ponds across the bayou from Hopedale Marina. That would be a great start.
It seems like every year during spring some kayaker lands a giant trout at the Rock Dam.
Yellow Cotton Bay off of LA-23 could be good, too.
Then I would look hard at going to Grand Isle and Elmer’s during spring.
You absolutely can catch fish and do well. Leverage this group and 101 to that end.
Thank you for posting an intro!
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That’s absolutely spot on. No argument from me there. It’s just tough watching Louisiana’s fishing decline and waiting patiently for it to return (because I think it can) only to STILL have so many folks continue to increase pressure on fish.
Like, Plan Redfish used to be so much easier. They hardly ever got pressured. Now there’s more crab boats, bow fishing rigs pressuring them at night, more people sight fishing, more redfish-only guides, redfish tournaments, etc.
Part of what I do is influencing more conservation. With the added pressure there must be an increased effort to catch/release. This way we can compensate for the added efficiency of GPS, spot lock trolling motors, better tackle, sonar, live bait availability, etc.
I’ll admit that I’ve seen this change, especially in you guys. Then there’s Speckled Truth, Release Over 20, etc. and that’s encouraging. It would just be nice to see such a profound change that simple things like dropping the limit shouldn’t be such a dumpster fire.
There’s days I’m optimistic, there’s other days I want to hang it up. If Louisiana just becomes another Florida then I’ll be disappointed. I just want to preserve the legacy Louisiana has. It’s out of my control.
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As a final note, if you do punch into YCB from Wagon Wheel and it’s sketchy and you have to turn around, then consider this route from AIS taken by a tugboat (Jody Ann): https://www.lafbelite.com/forums/discussion/marine-ais-cheat-sheet-for-gps-tracks-safe-routes/
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Yeah, I think your purple route is okay. I am leery of YCB because freaking trees used to populate the edge of that bay (and still do in some places) and it’s hard to tell where that edge is, even using historical imagery. But, you see boats traversing the middle of YCB in imagery, even shrimp boats dragging it, and I recall running it in the past without a problem. It’s that eastern side with all the friggin stumps and trees.
But I looked over your purple route and I think you’re good. I would run it. Just pay attention going into and across YCB.
As for your orange route, I think you’re good. On 1/17/21 imagery it gets shallow at Bay Tambour, so observe for crab traps when entering. When in doubt, mash out.
Next, you very obviously did your homework (why is it so hard to get people to do this?) because I see you don’t continue east through that four way that camp is sitting next to. Very shallow water there. That turn south avoids this. So, I think the rest of that route to the Wagon Wheel is good. I would run it.
“The yellow route I also think is ok, though I have no clue as to how to get back from the end of this route (near Buras) other than back tracking the whole thing.”
That yellow route is good, it’s just all the sunken marsh south of it that really isn’t. lol Yeah, I would back track from where I came from. Do that. Don’t run south into that hell-maze.
Good route planning. I would run all of that.
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When I get a free moment I will look at this.
Thank you so much for actually doing your homework instead of expecting someone else to do it for you.
This is golden. Thank you.
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“but doesn’t even touch what it looked like in Grand isle in 89”
That man is a wealth of information and hearing that is a positive note! I’m hoping this freeze kill isn’t as bad as we think it is and that everything turns out okay. I’m ready to catch fish!!
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Okay, great. If you’re looking to get a little fishing done, I would look hard at drifting the east side of Lake Pontchartrain, especially wherever you see rows of crab traps. I’d also fish the mouth of Chef Pass and Treasure Isle Point. Maybe Hwy 11 bridge on the south side of the lake.
I would not expect to find and whack the fish in a couple hours. You’re going on a bite ride to scratch an itch. lol It’s just that time of year and when it warms up the fish can be anywhere.
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“what I was told is that this fish kill was not as bad as we might think.”
I’d rather be wrong on this one. I hope that’s true. There’s things I hear that make me believe this could be the case. I certainly hope so. That would be amazing. I just wanna catch fish and keep some to eat. That’s all.
“On a little bit of a better note, I have had some friends smash the trout the past few days even in areas that reported fish kills”
I love hearing someone’s catching.
Also, that brings up a good point: let’s not equate the toughest fishing of the year to “all the fish are dead”. There’s a reason I do maintenance now and in August: the fishing is slowest during those times.
So, I’m remaining optimistic. But, given my position, the onus is on me to say something, especially when no one else is. I’d rather be safe than sorry.
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Hol’ up, I didn’t say that! I said I heard that someone at LDWF said that 2-3 years worth of redfish were wiped out. That’s not even for-sure confirmed yet.
Either way, no doubt we got whacked real good by this cold.
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Yeah, and those people will never join LAFB Elite, even though they don’t have the fishing reports to back up their “expertise” or make off the wall claims about trout biology, etc.. Also the same people who were talkin’ mad sh*t about the Taliban in 2021 but somehow missed the war for 20 years. Also the same people who “suPpoRt tEh vEteRaNs” but can’t restrain from saying awful things about me whenever I voice anything that’s remotely sensible about conservation.
Well, the gloves are coming off today. I woke up pissed off this morning. lol Just hopped out the cold plunge, warmed up and am writing the video script now.
