Devin
Forum Replies Created
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“Is it normal to lose lures at the trestles.”
Yes.
“I lost four this morning by getting hung up.”
Sounds about right.
“Are lost lures just the price to pay?”
Yep.
“Are weed less lures the best strategy?”
Nope.
Use cheap jigheads. Go to Gus’s and get the ones that are on the counter. They should be ~45 cents apiece. You are going to lose jigheads. It is inevitable. Just accept it now. Think of it like spent brass at the range. You use it once, it hits the deck and it doesn’t go back in the rifle. Done. Finished.
And because you’re going to lose jigheads, it’s better that you pay cents for them rather than dollars. Believe me, some new guy comes along every couple years with the “iM goNnA rEinVenT soMeThiNg tHatS beEn wUrkiNg fOr YeArs” idea and they never do. If you’re getting this urge, then suppress it and focus that growing energy on something productive.
The trick to not getting snagged in the first place is not to go too heavy. Then, after that, in swift current hang the rig off the back of the boat (like at The Jump…this doesn’t really apply at the bridges). Once snagged you can pull the line on your rod like a bow and arrow to pop the lure off the snag. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Monofilament fishing line is much better at popping off snags than braid. Mono is king when it comes to jigging trout.
“it was a grind but the four trout I caught were between 17-15 inches”
That is good news! Be careful spreading that information outside of this forum. I know you weren’t at mid lake with that report.
You’re very warm on those fish.
Also, since you were out that way, the rocks leading south to NOLA can be good for sheepshead and redfish. Fishing off of them can be good for trout, too.
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Great report, I’m glad to see it.
But what made you go all the way to Port Fourchon. That is a haul I’ve made numerous times. You’ve got a couple reports for Hopedale, this one is out of the blue. What’s the story?
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“The morning started out slow because it was quite foggy and I opted to stay close to the launch until the fog burned off. At about 8:00 am I felt comfortable to run”
That’s smart.
“I continued fishing along these flats and landed 6 reds the largest being 17” and the smallest 14”.”
Not bad at all. Yeah, I would mark that up as a win because that means you found a pattern. There’s something more there. You’re warm.
“I also picked up 6 trout 2 12” fish and 4 between 13” and 14””
Were you throwing a popping cork? I would definitely drift that are with a popping cork. That shallower stuff you were fishing sounds good.
“I’m guessing there were better areas to fish out there but I was really having a ball. I’m still learning so I was content with my results.”
I would say that you did great. You can build off that to achieve more, better results.
Great report, thanks for posting it!
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Oh great, another Marine. Shoot me now. lol
I replied to your other post (thanks for making it). Speaking of which, making posts like that and leveraging this community (using the knowledge I teach) is what’s gonna get you to where you want to be.
Since you’re a teuf I can make analogies you’ll understand crystal clear: what’s inside IF101 is a lot like what’s inside boot camp. You absolutely cannot go straight to the high-speed, low-drag stuff without first learning the foundational knowledge at Parris Island or San Diego. No, you’re not going to use close order drill on patrol in Fallujah, but the abstract tasks of marching, cadence, etc. teach the principles that get you to be good at patrolling.
I’ve worked with guys who didn’t have that and they really could have been better at their jobs. There were lesser warfighters for not having it.
Everyone wants to go straight to whacking the fish, and think they can do it if they’re just given some fishing spots or are told where to go, but that’s not they key to learning it on their own, not over the long run.
IF101 is the only fully-detailed TM to that end. In fact, if you were to print it out, it’s probably longer than the Green Monster, to put it into perspective.
The fishing right now is gonna be slow and spotty, especially after that freeze. Even if it didn’t snow it is still slow this time of year. So now is a good time to commit to second-nature everything inside 101 (and to do maintenance).
You understand very clearly the basic importance of keeping your rifle clean and your gear unf*cked. What do you do when you get back from patrol? Head to the chow hall? Take a nap? No. You clean your rifle, op-check everything, etc.
Well, people here are retarded and don’t do that. They let their boat trailer, tackle, GPS tracks, etc. go to waste and are completely set up for failure when the speckled trout turn on. It’s their own doing. Yeah, that “basic” stuff is unsexy and not-fun, but it’s what lends to long term success. It is what I do and it works.
So, take what you’ve mastered in the Marines and bring it here and you’ll kick ass.
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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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Interesting. Thanks for noting that, I’ll look into it.
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“Idk if it’s my iPad or the site”
It’s the site and we are troubleshooting it. It’s been a PITA, but I’m glad it happened now while my boat trailer is in the shop. lol
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Kick a drift sock out next time that happens. If you have a GPS, monitor your drift speed. Something like 1.2mph is too fast. You want to be 0.5-0.8mph. The slower the better.
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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!!
