I Should be in Fishermans Anonymous

Yesterday I was not going to go fishing but right at 3 o'clock I got the urge and I had to try somewhere so I loaded up the yak and headed out to seabrook. As I got out there a band of rain was overhead and I thought about going back home but I waited for it to pass and launched the Outback. i made it to the airport wall and on my first cast I caught this little guy. Check the lure selection in the shot.

ten minutes later another band moved in and I put on my rain suit and fished through it but I couldn't catch any more. I did hook up with what I think was a big trout I fought it for two minutes but I lost it as it was coming to the surface. I should have left but I fished in the rain for another hour before I gave up. I also broke my second rod in two trips there.

Seabrook is one of my favorites to fish from the pier but its definitely my new favorite place to take the Outback. There is a strong current and it can have lots of boat traffic there so you should be careful if you do go. If you want some tips or to tag along Email me at Fishxscale@gmail.com

Double Dip Fishing Trips

the water was clean at the launch you can
eight sections deep.

Yesterdays post I said I was going back to the Seabrook to catch some speckled trout I planned to work the wall around until I found the trout . as I was launching I saw one of the trout masters Chink Sumas hanging out under the bridge he is known for catching big specks. One of these days I will go fishing with him on his boat I imagine it will be one of those heros journey student learns the secret of  the master  moments. I launched around 9:15 and pedaled across the swift current of the rising tide that was pushing through the industrial canal. I headed for the airport wall where I left off yesterday catching specks. the current was moving a little faster today and it was tough to keep contact with the bottom. After two hours of jigging and nothing to show my patience was wearing thin. I did have a few hits but I didn't stay very long as the sun was high and I could feel the sunburn setting in. I hung out in the area and this evening I gave the yak a break and fished from the bank on the lake pontchartrain seawall. One of my favorite places to fish is the seawall where I caught my first fish a croaker that lived in the freezer for a long time when I was younger. Since then I have progressed to speckled trout, but they did not want to cooperate.The bite was tough and the fish in the vicinity were small. I did manage to fool two the first was an aggressive little guy who hit a bait half its size. The second was even smaller than the first about nine inches what we call a cigar trout in Louisiana. Even Though I didn't catch a box full of fish it was good practice for slowing down when the bite is tough. The technique I used to catch with was letting theMirrolure 52MR sink to the bottom and then reeling really slow back to me that was the only way the fish would bite.

Baby Speckled Trout

aggressive trout  bit off more than he could chew.

This garfish says if you have any questions or want to take a trip email me at FishxScale@gmail.com

Seabrook Look See

There was an article in the Times Picayune this week about trolling the wall around the lakefront airport so I

The only photo after my camera sank to the bottom of lake Pontchartrain.

figured today would be as good as any to see if the fish were still there. I texted my buddy Dwayne and he agreed to meet me at the Seabrook launch at 6 am I was 10 minutes late. We quickly launched and set out for the broken wall hotspot that was in the news paper. We fished our way around the wall and Dwayne started hot he caught a nice speckled trout and then a feisty upper slot red that pulled a Houdini style underwater escape from his stringer. Then the Action went cold as we moved to the "Hot Spot" which already had four or five boats anchored around. We fished all over this area even inside the wall where I saw some large garfish might be the reason we didn't catch anything. When I started on my way back my luck changed for the better. I caught a 15 inch red on the concrete corner in the upper of the map thats swimming for science(tagged).

Soon after catching that fish I broke 5 inches off the top of my rod. despite that I used the broken ro to land five speckled trout 4 keepers and one throw back 10 incher.I also lost about five or six at the boat by being lazy and not netting them. Somewhere between catching these trout I lost my camera I had video of the tagged red and proof that I missed all those fish. Stay tuned for a part two I am double dipping and taking a short Am trip out there tomorrow morning.
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Congratulations you found the bonus picture from ifa prefishing
 I wore this shirt today you would have seen it if my camera wasn't at the bottom of the lake.

Find the Fish Through the Trees

Native Eelgrass lures like
 weedless spoons swim through easily

Fishing in the brackish waters of southeast Louisiana allows you to catch two of the most sought after game fish Largemouth Bass and Redfish in the same spot. The mixing of the fertile Mississippi river and the salty Gulf of Mexico creates a perfect habitat for these two to coexist along with many other species. The fertile waters are a great habitat for aquatic plants some which is good and bad. While this this influx of fresh water is good for fishing it allows for extreme growth of submerged aquatic vegetation which clog shallow waterways. The good native plants like Eelgrass and widgeon grass don't clog the entire water column and aren't that bad for fishing.                                                                            

Thick Millfoil impossible to fish here.

The widgeon grass does get thick in spots but it is a flimsy plant and not the worst to fish in. The stuff that people dread is the invasive Eurasian Water Millfoil which grows throughout the entire water column. When its paired with Filamentous slime algae it can turn a productive fishing pond into a parking lot. For many Fishermen this combo causes a huge headache and leaves them searching for less green pastures but I use this grass to my advantage.

Video of me fishing in the grass  http://fishxscale.blogspot.com/2014/04/april-fools-redfish-video.html

The first benefit of the grass is it holds bait and we all know bait attracts fish. I like to match my lure selection to the bait that I see adjusting color and size/profile of  my baits. Texas rigged flukes and paddle tails or weedless gold spoons usually can be fished effectively when the weeds are thick.
The second benefit of the grass is it keeps the water clean and these ponds will have crystal clarity. The mass of plants dampens the wind and wave action keeping these ponds clean when the wind is blowing and muddying up other bodies of water. This clarity makes these ponds great places to sight fish for redfish.

Working your way around the clear shorelines will yield fish but don't overlook the areas where the open areas are and the grass is thinner like the three areas circled.

The main reason I like to fish the grassy ponds for bass and redfish is it makes it easier to catch fish. The grass creates areas that are unusable to fish which sounds bad, but it leaves a smaller area that the fish can use. Concentrating the fish into a smaller area making them easier to locate and catch. Looking at these ponds from afar it may look like 100% grass coverage ,but if you work your way through you can find the passages.In the thick stuff even the smallest cut will hold fish I have caught a limit in single prop scar that runs across a pond. Beyond the simple space occupation The weeds create good structure for the bass and redfish they cruise along and use the edge to ambush bait fish. When I enter a pond I start near the banks there is usually a weed free zone that can be fished without snagging weeds every cast. After making a lap around a pond I move on to the interior fishing the submerged grass edges in the middle of ponds. This is where I usually catch most of the fish in these ponds. I look for submerged edges that resemble the points and cuts of the marsh grass. At first it may seem a little tricky to avoid the grass but with a little patience and practice you will be catching limits of reds and bass together in the grass. Just remember to wear a good pair of Polarized Sunglasses and use Weedless lures.

Hopefully reading this helps you catch some fish, but if you are still catching more salad than fish shoot me an email at Fishxscale@gmail.com and we could maybe take a trip to the pond pictured above. 

Minor setbacks

 Tournament fishing and I have a love hate relationship. First of all I love fishing  some days I wake up on the right side of the bed and do well but others the day is a complete cluster f**k. The may 18 IFA was one of those bad days where I just couldn't get a break. I started the day really optimistic but as the day progressed  I wasn't getting the bites I needed. I caught a bunch of fish a couple speckled trout a redfish and a bunch of white trout. all of these fish combined wouldn't add up to 61 inches that won the tournament . The only thing I could tell you I gained from this experience is I learned what not to do and I guarantee I will be in the money in Lafitte. Congrats to all the winners there were some impressive numbers on the leaderboard.

This picture wouldn't have counted I forgot the token.

Topwater Redfishing Call the Heart doctor

I am always excited about fishing but when the fish are hitting topwaters it really gets the blood pumping. Tuesday I got to fish with two guys I have never fished with before Josh who I have been trying to fish with for a couple months now and another guy Alvin who was cool enough to show us around his home turf. The area we went was a known redfish hot spot. My goal today was to catch a lot of fish using different techniques I planned on starting with top water progressing to the wakebait and then an inline spinner or traditional spinner bait. The day turned out to be a perfect for topwater the clouds that were supposed to move out multiplied and made it a perfect overcast day for the Skitter Walk.

My first fish came from a cool location It was the remnants of a pond that half of its bank was eroded. I pedaled into the eroded pond and  I could see good bait activity when I entered and on my first cast backlash so as cleared it I drifted to the bank I spooked a nice red. This is when I realized the redfish were holding close to the shoreline I worked my way out of the pond working my lure close to the bank. Quickly my assumption was validated when I cast to a little depression in the bank and as my lure exited the depression wham a nice red was pinned to the lure and putting up a good fight.

First fish of the day

After catching that fish I made my way along the bank to a narrow trenasse that lead to a small pond when I entered the pond I spooked a nice size red and then I drifted over another small one. I had a couple good hits in the pond but none connected this is a common occurrence when fishing topwater and throughout the day I had tons of fish following and swatting the lure but missing hooks. I exited the pond and fished the opposite bank that I caught the first fish on and I could see reds cruising in both directions. I lined up my cast infront one of the wakes and two twitches later I had a red exploding on the skitter walk. I was not sure If I had hooked it so I reeled and as I did I felt the tug of the fish on the line.

Fish number two

The reds were holding exactly where they were supposed to be on the cuts and points and I was receiving strikes most of the time. I threw to a point and had a red well up and swing and miss I immediately stopped reeling and grabbed my other rod that had a who dat spoon and hooked up with a red that inhaled the lure. check out the picture the lure is down his throat.The technique I used to catch my second fish was a technique I use when team fishing in my little plastic flatboat. My buddy throws the topwater and I follow up with a spoon or swimbait. If he misses a fish I pitch right behind him and usually hookup. I adapted this to a one man operation where I throw the topwater and the spoon it gets a little hectic but is just as effective. The sequence usually goes you cast a topwater receive a strike but the fish doesn't get hooked quickly grab your other swimbait rod and cast to the general location of the missed strike and hold on.

 I had to fight myself to put the spoon down and keep throwing topwater but I did and I'm glad because it was actually outperforming the spinnerbait and gold spoon that other two guys were throwing. At this point I had landed three to their zero but, the count changed quickly after my third fish as Alvin landed a nice fish I could tell by the hoot he let out and when I finally saw it later on it was a 28 inch beast. I continued pounding the shorelines when I came to a pond with crystal clear water I kinda got sidetracked standing up just watching the reds cruising around I finally snapped out of it and put a cast into a v shaped indention where I had a hunch a redfish lived. A couple twitches and I was cranking an eager 18 inch red to the Outback.

This Redfish was tagged and released.

This seemed like as good a fish as any to tag and release because of the quick fight so hes out there waiting to be caught for science. I decided not to linger in this pond but it was full of fish and I continued searching for some bigger fish. When I was exiting the pond I cast to the point and hooked up something that fought like nothing I ever caught before. The fish hit and initially took a quick drag stripping run but then buried itself in the bottom and would not budge. At one point I was jabbing it with the stake out pole but it wouldn't budge finally I grabbed the line and pulled it raised of the bottom slightly but then I felt a headshake and my line popped. I have never had this happen to me before It was a strange experience I probably should have been a little more patient and worked it out. I fineshed my limit out on with the topwater with this fish. We headed in around 12 o'clock .

These size slot reds are abundant in hopedale.

Want the GPS coordinates shoot me an email  and I'll break down every thing for you fishxscale@gmail.com. 

Whats in My Tackle Box: Speckled Trout

1. Soft plastic jigs I have said it many times before are my favorite way to fish its a great technique for just about any area. For speckled trout I usually use a saltwater assassin or deadly dudley jig in one of two colors opening night or chicken on the chain. Those are the primary colors that I use and I don't seem to need to use anything else. These are natural colors and that is the advantage of these colors over the other 50 colors on the rack.

tons of colors check them out

2.Mirrolure 52MR is my favorite hard bait for speckled trout this suspending twitchbait features three treble hooks and rarely misses. Its a slow sinking bait that makes it easy to control the depth at which you work it.
 I fish it fast or slow but most often I work it with 3 or four quick twitches and a long pause. The fish like to hit it while its paused or as soon as you begin to twitch it. Another productive retrieve is to let it sink to the bottom and steadily retrieving and twitching with no pause if fish are aggressive you can speed up to burning speed.

3.Mirrodine is a funny little lure and it takes a little practice to get used to It almost feel weightless underwater like a fly. Dead slow is the ticket once you learn to slow it down and feel the fish tap it you will be rewarded with quality specks when everyone else is catching schoolies. There are three sizes just try and match the hatch right now in the spring im throwing the mini but by june I will tie on the XL.Whenever you can catch trout on a popping cork you can probably catch bigger ones on a mirrodine. Tip:This lure also has a tight wobble when retrieved and can be effective on a straight retrieve. I have had  good success with that retrieve over shallow structure like 1' or 2'.
4.Rat l trap one of my favorite baits all time always keep a couple of assorted sizes and colors in my box but my favorite for trout is chrome and pink back.

5.Rapala X-Rap I really like fishing for speckled trout with hard baits as you can see on this list .  Using the larger profile hard baits give you a better chance to catch a trophy speckled trout. Even though you are

targeting bigger fish it doesn't hurt numbers as I have out fished my buddy using soft plastics a couple of times using this lure. The key to fishing this is finding the right speed to work it. This lure is killer in winter a twitch with a pause up to a minute works because of its almost neutral buoyancy. This spring I have been using it with a walk the dog type retrieve or a constant twitching and reeling has been effective.

7. Top water probably falls lower on my list than other Speckled Trout fishermen in south Louisiana. Not because it doesn't work but because it frustrates me. I don't usually have the patience to only catch one fish and watching a big trout swing and miss just kills me inside. Walking the dog with a lure like the She Dog is probably the easiest way to catch a true trophy. I fish various tournaments and some are for speckled trout those days always start with topwater because on tournament day it can pay off big time.

vudu shrimp -click here

8.Popping cork is falling off my list because I'm currently infatuated with all the hard baits. If I would have made this list last year it would have been up in the top three for sure. I usually use the shrimp imitation soft plastics  exclusively under a popping cork. The DOA Shrimp for a long time held a premier space in my tackle box and it still works great. The latest and greatest  is the vudu shrimp it is a killer that was made to go under the cork, and made to catch speckled trout. These lures come in a pack of two and if the trout don't pop your line you can catch a hundred fish on one of these durable lures. Also a new popping cork haven't got to try it yet is the pogeaux pop cork has been getting great reviews.

casting spoon-click for info

9.Casting spoon throwing this lure into the surf on a summer morning can fill the box quick. A couple of old standbys are a mr.champ and Krocodile the single treble almost never misses. Once you get on the school they hit it as fast as you can throw it into the water. This is an old school bait that still works in the present day.

Keep your shrimp alive with this and a 5 gallon bucket

10.Live shrimp I imagine the fish see a shrimp floating along and react like we do if we saw an unclaimed dollar on the sidewalk. Most likely if the dollar is within reach you are going to grab it and quickly before it blows away. A dollar is not a significant amount of money like a shrimp is not a big meal for a fish but something makes us all step on that dollar before it blows away just like a speckled trout will grab a live shrimp on the end of the line. Put a shrimp under a cork or on a carolina rig on the bottom and be prepared to set the hook. If you want fast action give live shrimp a try you wont be dissapointed.

Like to catch redfish check out my other list http://fishxscale.blogspot.com/2014/04/whats-in-my-tackle-box-redfish.html

A Day At The Office

A video of a couple fish I caught last month. I finally got around to editing the video poorly in my opinion, what do you think? If you want the full summary of techniques read My pursuit of happiness post that I made after the trip.

Thanks for watching/reading/supporting FishxScale.

The Only One

Louisiana Speckled Trout had to take an extreme close up to make it look bigger.

The wind was blowing from the south east creating good
water movement through this cut. This area should be
productive in future trips.

Went out today to check out a spot I never fished before. The aerial shots showed some promise so I woke up around five rushed out the door .  My only plan for the day was to explore and throw big baits to condition myself for the Empire IFA on May 18 which is quickly approaching. I started off throwing topwater a and because of luck I found a huge school of mullet that seemed pretty nervous in a northern cove of a lake. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was hauling 20+ inch trout into the Outback but,After three hours straight  of walking the dog and nothing to show I gave up and moved to a different area. The next spot I tried was a broken area where the wind was pushing water through a broken section my first cast with the soft plastic and I hooked the 11 inch school trout pictured above. I fished there for a
while with no other action the rest of the day was equally as puzzling I switched to redfish and couldn't get a sniff. I blame my lack of fish catching on the dirty water but atleast I didn't get skunked. Tomorrow i'm out for revenge but I think im going to a more familiar area.

Up All Night Red Fishing

One of the many bulls caught

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Went to my secret spot on lake Pontchartrain and there was a solid layer of bait as far as I could see. There were big reds feeding in schools of five and six in coordinated formations like dolphins. We caught seven Bulls and two slot reds. I also caught my second tagged red a 22 inch fish i'm still waiting on the info from tag la. I also tagged and released a 16 inch red.  My buddy had a full grown fish pop his line after a long battle. He then followed up with this fish.

 After catching a couple I started throwing  topwater I had one fish throw the hooks and two others miss the hooks altogether.