Shell Beach Sheep Herding
Point Aux Chene Kayak Rental Speckled Trout
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| Louisiana sheephead on a Mirrodine |
We headed out to Pointe aux Chene Kayak rental to get on the hot winter time bite that its known for. It is the middle of December and many of my favorite spots are void of activity so we woke at 4AM to make it to PAC by sunrise. We left the launch and began fishing the main canal on the bottom with soft plastics after the first 30 minutes we only had 3 throwbacks. We realized that the weather wasn't cold enough to stack the fish in the deep canals so we moved up shallower throwing suspending baits in 6 inches to 3 feet of water. While drifting and throwing the Mirrodine I got a hit and lost a solid keeper trout this missed fish let me know I was on the right track. We kept moving down the shoreline and found a flat that was loaded with Specks almost every cast yielded a bite. Initially I struggled to land them loosing 6 of 8. Until I figured out that I needed give it a little more time before setting the hook. I then proceeded to ring up 20 in quick secession only a few throwbacks and 2 keeper redfish mixed in. I played catch and release the rest of the day. While I waited for Collin who also threw the Mirrodine and was able to catch a surprise sheepshead pictured above and about 15 speckled trout.
Too Cold Cypremort Point Turkey Trout Shootout 2016
I fished Lafayette kayak fishing club Turkey trout shootout at Cypremort point Louisiana. We were in the middle of a December cold snap and the thermometer read right above freezing when we did the shotgun launch Majority of competitors headed for the cove and I followed but continued around to try out the actual point. At the point I found some deeper water compared to the five every where else. I then went into the marina thinking it was like the lake but it was 5 feet in there but there was bait. After striking out I decided to troll all the way back to Shark bayou. Fished the out side bends and found depths up to 15 feet slowly jigging yielded two hits one being the rat red on the left and the other I lost before seeing it. With an hour left I left the bayou and decided to check out the cove I trolled a rattle trap and black and green cocahoe. when I got to the cove I started casting towards an area where a cormorant was working and on my 3rd or 4th cast I got a hit on the fall and reeled in a 1.31 pound speckled trout. this fish gave me something to weigh and make the long drive from New Orleans somewhat worth it. I also won some really cool Buggs fishing lures that will come in handy when sight fishing for redfish.
November Warm Front?
We had a strong south wind I knew it would be challenging to cast and position my boat but I went any way. It was worse than I expected and my first launch was a no go. I headed to my plan b and it wasn't much better but at least I could get the wind at my back to make a longer cast. This is just the start to my new mission to catch a 30 inch speck. Everything I read says the corky is a big trout bait but it seems like it will catch just about anything that swims. My catches for the day were a bass a rat red and a 17 inch speckled trout. My next step is to try live mullet on the trestle while the trout are still in good numbers.
Crowded At the Trestle
Collin and I headed to the trestle to work off some of that thanksgiving feast. We got out there around noon and it looked like rush hour out there on the bridge. At least 35 boats were between the drawbridge and the north shore. We caught the tail end of the falling tide and we caught fish pretty steadily until it slacked off and started turning. I ended up tagging all of my fish and releasing. That is an old picture from a few trips ago when I was the only boat out there. The fish are really nice size right now and with the mild temperatures they should hang around for a few more weeks.
Daily routine: Tryin the Tracks
Bayou St.John Freshwater Flounder
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| A rare bayou st.John flounder |
I decided to stay close to home yesterday the weather was iffy and daylight was fading fast. I took the 10 minute trip to bayou St John with a goal to catch a redfish and while seeing how many bass I could ring up. The clouds were solid the entire time I was out there and I thought about throwing topwater but the ripple on the water from the north wind made me decide to stay subsurface. I did see plenty of shad on the surface but the only thing chasing them were pelicans. I ended up trolling a 10ft diving crank bait and hooked up with a 30 inch red right out of the gate. That was surprising but not as surprising as the next catch a flounder I have caught multiple redfish and seen a couple speckled trout caught but never a flounder. My experience fishing the bayou has taught me that you never know whats swimming in that urban environment. Late in the day I was able to catch a bass , barely the fish was a solid 3 inches not much larger than the lure it hit. I wasnt able to catch any more bass I guess I need to get some more practice out there.
Running Out of Time in Yaktribe Tournament
The last week of the Fourth Yaktribe tournament has begun. Chris and I hit the rocks to search for some bull reds and upgrade on the speckled trout. Not much time was spent red fishing I tried for maybe a half an hour but didnt have any bites.I was able to pick up a solid 26 inch red on topwater while looking for trout. I didn't catch any trout all morning during topwater time. We moved down looking for trout no luck I went back to red fishing. Chris stayed at the trout spot 30 minutes later he called me over as he was getting lots of solid trout. I went over and caught the end of the weird midday bite I was able to land about 6 trout 18inches or better. Only one a 20.5 was an upgrade for the tournament. We tried fishing our way back but with no luck. At this point there are only a couple days left and I am in the top 8 but I would like to catch two solid redfish to finish this tournament off strong.
Another Limit From the Lake
Prefishing Fallntide 2016 Premature Slam
Heavy Stringers out of Lake Pontchartrain
Pulled a limit out of lake Pontchartrain. Initially this trip started as a wade fishing trip but I made a last minute decision to bring the kayaks. After being the only ones out there for the past few days I was surprised we had to share the area with about 10 boats. They were catching mostly smaller keepers under popping corks. while we were able to dial in on the big girls using a mirrodine and topwater. My final tally was 24 due to an accounting error and half of my fish were 18 inches or better.
Daily Routine: Wading the Lake
Yesterday we had a perfect October day in New Orleans. Finally it feels like fall and I know that means the speckled trout have moved inside Lake P. I used to do really good this time of year on the sea wall but the ongoing construction has pushed me and the fish away to find different areas in the lake. We had found this area a couple years ago but I moved away just as we figured out the bite. This pattern should hold all over eastern Lake Pontchartrain to fish the shorelines at the end of the rising and begging of the falling tide. We found yesterday that the bite slowed once the falling tide really got going. The second thing we learned is the bigger trout will rip themselves from the MR17 so you always need a net or risk heart break of losing the big one. In the coming days I am going to try and dial in on this bite even more to have a more consistent bite.
Road Trip: Weekend In Galveston
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| minor setback |
DAY 1
My brother goes to college at Texas A&M Galveston and this past weekend the fishing club held their annual slam tournament. I had never fished in Texas before but I sent Collin to do some prefishing while I prefished on the internet. I got there Friday afternoon after car starting trouble and a fender bender. Turns out He hadn't done any prefishing so we immediately hit the water to check out a spot I had seen online. Collin figured the trout would be the hardest fish to find followed by flounder then the redfish. So we headed out to the first spot was in west bay near the Galveston island state park jut to get a feel for what was going on. I quickly caught a rat red in sight of the launch. I was relieved to get that first fish and that made me forget all the trouble of getting there. The wind was horrible but we hid behind the banks and in the bayous to minimize the effects of the wind and find cleaner water. Through the rest of the evening we fished around some fishy looking areas with minimal success. We both landed a few trout with only one 16 inch keeper between the two of us. We weren't deterred we headed back to the room to make a better plan for Saturday morning which was forecast for 20mph winds.
My brother goes to college at Texas A&M Galveston and this past weekend the fishing club held their annual slam tournament. I had never fished in Texas before but I sent Collin to do some prefishing while I prefished on the internet. I got there Friday afternoon after car starting trouble and a fender bender. Turns out He hadn't done any prefishing so we immediately hit the water to check out a spot I had seen online. Collin figured the trout would be the hardest fish to find followed by flounder then the redfish. So we headed out to the first spot was in west bay near the Galveston island state park jut to get a feel for what was going on. I quickly caught a rat red in sight of the launch. I was relieved to get that first fish and that made me forget all the trouble of getting there. The wind was horrible but we hid behind the banks and in the bayous to minimize the effects of the wind and find cleaner water. Through the rest of the evening we fished around some fishy looking areas with minimal success. We both landed a few trout with only one 16 inch keeper between the two of us. We weren't deterred we headed back to the room to make a better plan for Saturday morning which was forecast for 20mph winds.
MRGO Trout Hunting
Paid in Full: Easy Lake Pontchartrain Redfish Limits
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| Hobie Outbacks the best kayak fishing platform |
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| Two man Louisiana Redfish limit |
Lately I have been finding some really easy red fishing right in my backyard. I have been taking the 5 minute drive to launch my kayak in Lake Pontchartrain. Then its a quick peddle to the fishing grounds. Some days the fish have been literally at the boat ramp but other days they make you search a little but once you find them they are almost too easy. Me and my buddy went last Thursday 9/15 and quickly caught our two man limit in 30 minutes. We had planned to go back the next day but that didn't happen so after letting it rest we made it back on Tuesday. When we got there it was a surprising amount of boat traffic for a weekday. On the way to the hot spot we saw a surface boil I pitched to it and hooked up with a nice red. Once we made it out to the spot I caught a limit in a few minutes and lost another big fish. It took my buddy a little while longer to get dialed in but once he did he had his five and we were headed back to the launch. I wanted to play with the jacks but they just haven't showed up in numbers I did see one while drifting but it has been tough this year.
Daily Routine: Seabrook Evening Jog
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| Redfish is tagged and hopefully will be recaptured. |
Daily Routine: Saturday Morning Making Grocerys
Saturday morning I woke up way too early went and picked up one of my fishing buddys for a quick morning trip before the College Football games started. We had limited time so we stayed close to home and headed to Irish Bayou on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. We know the speckled trout should be moving into the lake some time this month so my goal was to catch a few of the early birds. We launched and as we made it to the fishing grounds there were mullet everywhere on the surface. We started throwing topwater and we got a few hits but couldn't connect on anything. I switched over to a light jig and a H&H minnow and hooked up immediately with a small trout. I stayed in this spot for a good 10 minutes and caught a mix of about 7 small bass and speckled trout. I moved into the cut and let out a long cast something jumped on it soon as it hit the water but it spit the hook.First Time PAC Attack Recap 2016
Yesterday
I fished in PAC Attack the fourth tournament for the Bayou kayak
fishing Club angler of the year series. The goal was to catch the heaviest three Redfish stringer there were also prizes for the heaviest fish and the fish with the most spots. I had never been to PAC
(Pointe Aux Chenes) before, and only I decided to fish the tournament
on the thursday before. On the one day I had to prepare I made the
decision not to prefish but to do internet prefishing instead.
Everything I needed to see was on Google earth. The only thing that
would have helped would have been to actually pedal around and look for
clean water ahead of time more on that later. My alarm went off at 3:30
and I had a quick breakfast and hit the road. Fast forward a hour and a
half and I was at the PAC kayak launch my buddy Cody was waiting for me and
really helped expedite my launch. That launch is a super nice setup designed to launch kayaks. I launched at 5:30 and we headed out to one of the productive looking areas I had scouted on Google earth.
Duet
I had promised my cousin I would take him to catch his first Redfish two years ago I figured it was time to make good on that promise. While every other kayaker from the region was down in Grand Isle for the Ride the Bull the worlds largest kayak tournament. We decided to hit the marsh for slot reds but just as much fun. We woke up at 5am and headed down the road to get an early launch and beat the storms that would be rolling in around 11 or 12.
Daily Routine: Slime Slam
With all the rain we have had in our state this past few days Lake Pontchartrain is really fresh and the areas we had been fishing probably have more bass than speckled trout right now. We decided to head down highway 23 and combat launch to explore the marsh and catch a mix of fish. I downsized my lure and just planned to have fun. We pedaled about 5 miles round trip and at every major bayou intersection there was bait being harassed by something.Daily Routine: Eastside Canal Bass Fishing
The weather has been forecast to be rainy the past few days scaring us from taking the kayaks out for a real trip. We decided to do some city limits fishing just in case it decided to storm today. We did mostly scouting today searching for good canals to fish. We ended up on the outskirts of the city in New Orleans east before we found a canal that held good numbers of bass.
Its Hot in Herre: August Delacroix Kayak Redfishing
We Launched into the darkness at 5 am it was calm and there was a slight breeze enough to keep the mosquito's away. This was my second time fishing the area we were heading and the plan was to explore and catch a few more than the 1 I had caught a few weeks ago. We had met Cody and Gary at the launch and we started in the same pond but quickly separated to meet up at a spot deeper in the marsh. Collin and I kept moving and by the time the sun came up we were almost to the first area we wanted to fish.Flounder on Demand : Recap Slamboree Kayak Tournament2016
The Lafayette Kayak Fishing Club holds their largest tournament
Slamboree every year the same weekend as the Grand Isle tarpon rodeo.
This was my second time doing this event and my fourth tournament on La
1. I had yet to catch a fish to weigh in any tournament I had
participated in down there. My goal this time was to at least catch a
fish that I could weigh in to break my La 1 tournament curse. After
scouring the web and reading reports and articles and anything I could
find I came up with three possible plans. We had planned to use the
Friday before bouncing around checking the different areas out but we got a late start on the prefish day and
missed the early morning bite. When we finally got down there at 8:30 we
realized we weren't going to have time to hit everything. I had fished most of the six potential areas already so I decided to
just check out one of the areas I had not fished before. As we
launched the water seemed high and dirty and I knew that might
make red fishing tough later on.We put that on the back burner to
see if we could find some decent trout while it was still kinda early. We pedaled around a while just surveying the new area until we got to a spot that had lots of bait a couple of casts later we both had a jumbo gafftop boated. We kept working this area with more gafftops of various sizes but only one small trout. We kept moving towards the mouth of a large bayou water and bait was pouring out and dolphins were working the opposite side. I knew this would be a good fishing spot but Collin caught the only keeper trout from this spot. We gave up trout fishing to look for some reds we saw lots of mullet and sheepshead but no reds. We headed in at 4 the only thing we learned was that we could scratch that area off the list. We had a lot of decisions to make and not much solid info to base them on.Daily Routine: Simple Fishing LA 23
To sum up this trip I would have to say it was simple. We loaded up the yak trailer and took a short drive to a nice piece of marsh on the west bank of the Mississippi River. We could have come home with a nice mess of fish if we would have kept them. We launched at 5pm and spent a productive afternoon picking off redfish A couple speckled trout and Gafftops that were giving us a little too much love. I threw a lure I gained an affinity for when snakehead fishing the Chatter bait. The benefit of using it over the gold spoon or a spinner bait is it gives off a more intense vibration than the other two. The water is never crystal clear in Port Sulphur so that extra sound gives you an advantage to attracting the reds. The good old popping cork another noise maker was essential in for calling the Gafftops from miles away and allowed us to catch our limit quickly we also picked away at a few specks in between the slime balls. It was great to spend a Monday afternoon in the marsh.Exploring Kiptopeke and the Concrete Ships
This 4th of July I had Saturday off and I was determined to head south and find a Cobia in the Chesapeake Bay. The weather wasn't perfect with scattered thunderstorms and afternoon winds but it looked like we had a nice weather window on Monday morning. We loaded up everything and decided to head out Sunday around noon and do a little scouting and pier fishing that afternoon/night. We got down there around 4 and as we crossed the CBBT we could see the bay was really rough. We made it to Kiptopeke state park and decided to launch and explore the Concrete ships the plan was to also catch some Croakers that could be used as bait or chum when we went out to fish for the Cobia in the Am.
Daily Routine: Wally World
Decided to go to the Pond that has been a consistent producer all year. We went out yesterday as our second stop pond hopping right before dark and caught a couple. So we hit it again this evening and it didn't disappoint. I had not caught a real fish on topwater yet this year so I threw a Heddon torpedo while Collin used a the fluke. It was cloudy with sporadic drizzle perfect for topwater and the big fish were eager to hit on top.
Kayak Snakehead Fishing at Mattawoman
Daily routine: Topwater or Bust
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| zen fisherman |
Daily Routine: Bass Fishing at Franklin Park Purcellville
We decided to go back to Franklin park for the first time since early April (click to read about it here) we were hoping there may be a few trout left. When we got out there a rain cloud was passing over it was kinda windy but after about 10 minutes it passed and the wind calmed down. On my first cast I hooked up to a little bass but it got off because I didn't set the hook. This little fish was foreshadowing for the trip because we caught at least 20 little bass as we made our way around the pond. I used a texas rigged purple zoom u tale worm with a 1/4 ounce bullet weight while Collin used a weightless zoom fluke. Collin worked his fluke tight to the bank while I worked from the middle of the pond. Collin caught a couple more fish mine were a little bigger overall but both techniques seemed to work about the same. The big fish of the day was probably only 12 inches But it was fun quick action to end the day. The catch of the day goes to Collin he caught a snapping turtle on 8 pound test .Jbay 2016 Recap
DAY 1 we arrived super early Thursday morning. The plan was to hot the water at sunrise and go to scout the areas we had found on navionics and get a feel for the fish. We had high hopes for the weekend and wanted to take full advantage of our time. The sun was barely peeking out and we were already at the launch putting the final touches on the boats before launch. We decided to eat a quick breakfast and soon after we were on our way. I had read many historic fishing reports and I had a good idea of where to start. One of the best pieces of advice I gleaned from Internet searching was to use the many channel markers to line up your troll and locate fish. We immediately headed toward the first point I had on the gps.Testing the Freenoe on Roaches Run
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| No snakehead but the slab crappie were biting |
time I targeted them this year armed with the Chatterbait and topwater frogs.
Daily Routine: Exploring Familiar Waters
Diy Locking Rod Transport for a Kayak Trailer or Roof Rack
I am currently on my third kayak trailer build in three years. First I needed to carry two kayaks without having to balance them on top of my jeep. The second trailer was built for overnight trips to allow for max sleeping room in the truck. Now on my third build we are turning it into an extended trip kayak trailer. Capable of day trips but built to carry extra gear for extended trips. We have already figured out the boats and now the rods the second most valuable item on the trailer needed to be secured.
Sandy Point and Saving the Day
The bay was calm and the only waves were from the boat wakes as they sped past.
Daily Routine: True Trout
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| Collin with his first trout |
Daily Routine: Micro fishing
Yesterday we did a little 2 hour session of micro fishing at a local pond to keep the streak going. I broke out the fly rod for the first time in 2016 and to say I am a little rusty is an understatement. I could not make the line lay straight to save my life I was able to make one cast that didn't spook everything In the vicinity and was able to land one bluegill. The best part of my flyfishing was when a fellow fisherman took pity on me and showed me the proper roll cast technique. Soon after catching the gill I put the fly rod back in the truck and grabbed my ultralight spinning rod. I rigged up with a 1 inch gulp minnow and we went to fish a small stream that runs through the park . We caught a few creek chubs and Collin even caught a surprise 12 inch largemouth.
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| the water is small but the fish are plentiful |
Daily Routine: Crushing the Crappie
With the time change and more daylight after work I am finding lots of time to fish. The main target for this month has been crappie and they have been hit or miss. In the ponds where I caught many on the fly rod they have been nonexistent but in the river they have been on fire getting bigger and more plentiful every week. My near citation crappie from last week had me dreaming of stringers of big slabs so we decided to try a day fishing with big crappie baits. I abandoned the float and fly and I tied on a 4 inch storm swim bait. Most people would think that that it is too big to catch crappie but if you look at a their mouth it is large enough to swallow some big forage. Collin was skeptical that it would work but on my third cast I pulled a 13 inch crappie out then a couple casts later another nice slab. Soon after though i snagged my line and lost the bait. I switched to a weightless 4 inch zoom fluke and picked off 4 more nice crappie. Big baits work the quality of the fish was much better every fish I caught was 12 or better while Collin picked through the smaller ones. Ultralight Beam: Pohick Bay Ultralight Fishing
Utility Trailer into a Kayak Trailer for $200
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| Loaded up heading to New York last year. |
My current trailer design was built on a 4 by 8 utility trailer I had designed it to free up space in the Jeep for day trips and overnighters to allow maximum sleeping space in the truck. The design worked well and the only problem I had was that after long trips the bolts that held the 2x4s together would loosen up by the end of the trip. We have also out grown the first iteration of the trailer we have added another boat to the fleet and we need more storage for longer trips. We have big plans this year to travel and fish from New York to Texas and everywhere in between. This means the trailer needed to be updated to be able to carry more gear and withstand highway driving without falling apart all for less than my budget of 200 dollars.
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| Tearing it down back to stock. |
as the crossbars which included mounting hardware. The bars were super easy to install and are very sturdy I also added Loctite
to the threads of each bolt to prevent loosening like last time. Instead of using PVC pipe as the supports for the kayaks I opted for the commercial kayak rollers and cradles. This would have added a huge cost to the rebuild as two brand new cradle systems would cost more than what the trailer cost me. We were lucky that Collin won a complete Yakima cradle system at a tournament raffle last year which and I bought a used Thule system for $60 on eBay. My used system was missing some mounting hardware but the existing hardware didn't fit the 2 inch crossbars anyway so it didn't really matter. I had to buy $10 bucks worth of U bolts to attach it to the trailer so $70 for 2 sets of kayak cradles couldn't be beat. If I was being really cheap I could have mounted the PVC to the crossbars but the cradles conform to the boats much better. Plus the cradles were designed to perform on high speed long distance trips and overall they look much cleaner. So far I have spent $146 to rebuild my trailer I still need a spare tire mount and I plan on adding locking rod storage. |
| almost finished kayak trailer |
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| the boats are the same height as the truck |
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