FishxScale: October 2016

Bull Redfish in Caminada Pass Video

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

Went out for an afternoon trip back to the scene of the previous trout massacre and the results were similar. We got out at 2pm and immediately started catching trout. I rung up 11keepers and a handful of throwbacks in the first 20 minutes. I switched to a Jackall 180jr just to make the trip interesting and started picking off larger fish every now and then. I slowly worked my way to a limit when I had a nice hit and I could tell it was a nice fish. It fought hard taking a couple quick drag stripping runs before the line just went limp I thought i had lost a big one but when I reeled it in I only had half a fish.

FallnTide Prefishing Video

Prefishing Fallntide 2016 Premature Slam

Went out with Chris way too early this morning. We launched on 23 and I took advantage and did a little prefishing for FallnTide that is going to be held at the end of the month (Oct 29). The slam format has been challenging for me in the past but this year I have turned a corner when it comes to flounder. My main goal for the trip was to catch a flounder and I also wanted to catch 10 trout and three reds to go with it. The weather was very stagnant there was no wind which made for a hot humid fall day. The day started off with a 23 inch red right out of the launch. Then a rat red intercepted my offering but I kept my jig in the flounder zone. About an hour into the trip it happened, I landed a 12 inch flounder. My day was complete after catching it but I kept fishing because the trip was still young. We moved into open water and found bait being busted mullet and pogies I quickly caught a fat 13 inch speckled trout then a hardhead. I cast again and received a solid hit with a strong diving run. I quickly dismissed the fish as a catfish but after it shook its head and charged to the surface I realized that it was a solid 18inch speckled trout. Soon after the trout bite died but I was able to pick up a 20 inch red in the action. We went back inside the marsh to find some more reds/flounder. I wasn't able to find another flounder for the rest of the day but the rat reds were prevalent and I ended up tagging 5 rats along with another 24inch red.On the way back to the launch I was able to cap off the day with a 25 inch red.

Roadtrip: Galveston Day 3 Video

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.

Roadtrip: Day 2 Galveston Video

Roadtrip: Day 1 Galveston Video

Road Trip: Weekend In Galveston

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.

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