Jan 29, 20244 min read

Big Rudy vs. ICW & MRGO

TEAM JO-JO:

Me was undecided, (playoffs vs catching) as to go after Big Ronnie & Big Rudy successful trip Saturday, but after seeing pictures and getting the whole story is was a no brainer, texted Big Rudy you ready , says he always, We decide to leave late, (11 AM) and catch the afternoon bites for our Sunday trip.

So with plan in hand t was a go, we had very high expectations on the catching side of this trip, so we both be very excited to see what the future heled.

SIGNS:

· Big Ronnie & Bi Rudy nailed them Saturday, Sunday expectations off the chart

· Oneofthepack missed all the Saturday action

· Big Rudy losing Barkley Cutter 110 lures , he lost all he bought, having a hard time finding them to buy again

· Relaxing. lazy Saturday for Oneofthepack

· Late start left home at 11 AM

· (1) Pull to start Yamaha Nightmare Machine, good sing this be

CONDITIONS:

· Perfect

· Wind, W.N.W. 22-24 mph, steady as she blew all evening

· Water status / conditions: slight to heavy chop

· Sky, overcast

· Temp, kept jumpsuit on all evening

· Water level, down 2-3 feet

· Water Temp , 53.4 F

· Salinity, 8.7

· Specific Conductance 16600

· Pressure, 30.22 F

· Water clarity on a scale of 1-7, a 5

· Tide, falling

· Peak tide, 04:58 H .66’

· Peak tide, 16:03 L 0.00’

· Major Feed Time: 07:46 / 19:13

· Minor feed time: 08:41 / 20:43

· Tidal Coefficient: 72

· Fish Activity

· Average Activity

· Boats out and about, 10-12

· ONEOFTHEPACK’S REPERTOIRE OF TECHNIQUES / STRATEGIES

· Be safe

· Have fun

· This be me daily therapy for ALL me aliments

· Put some run time on the Bay Flat Sr and the Yamaha Nightmare Machine

· Gather Intel for future trips, and to share with fisherperson, (on Facebook) to help assist them in their choice of areas to fish, lures to use and presentation of same to the elusive Silverwonders.

· Catch what catch can

· Learn what learn can

· See if the (NMR) Silverwodners still wanted to play with Berkley Cutter 110 jerk baits

· Bring home some fish for Petite Ana

· See if ICW catching still on

· Find a spot # with the seven fundamentals / criteria of catching:

1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (This criteria was impossible to control, mitigate, and / or to use to our advantage. Wind has us going 1.9 to 2.2 MPH no way we could troll, and or cast to shore without BIG bows in line. This was our challenge for the day, with no answers in sight or how to deal with it)

2 MOVING WATER: (Falling al evening, hard through locks, Bay Flat Jr struggled to run through locks.)

3 WATER CALRITY: (A 5 kind of sandy looking, but very fishable / catchable)

4 HOLDING FISH: (ICW & MRGO)

5 PATIENTS: (Made (2) drifts before first fish caught, then it was real slow in ICW, moved over to MRGO and things picked up some)

6 SKILL: (Combo Oak River Troll & Drop shot rig, later use of Berkley jerk baits needed)

7 LUCK: (Got hook out me finger real easy, no damage)

· Anchor up cast & retrieve slowly along the bottom, with a twitch every now and then, tight lining…………………………………DID NOT TRY

· Drift with the wind cast & retrieve (DWWC&R)……………(6) Silverwonders 1 bass along MRGO

· Oak River Troll (ORT)……………….(2) Silverwonders, (ORT) & Drop shot combine technique / presentation

· Reverse Oak River Troll (RORT) ………..DID NOT TRY

· Oak River Skim (ORS) ……………DID NOT TRY

· Cork ……..DID NOT TRY

· Lake P Troll (LPT)…………….Did not try

· Drop shot rig……..Did not try

· Dead bait……None

· Live bait………………None

· Oneofthepack ‘S repertOIRE of LURE DU JOUR:

· 3” H&H Purple Beetle, matched up with H&H ¼ oz. round white head with gold hook……………Did not try

· 3” Chartreuse Glow Beetle, matched up with H&H ¼ oz. round white head w/gold hook………….Did not try

· Matrix Shad Lemon Drop, matched up with H&H ¼ oz. round white head w/gold hook……………Did not try

· Matrix Shad Lemon Drop, matched up with H&H 3/8 oz. round white head w/gold hook……………DID NOT TRY

· Matrix Shad Lemon Drop, matched up with H&H 1/2 oz. round white head w/gold hook……………DID NOT TRY

· Matrix Shad Lemon Drop, matched up with 3/4 oz. round lead head w/ 2 trailers, ……Did not try

· Tandem rig, ¼ oz. round H&H jig head with gold hook, matched up with Matrix Shad Lemon Drop …..Did not try

· Berkley Cutter Pink 110 (6) Silverwonders

· Salt Strong 3” Power Prawn with yellow tail 2 Silverwonders

AREAS / SPOTS / NUMBERS ON THE MAP FISHED:

ICW & along MRGO rocks

OUR REWARDS:

· Lived to fish another day

· (8) Silverwonders, 3 Miniwonders

· (1) Bass

· (1) Index finger, be mine

· Lost (3) Berkley lures , about $27 worth

· Wind not our friend today

· Lessons learned:

§ Hard to have a repeat day the next day’

§ Losing lures can be expensive

§ Not all wind days are your friend

§ Each day has high & low expectations

§ Still true “You got to go to know”

· Best fishing trip of my life, until the next one.

FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:

Me caught (2) Silverwonders, biggest Silverwonder, and one finger, not enough for today’s honors.

Once again Big Rudy captures the honors today. but there is always tomorrow.

SUGGESTIONS:

Sometimes you don’t need to go to know, but you never know, so always beat to go to know.

PONDER OF THE DAY:

"Somewhere in the wide range of activity between the hard physical effort of preparing for long hours against a busy schedule, with current world issues, casting steadily, and the indolence of lying quietly in the sun waiting for a bobber to go under , the immense tap, there is a type of angling to suit everyone's mood and everyone's pocketbook. Fishing is fishing wherever it is found... Angling's problems are almost never solved."