Delacroix at its best

TEAM JO-JO:

Today's Crew - Old School Meets New Blood:

Today’s crew was a perfect blend of old legends and fresh enthusiasm — the magic formula that always leads to great memories on the water with Team Jo-Jo.

Big Juna, a proud new member who attended our last Team Jo-Jo Fishing Curriculum Session, had been itching to get a line wet and experience firsthand all the stories he's been hearing. At that meeting, we hatched a plan to make a trip to Delacroix happen. Originally, Big Juna’s buddy was lined up to come along for the ride, but as sometimes happens, life got in the way, and his friend had to back out at the last minute.

Not to be deterred, we quickly pivoted — and it didn’t take long to reach out to Big Rudy, a seasoned Team Jo-Jo veteran, and a core part of our fishing family. After all, there’s no substitute for experience when you're out chasing the Silverwonders. Big Rudy was more than ready to jump back in the game, especially after being sidelined with some recent health issues.

With the team now solidified — Big Juna bringing the youthful fire, Big Rudy bringing the wisdom, and Oneofthepack riding shotgun to steer the ship — we met at the dock with coffee in hand, rods rigged, and the Bay Flat Sr gleaming and ready for action.

The plan was simple: head south into the heart of Delacroix, with Lake John and a few secret Team Jo-Jo honey holes marked on the GPS. Armed with a combo of H&H chartreuse glow beetles and Salt Strong Power Prawn Jr, we were ready to play a little game of dodge with the fishes — hoping they couldn't resist our lures fluttering through the salty waters.

The air was full of laughter, stories, and just a little bit of competitive spirit as we loaded up the gear. We even joked that with Big Rudy’s fish whispering skills and Big Juna’s beginner’s luck, the Silverwonders didn’t stand a chance.

Mother Nature greeted us with a picture-perfect morning — cool breeze, gentle tide, and a golden sunrise painting the marsh — a good omen in the world of fishing.

Today wasn’t just about the fish, though we were hoping to catch a few. It was about building friendships, sharing knowledge, and living the Team Jo-Jo spirit — passing the torch from the old school to the new generation.

SIGNS:                            

·         Excited about trip

·         Relaxing Saturday, missed good day to fish Lake P

·         Up at 3 AM for our 4 AM meet up at Waffle House in Oak Harbor

·         Big Juan & Big Rudy right on time, transferred all gear into FORD transporter.

·         No wildlife sightings along Hwy !1 or 90

·         Black crossed our patch on Hwy 11m this not a good sing at all.

·         Check point Alpha, water level in canal at junction, up 6-8”

·         Check point Bravo, Reggio canal tide slack.

·         Delacroix Hwy was all a buzz with activity.

·         Having a car in the left-hand lane coming from Delacroix on fire, the fire department just put fire out as we reached it.

·         Reached the home of the Bay Flat Sr, gave me thirty second safety speech, re: crossing Hwy & open space between dock and Bay Flat Sr, caution when pursuing both areas.

·         Bay Flat Sr seems surprised to see us; she be swaying back & forth in her slings.

·         The crew made quick work loading up all gear.

·         Yamaha Dream Machine started by just inserting key, she be hot to trot.

·         Passed on Lionels, look like he closed again, guess they closed on Sunday.

·         Off to spot # 51C to start our fun day of fishing,.

CONDITIONS:

·          Perfect

·         Wind, S.S.W. 2-3, W.S.W. 3-5, N.N.E. 8-10, N. 6-8 mph.

·         Water status / conditions: little ripples, slight chops

·         Sky, sunny & clear

·         Temp, mild, warm, hot, hottest, little red button popped out.

·         Water level, up 6-8”

·         Water Temp ,  80.2 F

·         Salinity,  0.9

·         Specific Conductance  1680

·         Pressure,  30.14 R

·         Water clarity on a scale of 1-7, 3 minus

·         Mississippi gauge: 16.26’ R

·         Caernarvon Outfall:        510     ft3/s

·         Tide, Rising all day.

·         Peak tide, 0:27  L  .39’

·         Peak tide,  14:58 H 1.15’

·         Major Feed Time: 11:53 / none

·         Minor feed time:  05:28 / 19:19

·         Tidal Coefficient:   109 high

·         Fish Activity

·         No birds diving

·                              Very  High Activity   

·         Boats out and about (10) in area we be fishing, 

·      ONEOFTHEPACK’S REPERTOIRE OF TECHNIQUES / STRATEGIES      

·         Be safe.

·         Have fun.

·         This is me daily therapy for ALL me aliments.

·         Put some run time on the Bay Flat Sr and the Yamaha Dream 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.

·         Challenge running in dark, never ran Graveyard at night, needed to do it to locate some landmarks that could guide us across open water in a couple of spots.

·         See if Team Jo-o spot # 51C still holding Silverwonders.

·         Try out Team Jo-Jo spots # 57, 57AB, LC-5, & 59b, see what they look like & if they are holding fish.

·         Bring some fish home for Big Juan & family.

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

1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (Wind not a factor, no impact on our ability to fish & catch, kept us cool)

2 MOVING WATER: (Rising all day, would love to have a falling tide, action would have been a little better.)

3 WATER CALRITY: (This criterion was our challenge for today, water dirty all over, hard to see lures,)

4 HOLDING FISH:  (Team Jo-Jo spot # 51C 28t)

5 PATIENCES: (10th cast an NMR hit the box, action was hot & heavy, stopped, long tie delay between bites, around 11:45 they turned on again lasted for about 10 minutes and that was it, no patients needed today)

6 SKILL: (Tight lining tandem rigs up drop off, challenging the oyster shells on bottom)

7 LUCKS: (Black cat crossing our path did nit do that much damage to our success today.)

·      Oneofthepack’s repertoire of Techniques / presentations:

·         Anchor up cast & retrieve slowly along the bottom, with a twitch every now and then, tight lining…………………………………98% of fish caught this way, but using tandem rigs working them up drop off.

·         Drift with the wind cast & retrieve (DWWC&R)……………DID NOT TRY

·         Oak River Troll (ORT)……………….Did not try. 

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

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

·         Cork ……..(2) fish

·         Lake P Troll (LPT)…………….Did not try.

·         Drop shot: 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

·         Salt Strong Power Prawn (added 10-25-24) matched up with: Did not use:

§  1/16 oz:.

§  1/8 ox:

§  ¼ oz. jig head :  

§  3/8 oz. jig head :    

§  Tandem Rig:           

·         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 …..98% of fish caught with this rig, mix/ match jig heads size.

AREAS / SPOTS / NUMBERS ON THE MAP FISHED:

Team Jo-Jo spot # 51C (14)t, 51A, 57A (4)t, LC5A, 59B (4)t, 51C (14)t, stopped fishing around 12:32, came on in to get out of heat.

OUR REWARDS:

·         Lived too fish another day.

·         (36) Silverwonders, 11 Miniwonder

·         (1)Ratwarrior

·         (1) Flounder

·         (1) Croaker

·         (2) Hard heads

·         (1) Gaff Top

·         Being on the water with 2 of the bet fisherpersons’ me know, that be  Rudy & Big Juan

·         Thrill of running marsh in dark

·         Lessons learned:

§  Running on GPS track in dark exciting

§  Hard to repeat a catching rip like Friday trip.

§  We left home ½ hour early to get best spot, glad we did cause (5) boats showed, shortly after we arrived up for same spot, our videos must be working as intended, i.e., to help others catch.

§  Tried a few other Team Jo-Jo spot numbers, nothing, water dirty all over.

§  Mix / match tandem jig heads work best, 3/8-1/4 oz., ¼-1/8 oz., 1/8oz – 1/16oz. combinations, to coordinate with strength of current.

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

FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:

Oneofthepack broke the ice caught first one, nice NMR hot the box, managed a few souple more, led the Croaker category, but me efforts today feel short for the honors, me got tired quick and curtailed me fishing efforts.

Big Juan surprised Oneofthepack, he came out swinging, found a sweet spot right at boat managed to put 4-5 NMR’s in box quickly, had a very productive day. Big Juan got creative as the day went along, mix matching different lures, colors, and jig heads to keep his streak going, but he to feel shot for honors today, but he did out catch Oneofthepack and came in second spot for the day.

Big Rudy was just Big Rudy, never gave up fishing through the hot day, casting & casting never letting up, dominated the Redwarrior category, dominated the Flounder division, caught the biggest Silverwonder, most Silverwonders, and even brought the snickers bars for crew to enjoy. Big Rudy fisherperson of the day!!!!!

SUGGESTIONS:

Keep hoping water clarity down in our Disney World known as Delacroix Island gets better soon before the season runs out.

Think, live shrimp may help with the action. We had live shrimp jumping out of water on both sides of the Bay Flat Sr today.

Try tandem rigs, they seem to work better than a single rig.

PONDER OF THE DAY:

“Fishing is a hard job. Fishing at night. Rain. Day, night… You have to be wise and smart. And quick.”  & LOVE it too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Q&A:

How do you rig your tandem rig,:

§  Distance between lures.

§  Size jig heads?

§  Do you mix / match jig heads?

§  Do you mix / match colors?

§  Do out mix / match type lures?

§  How is your success with Tandem rigs?

TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:

Back at them in AM, Big Charlie & Big Ron will be crew, until then:

Good Fishing

Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack

釣り先生

Please subscribe to me video channel

Check out Louisiana Fish Tails on u-tube for action of past & future trips, you will not be disappointed, and please subscribe to video and give it a thumbs up