TEAM JO-JO:
Saturday's Team Jo-Jo Fishing Curriculum Session had the whole group buzzing with excitement, and naturally, the conversation led to fishing trips. We offered an open invitation to anyone who wanted to join us on the water, knowing that some might not be able to drop everything and go at a moment's notice. But we made it clear: whenever they're ready, the invite still stands. We’re always up for showing someone new the ropes of fishing in Delacroix Island!
As for the three amigos—Big Rudy, Big Ronnie, and Oneofthepack—it wasn’t a question of if we were going fishing but when. We’re all retired and blessed with wives who understand and support our passion for the water. So, we had everything set for Monday morning: another adventure to our personal Disney World, the beautiful and bountiful Delacroix Island. There, we’d be aboard Bay Flat Sr., in search of those elusive Silverwonders and Redwarriors that keep us coming back for more.
Friday’s trip had been a bit tough, yielding only 6-7 fish. The conditions that day—strong N.E. winds, a heavy falling tide, fast current, and water clarity barely at a 1—weren't ideal. But instead of dampening our spirits, it fueled our determination. For Monday, we had similar conditions on the horizon, but we didn't let that cloud our expectations. This time, we were prepared, excited, and knew the day would be full of action, no matter the challenges ahead.
At the end of the day, it was all about attitude and belief. We went into the trip with confidence, trusting in our skills, our teamwork, and our understanding of the waters. Fishing, after all, is as much about patience, persistence, and camaraderie as it is about the catch. With the three of us together, a solid plan, and the right mindset, we knew it was going to be a memorable day, regardless of what Delacroix had in store for us.
SIGNS:
· Good turn for Team Jo-Jo Fishing Curriculum Session 10 Saturday 10-21-24
· Me once again fish at Holdom tournament, came in 8 out of 10, no money for me
· Sunday Sanger theater “Girl from up north” with Loveofthepack., Daughterofthepack & Son-in-lawofthepack, the best part of the day was dinner at P.F. Chang’s and that too was not all that good.
· Early to bed 9 pm, up at 2:30 Am for 5 AM meet up at Waffle House in Oak Harbor with Big Rudy
· Quick load up of gear into FORD transporter
· We met Big Ron at the home of Bay Flat Sr, he likes to clean fish, we don’t like to wait to clean fish, so he drives down to Delacroix.
· No wildlife sightings along Hwy 11 or 90
· Not many boats on Hwy, gas stations, and/or boat launches
· Check point Alpha water level in canal at junction up 3-4”
· Check point Bravo, water slack in Reggio canal
· Reached the home of the Bay Flat Sr, Big Ronnie waiting for us had his gear in boat ready to go
· Team works we loaded up Bay Flat Sr in no time
· Yamaha Dream machine fired right up smooth & silent she be, me kind of lady
· Made a stop at Lionels for go juice, for sale sign still up
· Off to Team Jo-Jo spot # 58BL to start our fun day on water, this based on what we learned Friday.
· Shot the coals to Bay Flat Sr as we ran Graveyard run
· HUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM, Yamaha Dream Machine sputter and shut down, no not why, crew thought tank vent might be closed, swapped tanks off we went. We ran in on tank to make sure it be OK, OK it be, still a ??????????
· Off to spot #58 BL
CONDITIONS:
· Perfect
· Wind, N.E. 14-16 mph
· Water status / conditions: little ripples, slight chop, heavy chop
· Sky, sunny & clear
· Temp, cool kept jumpsuit on all day , nice it be with low humidity too
· Water level, up 3-4”
· Water Temp , 73.4 F
· Salinity, 5.7
· Specific Conductance 10300
· Pressure, 30.22 R
· Water clarity on a scale of 1-7, 3 minus
· Mississippi gauge: 2.8’ looking good
· Caernarvon Outfall: 410 ft3/s
· Tide, rising / turned started to fall perfect it be
· Peak tide, 04:49 H 1.97’
· Peak tide, 17:53 L 0.33’
· Major Feed Time: 08:22 / 20:52
· Minor feed time: 11:21 / 21:22
· Tidal Coefficient: 65
· No birds diving
· Not much bait in water
· Fish Activity
· Avearage Activity
· Boats out and about, saw 1 boat in area we be fishing
· 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 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
· Try our game plan “A” based on knowledge learn from Friday trip
· Try top dogs early AM see if Silverwonders wanted to attack them
· Confirm “You got to go to know”
· Find a spot # with the seven fundamentals / criteria of catching:
1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (For the most part it was at our back, we used it to blow us along the shoreline casting popping corks as we drifted. We also use Cajun anchors to position boat as such wind was at our back. Wind had us casting a mile, just put rig up in air and wind ushed it along way.)
2 MOVING WATER: (We had a tail end of a rising tide, slack started to fall then started to pour out, had plenty moving water all day with many current lines to fish,0-.)
3 WATER CALRITY: (This criterion was little challenge today we had a 3 minus, lost lure down about 3-4” below surface, had a sandy look to water.)
4 HOLDING FISH: (Team Jo-Jo spot # 58BL on our map, one stop shop)
5 PATIENCES: (We in honey hole around 7:20, 7:26 Silverwonders in box, it was on, on, on all morning)
6 SKILL: (popping cork technique / presentation.)
7 LUCKs: (Decided to pursue plan “A”)
· Oneofthepack’s repertoire of Techniques / presentations:
· Anchor up cast & retrieve slowly along the bottom, with a twitch every now and then, tight lining…………………………………Popping cork, 40% caught this way
· Drift with the wind cast & retrieve (DWWC&R)……………Popping cork 60% caught this way
· Oak River Troll (ORT)……………….Did not try
· Reverse Oak River Troll (RORT) ………..DID NOT TRY
· Oak River Skim (ORS) ……………DID NOT TRY
· Cork ……..100% Popping cork caught with this rig 36” to 48” deep
· 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……………Salt Strong 3” power Prawn as lur of the day, Big Rudy & Big Ro was tipping them with some kind of stink bait, see video.
· 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
AREAS / SPOTS / NUMBERS ON THE MAP FISHED:
Team Jo-Jo spot # 58BL, (62)t, 4r, 50, 51B, 51K (16)t, stopped fishing around 12:40, left them biting.
OUR REWARDS:
· Lived to fish another day.
· (78) Silverwonders, 37 Miniwonders
· (4) Redwarriors, 2 Ratwarrior, 2 Bullwarriors
· (2) Crabs
· (1) Extra pole
· (2) Popped lines
· (2) Tanged lines
· Got stabbed cleaning fish, Big Rudy displayed fisherperson abuse to me, got me in my right forearm.
· Excellent peanut butter & pineapple jelly sandwich thanks Big Ronnie & Gloria me needed that.
· Got to bring home (6) filet Silverwonders for Loveofthepack & Sonofthepack to eat.
· Being on the water with two of the best fisherpersons me know, Big Rudy & Big Ronnie
· Plan “A” was a winner.
· Lessons learned:
§ Top water plugs no action, we did not try long as Big Rudy had 3 in boat before we had a chance to make 3 cast, Big Ron gave up fist with me right behind.
§ Knowledge is a main factor for catching, (i.e., Friday leads us right to the honey hole for Monday trip) we put into practice on what we learned from Friday trip.
§ Water clarity better at spot #58 on Team Jo-Jo map
§ Drifting casting / working popping cork work best for us, when we hit some we would drop Cajun anchor to old us in position to strike zone.
§ We also set up on a point, water pouring out, had a flat water pass us buy every now and then, Silverwonders was in flat water, this technique / presentation netted us some nice (NMR) Silverwonders.
§ Had (62) Silverwonders, needed thirteen more for (75) made as top in Little Lake John, had no problem finding some extra Silverwonders to play with, count got to (78) for the day.
§ We will be back Wednesday to try for a repeat of today’s trip.
· Best fishing trip of my life, until the next one.
FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:
Big Rudy was up to us quickly as we be trying top dogs, but after he had 3-4 in box, Big Ron jumped on corks, me made a few more cast with top dogs, then me got on corks. Big Rudy on them all day, hot & heavy, but ell a little short for honors today.
Oneofthepack slow out the gate, took me awhile to catch on this cork fishing, (me a tight line fisherperson) got me share of the Silverwonders, even had a Bullredwarrior to me credit, but once again it was not to be for me today.
Big Ron be all over the Silverwonders, with many of then being (NMR) type, he also dominated the Redwarrior division , crab division, and even the catfish division too, plus he brought the food, which got him some extra points,. Big Ron be fisherperson of the day for sure.
SUGGESTIONS:
Had to play Captain card today, me think the crew had a different game plan than me plan “A”, “captain not always right, but captain always captain”. We compromised, if plan “A” no work we move on to plan, “B”, “C”, & “D” if need be.
If you the one who has to make it happen, you should be the one to make the call/s, so suggest you let your captain make the calls.
PONDER OF THE DAY:
“Cathcing does exist, but it must find your fishing.”
Q&A:
What type of bay boat. (Perfect boat) would you build if you had unlimited resources?
TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:
Repeat trip Wednesday same crew, same boat, same area, hopefully same results, until then:
Good Fishing
Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack
釣り先生
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