Delacroix trout catching

TEAM JO-JO:

Team Jo-Jo’s last run to Delacroix was way back on April 8th — and let’s just say, the fish got the better of us that day. Yep, we took one on the chin… skunked, not even a nibble to write home about. But soon after, the big girls of Lake P started flashing their tails and showing off, and just like that, our full attention shifted north. Let’s be honest — when those Silverwonders are staging and striking, it’s hard for any seasoned angler to look the other way.

But all good things must rotate like the tides, and after a few solid weeks in Lake P, the crew started hearing the soft call of the marsh — that sweet siren song only Delacroix Island can deliver.

So, the Three Amigos — Big Ron, Big Rudy, and Oneofthepack — hatched a plan. Friday was the day, and the Bay Flat Sr was ready to roll. Spirits were high as we launched, pointed the bow toward Lake John, and set out to play our favorite game: “Dodge the Beetles.”

Armed with our go-to lures — the classic H&H chartreuse glow beetles and the reliable Salt Strong Power Prawn Jr., we were geared up and dialed in. This wasn’t just a casual cruise — it was a mission, a marsh recon, a chance to see if the fish were finally ready to tango.

Would Lake John deliver? Would the Redwarriors and Silverwonders rise to the challenge? Would Big Rudy shake off the rust and hook into glory?

Stay tuned… because when Team Jo-Jo hits the marsh, there’s always a story to tell

SIGNS:                            

·         I had to cancel Thursday trip not feeling good

·         Had today’s trip scheduled, just had to go , missed Delacroix fishing a lot

·         We where to have a trailer today, Big Ron from Florida was to follow us out and learn all that Delacroix has to offer him.

·         Rough night sleep got 2 ½ hours

·         Up at 3:30 for our 4:30 meet up at Waffle House in Oak Harbor, with Big Rudy

·         Saw (2) bunny rabbits along side of road, they had there rabbit foots  up in air waving to me as me passed by, what a great sing to see on the way to a fishing trip.

·         Next off to Waffle House in Chalmette for our 5 am meet up with Big Ronnie

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

·         Check Bravo water movement in Reggio canal slack

·         Delacroix road looked deserted

·         Reached home of  the Bay Flat Sr, crew & Oneofthepack repeated ours safety speech,( i.e. crossing Hwy , & open space between Bay Flat Sr and dock” verbatim in unison.

·         Made a stop at Lionel’s for go juice

·         Motored over to Sweetwater to meet up with Big Ron at 6:30 am, he be almost ready, it was hard to hold the crew back they  be all fired up and ready to get after them

·         Off we go to Team Jo-Jo spot # 51 K to start our fun day of fishing.

CONDITIONS:

·          Perfect

·         Wind, S.S.E.10-11, S.E. 14-16, S. 15-17 mph, steady she blew all morning

·         Water status / conditions: little ripples, slight chops

·         Sky, sunny & clear

·         Temp, just me shirt, mild temps

·         Water level, 8-10” up

·         Water Temp , 77.4 F

·         Salinity,  1.10

·         Specific Conductance 2200

·         Pressure,  30.11 R

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

·         Mississippi gauge: 15.71 R

·         Caernarvon Outfall:        602     ft3/s

·         Tide, Falling all morning

·         Peak tide, 04:21 H 0.82’

·         Peak tide, 09:13 L 0.75’

·         Peak tide, 15:14 H 0.89’

·         Peak tide, 23:35 L 0.52’

·         Major Feed Time:  10:16 / 10:06

·         Minor feed time:   04:18 / 16:55

·         Tidal Coefficient:    96 high

·         Fish Activity

·             High Activity   

·         Boats out and about 3 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.

·         Make our milk run to Team Jo-Jo’s spot number starting with 51, see if the Silverwonders wanted to come out and play.

·         Show Big Ron around, (he in his boat) takes him through the Graveyard run, try to put him on some fish.

·         See if tight line technique / presentation working

·         See if tandem rigs still what they want

·         Verify clarity of water

·         Bring some fishes home for petite Gloria.

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

1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (Wind was a challenge, but not match for the (2) voice activated Cajun anchors, which kept us on point and the correct angle to have wind at our back)

2 MOVING WATER: (Had a falling tide, but not to strong it be, fell all morning.)

3 WATER CALRITY: (3 minus, lost sight of lures about 3” below surface, fish di not seem to mind dirty water)

4 HOLDING FISH:  (Team Jo-Jo spot # 51K (2)t, # 51C (49), fell right on stop of them.)

5 PATIENCES: (First cast Big Ron brings in a nice NMR, slow for about 20 minutes made 2 moves, then it was on, on, on!)

6 SKILL: (Popping corks & tight lining tandem rig up edge of drop off, dancing with the oyster shells on bottom.)

7 LUCKS: (Hooking up with Big Ron)

·      Oneofthepack’s repertoire of Techniques / presentations:

·         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)……………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 ……..40% caught with popping cork 36-42” 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………….60% caught with this LURE & color

·         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 40% caught with this lure, various size jig heads used.

§  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 …..60% caught with tandem rigs:

·         Big Rudy had ¼ oz. jig head on bottom & 1/8 oz/ jig head on top

·         Big Ron had 3/8 oz. on bottom * ¼ oz. on top

·         Oneofthepack had ¼ oz. top & bottom

AREAS / SPOTS / NUMBERS ON THE MAP FISHED:

Team Jo-Jo spot # 51K (2)t, spot # 51C (49)t, stopped fishing around 10:40, once e caught flounder me knew trout bite where over, spices change it be.

OUR REWARDS:

·         Lived too fish another day.

·         (51) Silverwonders

·         (1) Flounder

·         (1) Gar

·         (2) tangled lines

·         (1) Extra poles

·         Lots of hang up on old oyster shells, but no popped lines

·         Best peanut butter & pineapple jelly sandwich in the world , petite Gloria makes a mean sandwich, thanks lady me need that,

·         Being on the water with two of the best  fisherpersons me know, that be, Big Ron & Big Rudy

·         Got to meet Big Ron and his 22’ aluminum boat, nice rig it be, we need to hook up again down the road.

·         Big Ron dropped off to clean fish, Big Rudy & Oneofthepack headed over to Rocky & Carlos for lunch, bit we could not find a parking spot, so we passed on eating. We were all hungry on the ride home because that is all we talked about was food. Me never seen Big Rudy hungry ever before, but he be this time.

·         Lessons learned:

§  Still do not like fishing (2) boats

§  Still don’t like fishing out of other boats

§  Still don’t like fishing with fisherperson that smoke

§  Tight line technique / presentation time is now!

§  Tandem rig time is now

§  When fishing with lures boat position is everything, and wind needs to be at your back to be bale to cast long  distance and be able to feel the tap really good

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

FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:

Big Ron was in rare form, caught first NMR of the day, missed more then he caught, he got in on the cork action, then switched to tight line, being in middle of Bay Flat Sr he could fish both directions as corks  where shallow water, tight line was in deep water, but me feel he fell a little short for honors today.

Big Rudy got on a roll with cork action, many came in quick, he got a lead that was going to be hard to overcome, once he got the hot seat in back of Bay Flat Sr, it was all over as he got on a run of tight lining tandem rigs over the oyster shells and up the channel drop off, he was a catching machine as they came in, in, in ,and it was all over. He also managed to bring in a nice Flounder, when me think killed the trout bites.

Oneofthepack was on, on tight lining, struggled with corks, caught the only Gar fish, did not get lines tangled, nor did me hook extra poles, but me efforts feel short too, me came in at 3rd placed for honors today.

SUGGESTIONS:

Team Jo-Jo feels it Delacroix time, break out your cork technique / presentations, and fabricate some tandem rigs, mix / match various size jig heads, ones to match the current strength, (remember less is best which is our belief) and “You got to go to know”!!!!!!!

PONDER OF THE DAY:

The way to a fisherperson heart is to take her fishing

Q&A:

Do you fish with tandem rigs, and do you make your own?

TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:

Team Jo-Jo promises a lot of trips during our last Team Jo-Jo Fishing Curriculum Session, trips as follows:

·         4-27-25 Big Juan

·         4-28-25 Big Charlie

·         5-1-25 Big Tony, (make up for one cancelled)

·         5-2-25 Big Jeff & Mom

Me sure hope Big Rudy available to help with the trips, need him to share and teach others how to fish lures & catch.

Good Fishing

Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack

釣り先生

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