TEAM JO-JO:
Big Ronnie is set to return to Indiana next week, so he’s keen to get in as much fishing as possible before he heads back. He gave me a call with plans to make the most of it with a Sunday trip, aiming to explore the Bayou Bienvenue area. Thanks to some solid intel from Big Pablo, we know that Lake B has been producing some nice (NMR) Silverwonders, mostly being caught on live shrimp. With this lead, we’re feeling confident and ready to tackle the day with a solid game plan.
The question for the day is whether we go in Bay Flat Jr or take the “Gloria Marie,” Big Ronnie’s bass boat. Personally, I’m not much for fishing out of someone else’s boat, but given the long haul we’re expecting, we decided it would be best to take the Gloria Marie for this run. She should give us the range and efficiency to cover our planned spots without draining all our energy before we get to the good stuff. Plus, it’s a chance to get a feel for Big Ronnie’s boat, which should add a new element to the day.
Big Ronnie will be captain for the day, and he already has plans “A,” “B,” and “C” laid out for the trip:
Plan “A” - Lake B Rocks Early AM: Starting out in Lake B should give us the morning window to catch those Silverwonders when they’re actively feeding near the rocks. We plan to go heavy on live shrimp here to maximize our chances, especially if the fish are on the prowl for some early bites. This spot comes highly recommended by Big Pablo, so we’re expecting a strong start.
Plan “B” - Trolling Rattle Traps in MRGO Along the Rocks: After the early bite in Lake B, our second move is to MRGO, where we’ll troll rattle traps along the rocks. This setup should help us target a mix of Silverwonders and possibly draw in some Redwarriors. The structure along these rocks has been known to hold quality fish, and we’re ready to see if this plan pays off with a few big catches.
Plan “C” - Hit the Locks with Tight Line & Live Shrimp: Lastly, if the first two spots don’t deliver as much action as we hope, we’ll make our way to the locks. Tight lining with live shrimp should be effective here, particularly around the confined structures where fish often hold. The locks also give us a final spot to round out the day if the Silverwonders are lying low or the other spots get crowded.
With all plans in place, we’re set to accept whatever challenges the day throws at us and see what we can make happen out there. It’s shaping up to be a memorable trip, especially with Big Ronnie leading the charge and trying to land one last epic catch before he heads back to Indiana. Off to the waters we go—let’s see what the Gloria Marie and the day bring our way!
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
SIGNS:
· Oneofthepack up at 4:50 AM for meet up at 6 AM at Gulf Outlet Mariner, Loveofthepack up 5:15 AM for her meet up at Lakefront to do Big Easy Halloween ½ Marathon run. Do not know about others, but getting up at 5 anything to do anything takes a lot of dedication, me understand going fishing, cannot fathom to go running. But that is what makes the world go around, and opposites do attract, plus we both be Scorpios , never did see a comment on marriage of 2 Scorpios, but we been at it for over58 plus years.
· As me exiting Gtand Champions, a beautiful big bunny rabbit crossed me path now that be a good sign.
· Made it to Gulf Outlet with 1 minute to spare.
· Big Ronnie already had live shrimp on board, boat in water just waiting for me to board.
· The parking lot had 15-20 trailers in it, looked like it was going to be a busy day on water.
· We headed in the dark, not a fan of this, then we hit the fog, not a fan of that either, between the two we picked our way down Bayou Bievenue, right at the Dyke canal it cleared and we where able to open the Gloria Marie up, cursing at 28-30 mph we made it to Lake B in no time to start our fun day of fishing.
CONDITIONS:
· Perfect
· Wind, N.N.W> 2-4, H. 6-8 mph.
· Water status / conditions: little ripples
· Sky, sunny & clear
· Temp, cool, mild, warm.
· Water level, down 4-6”
· Water Temp , 74.12 F
· Salinity, 4.4
· Specific Conductance 8060
· Pressure, 30.24 R
· Water clarity on a scale of 1-7, 4 minus
· Mississippi gauge: 2.46’
· Caernarvon Outfall: 5.93 ft3/s
· Tide, Rising slack, started to fall slowly.
· Peak tide, 00.06 L .26’
· Peak tide, 19:23 H .95’
· Major Feed Time: 08:24 / 20:51
· Minor feed time: 03:16 / 17:51
· Tidal Coefficient: 58
· Fish Activity
· Average Activity
· Boats out and about, 40 plus
· 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 Gloria Marie and the Mercury 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.
· Follow Big Ronnie’s plan “A”, “B”, & “C” try various techniques & presentations as the day went along.
· Bring some live shrimp, based on Big Pablo intel they be needed.
· Fish long & hard, create memories so that when Big Ronnie returns to Indiana later in the week it will hold him over to he returns to Louisiana for more fishing memories later in the fall.
· Bring home some fishes for Big Ronnie’s inventory of eating delights.
· Find a spot # with the seven fundamentals / criteria of catching:
1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (Wind not a factor today, wind even helped us move along rocks in search of the elusive Silverwonders & Redwarriors.)
2 MOVING WATER: (This criterion was the challenge of the day, did not have much movement, even in the locks had very little movement, me like moving water so we have current lines to fish, and have our corks move with water as we pop them along.)
3 WATER CALRITY: ( 4 minus not that bad, but still a little sandy looking, most times in MRGO its crystal clear)
4 HOLDING FISH: (Lake B rocks, MRGO rocks, coming from Lake B, first turn we hit birds diving in 25 feet of water, caught a few there too.)
5 PATIENCES: (Early bites, sun came up and it was over, then it was one here and there, nice action in MRGO trolling rocks in a short distance we laded 5, and missed the monster, then it was on to plan “C”.)
6 SKILL: (Popping cork, Tigh lining, Trolling, we did it all today)
7 LUCKS: (having Rabbit cross me path)
· Oneofthepack’s repertoire of Techniques / presentations:
· Anchor up cast & retrieve slowly along the bottom, with a twitch every now and then, tight lining…………………………………Did 2% of catching.
· 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 ……..Did 85% of catching.
· Lake P Troll (LPT)…………….Did 3% of catching.
· Drop shot: Did not try.
· Dead bait……None
· Live bait………………Did 10% of catching.
· Used 4 of our 10 techniques / presentations to catch fish today, some days we use them all, always good to have a bunch to make the day a catching day. Sometimes it is not the spot that is the problem, it is the technique / presentation.
· 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……………Nothing.
· 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 90% of catching today:
§ 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 …..Did not try.
· Trolling rattle traps, no trailers, caught 5 missed monster.
AREAS / SPOTS / NUMBERS ON THE MAP FISHED:
· Lake B Big Pablo spot (20)t, (4)r MRGO rocks, (4) t, Bayou Bienvenue locks, both locks. Stopped fishing around 1:11 pm.
OUR REWARDS:
· Lived to fish another day.
· (27) Silverwonders, 19 Miniwonders
· (5) Redwarriors, 4 Ratworriers
· (1) Bass
· (1) Needle fish
· (5) Catfish
· Missed (2) NMRs
· Missed a monster trolling rattle traps along rocks in MRGO.
· Plan “A”, “B”, & “C” all produced fish
· Great peanut butter & pineapple sandwich along with some chips, thank to Petite Gloria, me needed that.
· Being on the water with one of the best fisherpersons me know, that be Big Ronnie
· Fishing out of the Gloria Marie!
· Lessons learned:
§ Gloria Marie and Oneofthepack don’t jell well on the water. We’re both quite unstable in terms of balance, which makes maneuvering around the boat tricky. It’s hard enough for me to move from one spot to another, let alone consider standing up without feeling like I might lose my balance. On top of that, I started getting some serious leg cramps during our trip, and without much space to stretch them out properly, it made things even more uncomfortable. Altogether, the setup is tough to handle, and it makes the experience more challenging than enjoyable.
§ Trolling rattle traps , (no trailers) along MRGO a viable option in catching.
§ Trying to follow up on intel from day before is a challenge in getting same results.
§ Birds diving in Bayou Bievenue in 25 feet of water, we are catching Silverwonders with a cork 30-36” deep.
§ Cork fishing & rocks do not go together.
§ Lake P trestles had a lot of boats along it, saw one boat trolling
· Best fishing trip of my life, until the next one.
FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:
Big Ronnie takes the honors today, early AM he on, ,on, on, trolling rattle traps, he on, on, on, locks we both got skunked, got extra point for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, w/chips and got MEGA points for plan “A”, “B”, & “C”.
Oneofthepack was still suffering from LSU lost, me attitude was that no win / no fish, even seeing rabbit on way out of subdivision did not help with me feeling of how our trip would go. But like the game played, we fished and got better results.
SUGGESTIONS:
It is that time of year, catching is in the air from Hopedale, Delacroix, Bayou Bienvenue, Lake B, Lake C , and Lake P, it is only going to get better & better for the next (7) months plan and use your days accordingly.
Birds are all over the Chef area!
“You go to go to know.”
PONDER OF THE DAY:
“Fish out of your imagination, not your history”
Q&A:
What do you think could be done to improve the catching?
TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:
Big Ronnie still on a mission to get as much fishing in as possible before he returns to Indiana, so we set up for a trip Wednesday to our Disney World known as Delacroix Island abord the Bay Flay Sr. The rest of the week me booked up with other commitments so no fishing in that future, until then:
Good Fishing
Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack
釣り先生
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Some nice fatties there.