Lake P Journey

TEAM JO-JO:

First mate Big Rudy has been under the weather lately, sidelined and off the water longer than he or I would like. Our last trip together felt like a distant memory, and as any seasoned angler knows — the longer you're off the water, the louder it calls your name.

But good news — Big Rudy is back in action, feeling much better, and itching to do battle with the big girls of Lake P. He's got that look in his eye again — the one that says, “Let’s ride, let’s troll, and let’s roll the dice with those trestle pilings.”

With the Bay Flat Jr tuned up, and the Lake P troll technique locked and loaded in our minds, we’re ready to return to the scene of so many past glories. This isn’t just fishing — it’s precision trolling, where every pass under the trestles is a dance with Silverwonders, and every hang-up on the pilings means you’re fishing right.

We’ve both been watching the wind, checking the tides, and now that the timing feels just right — Team Jo-Jo is sliding back into the Lake P groove. Expect drags to scream, rods to bend, and stories to be told.

Let’s just say… the Silverwonders better be ready — because Big Rudy sure is.

SIGNS:                            

·         Had a good trip with Big Bob Tuesday

·         Did not have to clean fish

·         Made a late run to Walmart got (36) snap swivels

·         Made up 16 plus Lake P Troll fabricated rigs, including a snap swivel on each one that helps minimize the twist that develops in trailers as they go through water.

·         Up at 5 for our 6 am meet up

·         Early start

·         Bay Flat Jr & Yamaha Nightmare Machine did a great job for us out & back no issues

·         Trolled trestles from FB-2 to FB-5 in that area had the least boats fishing at that time.

CONDITIONS:

·          Perfect

·         Wind, S.S.E. 6-8, S.E. 6-8, S,S,E, 9-10 mph

·         Water status / conditions: Heavy to light chop

·         Sky, Sunney & clear

·         Temp, mild, warm, hot

·         Water level, down 12-14”

·         Water Temp , 74.7 F

·         Salinity,  3.2

·         Specific Conductance 5800 

·         Pressure,  30.08 R

·         Water clarity on a scale of 1-7,  a 6

·         Mississippi gauge: 15-.04’ rising

·         Caernarvon Outfall:        586     ft3/s

·         Tide, falling

·         Peak tide, 09:01  L  0.36’

·         Peak tide, 17:42  H  0.72’

·         Peak tide, 18:46  L  .72’

·         Major Feed Time: 07:36 / 02:38

·         Minor feed time:   19:54 / 13:35

·         Tidal Coefficient:   65

·         No birds diving

·         Not much bait in water

·         Fish Activity

·          Average Activity   

·         Boats out and about,  60-75 all models, types, & size

·      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 Jr 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 big gris out & about

·         Perfect our Lake P Troll technique / presentation

·         See if mid-Lake had any action

·         Bring fish home for petite Yana

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

1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (WE had a little more mph then expected, but what is new this year, did not hamper our quest, and keep us cool.)

2 MOVING WATER: (Falling slowly, picked up as day went along, we called it at 10:00 am just was not feeling it)

3 WATER CALRITY: (a 6 had a little sandy look to it)

4 HOLDING FISH:  (Hwy 11 bridge)

5 PATIENCES: (Took all of 1 minute for me to hook up on a nice NMR, followed up by Big Rudy’s mule for the day, action was steady until the crowd showed up and took over our trolling track/path)

6 SKILL: (Lake  Troll technique / presentation)

7 LUCKS: (Got a hour of trolling before water got skinny to troll)

·      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 ……..DID NOT TRY

·         Lake P Troll (LPT)…………….All fish caught this way.

·         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, ……All fish caught with this lures / rig.

·         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:

Hwy 11 bridge / mid-lake

OUR REWARDS:

·         Lived too fish another day.

·         (19) Silverwonders, 4 Miniwonders

·         (4) Flounders

·         (2) NMR’s lost to hang ups’

·         Had (2) doubles all keepers

·         6-8 hang ups lost (3)  Lake P Troll rigs.

·         Goit me nicker bars

·         Being on the water with the best fisherperson me know that be big Rudy.

·         We came in early , (10:00am) ran out of water to troll in.

·         Lessons learned:

§  Small ones, big ones, horses, mules none are safe from Big Rudy he shows no mercy to any of them.

§  The rolling area is getting very crowed, and some of them don’t know how to troll in traffic

§  Big girls may be relocating, a lot where MIA this day

§  Mid-lake produces a few had one double in mid-lake

§  Running low on Lake P troll components, (i.e.. Trailers, 3.4 oz, jig heads, was going to make a trip to Gus Net & Tackel, word is he is out too, this is not good

§  Also ran out of prefabricated Lake P Troll rigs, made up 16 Wednesday evening, that is a total of 64 plus knots me had to tie to make them, wish me could but them already made up.

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

FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:

Nothing out of the norm, Big Rudy got on a run of which me could not match, caught biggest, last, most , and even brought the snickers bars with him, Big Rudy be fisherperson of the day.

Oneofthepack was just Oneofthepack, managed (2) doubles for the day and a flounder or two.

SUGGESTIONS:

Water getting skinny out there to troll in, be patient, respectful, and keep your cool!

PONDER OF THE DAY:

“Anytime I can sneak in a moment to fish and play cards, I’m a happy camper!”

Q&A:

If you lived in a , (fishing) virtual reality world of your own creation, what would it look like?

TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:

Back at them in the AM, Big Tony & Oneofthepack to give and make a run at the big NMR girls again, until then:

Good Fishing

Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack

釣り先生

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