Redwarriors feeding frenzy Delacroix Way

TEAM JO-JO:

We took off the water far too long — long enough for me to start having full-blown fishing withdrawal symptoms. I was pacing like a redfish in a bait pen, and the only cure I knew was to get the Bay Flat Sr wet again.

So, I called up Big Rudy, the man with the magic touch, to see what day worked for him. Turns out today — Wednesday — lined up for both of us. With a first mate locked in, the trip was a go. Destination: our personal Disney World, the one and only Delacroix Island.

Now, truth be told, the last few trips hadn’t been of the “loading the ice chest” variety. More like the “talking to the birds and enjoying the scenery” variety. So our expectations for today were set about as low as the tide at dead slack. But that’s never stopped Team Jo-Jo before, because we live by one simple truth:

“You Got to Go to Know!”

We knew the boat ride alone would be therapy, the marsh air would be medicine, and any tug on the line would be just the bonus we needed. Whether we filled the box or just filled our souls, Delacroix was calling — and we were answering.

SIGNS:                            

·         Me no fish at card game, me up .80 %  of “C” note up , look out Gus Net & Tackle here me come!

·         Me mood, (which has been bad) needed some adjustment; fishing has been great but catching has been a little off for Oneofthepack.

·         Tuesday movie night with family, Freaky Friday, not my cup of tea for sure

·         Early to bed

·         Up at 3:30 AM for our 4:30 AM meet up at our abode in Grand Champion  in Oak Harbor area.

·         Waffle House still closed for repairs, hat is our meeting place, but now at our abode.

·         No wildlife sightings along Hwy 11 or 90

·         Few boats on Hwy, gas stations and/or boat launches

·         I had to stop at McDonalds and needed some breakfast, #4 meals, no cheeses and large Dr Pepper, Big Rudy no need nothing.

·         Check point Alpha water level in canal at junction down 3-4”

·         Check point Bravo, tide slack in Regio canal, and bait man had his net up.

·         Reaching the home of the Bay Flat Sr, took us no time to load her up.

·         Yamaha Dream Machine fired right up, like she is just a hot lady.

·         Motored over to Lionel’s for go juice.

·         Decision time where to go, being captain me decided on Team Jo-Jo spot # 21, get all the credit , get all the criticism for fishing / catching trip.

CONDITIONS:

·          Perfect

·         Wind, W.S.W. 2-3, S.W. 3-6, W.S.W.6-8 mph.

·         Water status / conditions: Slight chops, flat calm

·         Sky, sunny & clear

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

·         Water level, down 3-4”

·         Water Temp , 83.5 F

·         Salinity,  1.5

·         Specific Conductance 2870 

·         Pressure,  29.95 R

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

·         Mississippi gauge: 5.40’ falling.

·         Caernarvon Outfall:        500     ft3/s

·         Tide, tail end of rising, slack, started to fall.

·         Peak tide, 02:01 L 0.43’

·         Peak tide, 07:25 H .53’

·         Peak tide 15:00 L 0.30’

·         Major Feed Time:  09:08 / 21:24

·         Minor feed time:   10:20 / 21:54

·         Tidal Coefficient:   86

·         Fish Activity

·          Average

·         Boats out and about,  NONE! Glad we have SeaTow!!!!!!

·      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.

·         Go cause :You got to know what you know”!

·         Find & figure out Redwarriors, use our diary to help put us in right place.

·         Bring home some fish for Petiet Yana

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

1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (Wind not a factor, not much to be concerned with, did help keep us comfortable re: heat)

2 MOVING WATER: (Taild end of rising tide, slack, started to fall, perfect it be. We did have to deal with a big matt of snot grass; tide would not move out of way.)

3 WATER CALRITY: (A 3 minus, not the best but fish did not seem to matter at all)

4 HOLDING FISH:  (Team Jo-Jo spot # 21)

5 PATIENCES: (Arrived at 6:38, at 6:55 first Redwarrior in boat, took a while, and a very small move then it was on,on,on,on,on,on,on, on, on !!!!!!!)

6 SKILL: (Tight lining lures along bottom with current, matching jig head weight with force of current.)

7 LUCKS: (Staying with our float plan “A”, “B” was going to be Lake Campo and Deer Island!

·      Oneofthepack’s repertoire of Techniques / presentations:

·         Anchor up cast & retrieve slowly along the bottom, with a twitch every now and then, tight lining…………………………………100% caught this technique  presentation!

·         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)…………….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……………All fish caught this rig, we did use ¼ oz. with slack tide but when tide picked up we switched to 3/8 oz, jig heads.

·         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 …..Caught 4!.

AREAS / SPOTS / NUMBERS ON THE MAP FISHED:

Team Jo-Jo spot # 21, only one needed today!

OUR REWARDS:

·         Lived too fish another day.

·         (0) Silverwonders

·         (25) Redwarriors

·         (11) Banana fish

·         Snicker bar for Oneofthepack.

·         (2) Bushel f grass, of ethe snot variety, nasty stuff it be

·         Spice water to minimize dehydration.

·         Easy fast trip, beat the sun coming up, back at Bay Flat Sr  homeport for 9:30

·         Being on the water with the best fisherperson I now that be Big Rudy

·         Lessons learned:

§  GPS works; Big Rudy got it to work.

§  Got go juice from Lionel, they be open today.

§  Water clarity a 3 minus

§  Reds are to heavy to try and flip on

§  Always best to have extra rods, see picture broke one trying to flip it in.

§  Gus Net & Tackle replaced it no questions asked, me like that, it was a new rod, St Croix 6-foot rod.

§  Figured Redwarriors out, I had to make a small movie to find the Hot SPOT, (operative word SPOT!!!!)

§  As we motored down main bayou, Big Rudy mentioned that he checked his diary and that we caught some last year at Lake Campo & Deer Island.

·         Heard him, but me already had a float plan in me head, and I looked at my fishing diary, and all indicated Team Jo-Jo spot # 21 was going to be the spot now and in future.

·         It is good to be the captain.

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

FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:

It was a back & forth type day, Oneofthepack caught first & last Redwarrior, had 3-4 over slot Redwarrior, and (2)Ratworriers, caught my fair share of slot Redwarriors too.

Big Rudy at one time had me 5 to 2, and most of his was slots that made the box, Big Rudy had biggest, had 3-4 over slot size, had some Ratworriers, but once we made a short move, it was on, on, on  and me think me may have caught up.

Being Captain , (Nice to be captain) me call it a tie for Fisherperson of  the day today.

SUGGESTIONS:

“You got to go to know.”

Find a combination of where a lot of bait is located, at a point that is dumping water from a sallow area into a channel, throw up on shallow side of channel edge , into deep water’ work lure down as current moves bac to you.

Match your jig head with current force, you want lure to glide along bottom and down channel edge.

PONDER OF THE DAY:

"They say there are plenty of fish in the sea, but for me, Loveofthepack is the only catch."

Q&A:

What one day do you wish you could re-live from your fishing childhood? 

TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:

No plan, have Team Jo-Jo’s Fishing Curriculum Session this coming Saturday, may make a trip Friday, until then:

Good Fishing

Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack

釣り先生

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