SKUNKED at its best
- Stanley Fink
- Jul 20
- 6 min read
TEAM JO-JO:
Team Jo-Jo Fishing Curriculum Session – Mission Ignition!
Team Jo-Jo's latest Fishing Curriculum Session was nothing short of electric — a lively, productive gathering packed to the gills with valuable intel, shared experiences, tried-and-true techniques, and a few legendary fish stories that just keep getting better with age. It was the kind of session where teaching and learning flowed like the tides, and the energy in the room could have powered a trolling motor!
With that much knowledge exchanged and enthusiasm ignited, it didn’t take long for the fishing urge to strike. So it came as no surprise that following all the talk, tactics, and tales, Big Rudy and Oneofthepack hatched a plan right then and there — they would put theory into practice and make a run the very next morning (Sunday) to Lake Pontchartrain, with a mission to troll the iconic train trestles in pursuit of the elusive Silverwonders.
The plan was simple: capitalize on the fresh strategies and location updates discussed at the session, combine them with their own time-tested techniques, and let the Bay Flat Jr do what she does best — glide, seek, and conquer. Lake P’s trestles have long been a battlefield for Team Jo-Jo, and today, they returned armed with new insight and a deep hunger for success.
With poles rigged, lines tight, and GPS coordinates locked in, they set out as the sun cracked the horizon, chasing shadows beneath the bridge and reading the water like a well-worn map. Whether the bite was hot or the fish played coy, one thing was certain: the real reward was already underway — the thrill of the hunt, the quiet rhythm of the troll, and the echoes of laughter from the day before still ringing in their ears.
Stay tuned — the fish may not stand a chance after what was shared in that room.
SIGNS:
· Great Team Jo-Jo Saturday session.
· Made time to post video of session
· Early to bed
· Up at 4:30 AM for our 5 AM meet up at The Pointe
· Saw (2) bubby rabbits alongside the road, they not moving just sitting
· Big Rudy pulled up right behind me
· Took one pull to start Yamaha Nightmare Machine
· Off to Lake P trestles to start our morning of fishing & catching
CONDITIONS:
· Perfect
· Wind, W.S.W. 6-8, W, 6-8 mph.
· Water status / conditions: heavy to slight chop
· Sky, sunny & clear
· Temp, warm – warmer, we came in at 8:30 no bites and to beat heat
· Water level, up 6-8”
· Water Temp , 87.3 F
· Salinity, 2.7
· Specific Conductance 5030
· Pressure, 30.08 R
· Water clarity on a scale of 1-7, 7 minus, looked great
· Mississippi gauge: 7.13’ falling, like it hope it geos lower, minimize impact on Delacroix
· Caernarvon Outfall: 611 ft3/s
· Tide, Rising hard
· Peak tide, 10:00 H .65’
· Peak tide, 22:54 L 0.30’
· Major Feed Time: 08:40 / 20:29
· Minor feed time: 01:13 / 15:55
· Tidal Coefficient: 57 low it be, me believe higher the better for catching
· Small minnows by the 1,ooo’s birds diving but not bite actions
· Fish Activity
· Averag Activity
· Boats out and about, 10 – 12, we only troller
· 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 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.
· Cure our itch to fish & catch
· See if BIG girls are still around
· Practice our Lake P Troll technique
· Find a spot # with the seven fundamentals / criteria of catching:
1 WIND AT YOUR BACK: (Not a factor, had some nice waves to negotiate, but no impact ability to troll.)
2 MOVING WATER: (End of rising tide, raised all morning.
3 WATER CALRITY: (6 plus, looked real good, clean, clear and dark just the way me like it.)
4 HOLDING FISH: (Kenny’s Seafood)
5 PATIENCES: (Needed plenty 2 ½ hours trolling not a bite / strike, highlight was hanging up on pilings.)
6 SKILL: (Knowing when to call it a day)
7 LUCKS: (Beng able to be Spending the morning doing what we love)
· 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)…………….Nothing!!!!!! / Skunked.
· 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, ……Nothing !!!!!!!!!!!Skunked.
· 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:
Lake P Eastofmrgo’s favorite five-mile reef known as the trestles. We fish east & west side of it, troll north & trolled south form draw bridge south to mile markers 174 & beyond, from draw bridge north to FB2, not a bite not a strike did we get,
OUR REWARDS:
· Lived too fish another day.
· (0) NMR Silverwonders
· (0) Redwarriors
· (0) Flounder
· (0) Fish
· (0) Bites / strikes / hits
· (6) piling hook ups, (our best bites of the day) lost (2) Lake P Troll rigs
· Got my Snickers bar
· Early out / early in trip
· (20) Plus boats out & about, did not see one fish caught
· Trolled for 2 ½ hours, 6 miles of trestles, trolled north to south, trolled south to north. Trolled west side trestles, trolled east side of trestles, NOTHING!!!!!!!
· Lessons learned:
§ Just like they say, “Elvis has left the building” same, same “Silverwonders have left the trestles” and they both will surely missed by many.
§ Trailer lights have problem, work sometimes, and not at others, me think the FORD transporter is the problem / culprit must get it fixed
§ Yamaha Nightmare Machine doesn’t like no getting go juice, she was acting up and shutdown, me was concerned, then me noticed fuel like came off motor, hooked back up, off we go.
· Best fishing trip of my life, until the next one.
FISHERPERSON OF THE DAY:
Fishes take todays honor, they managed to ignore our Lake P Troll rigs, along with all the live shrimp being thrown at them by other boats.
SUGGESTIONS:
Don’t do what we did!
Silverwonder may have left and they may not have left, we could not make it happen today, but “You got to go to know”. We will give it one more shot before we wright trestles off or awhile, like a month or two.
PONDER OF THE DAY:
Well, this day was a waste of bait!
Q&A:
What was one of the most interesting fishing trips you’ve been on?
TEAM JO-JO’S future stratagem:
Monday trip with Big William, (Grandsonoftehpack) and his friend, heading out to Lake P to try our Luck.
Wednesday trip with Big Rudy aboard his Avid, heading to causeway to expand our fishing challenge / areas/s we fish.
Until then:
Good Fishing
Team Jo-Jo & Oneofthepack
釣り先生
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