CatchN1 with Captain Casey
Fishing Louisiana Style
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Minimalist or Maximus??
This year’s Minimalist Challenge, put on by Bayou Coast
Kayak Fishing Club, turned out to be one for the record books. With a record amount of anglers, a record
amount of weight at the scales, and a record sell out time, anglers from all
over Louisiana showed up at the public launch in Leeville to take part in what
some call, the best little tournament of the year.
The Minimalist Challenge is exactly what its name portrays;
anglers show up with nothing but their rods, reels, and kayaks and then are
given the lures they are allowed to use.
This year anglers received a topwater, by MirrOlure, and 5 soft plastics
and jig heads by Matrix Shad, which according to every angler I spoke with, is
the best combination of lures the tournament has ever had.
As 125 anglers sat floating in the holding area awaiting the
blast off horn, the breeze slowed, hats came off, and the voices silenced as
Bill Crawford began to speak. Bill, also
known as Revredfish, said a prayer to guide us all in our endeavors, to bless
the fleet, and most all to recognize the passing of Capt. Kristen Wray. Kristen was a pioneer to the sport of kayak
fishing in and around the Grand Isle area.
Kristen and her husband Danny operated Calmwater Charters and were known
to many as the founders and operators of the famed Ride the Bull kayak fishing
tournament. Kristen was instrumental in
developing, growing, and educating many about the sport of kayak fishing in and
around Grand Isle. While Kristen lost
the battle with cancer her memory will continue to live on. At last year’s Ride the Bull tournament a
kayak only launch was dedicated in the name of Kristen and Danny Wray, so the
next time you venture down to Ludwig lane on Grand Isle to launch your yak in
search of that catch of a lifetime, think about Kristen and all she’s done to
aid in the welcoming of the yak community, because I know she will be looking
down upon all of us in our little plastic boats.
As the prayer ended and the horn blew, all you could see
were little white lights moving in stealth throughout the marsh and down the
main channels. For the first time ever
it seemed that the weather gods had shined down among the participants, the
weather was perfect, cool, light winds, good tidal range, and perfect water
conditions. I knew the results were
going to be ground breaking.
As I pedaled my Hobie back toward the launch, I could
already see 50 plus people standing in line with weigh bags and ice chest. This was a scene I haven’t seen in at least 4
years in the tournament. Usually the
winds are horrible, the water is low, and weight numbers for this event aren’t
always good, and rarely ever great, but today was a new day, and based on the
line, there were a lot of fish that were going to be hitting the scales.
I talked with many anglers, some had beautiful reds and
couldn’t find trout, some had limits of beautiful trout and couldn’t find reds,
and then there was a handful of those that found the gold under the rainbow and
were standing in line holding 5 fat red fish and 25 nice trout. Now keep in mind that’s 30 keeper fish and
likely another 20 to 30 throw back fish that didn’t make the cut, all caught on
only 6 lures, talk about some plastics that can hold up to a challenge.
After hours of fish being weighed the results were finally
in and only ounces separated the first and second place finish, and with a
total 125 anglers and a total weight of over 1200 lbs. of fish, it’s easy to
say that this is the most successful Minimalist Challenge to ever hit the
books. Both first and second place had weights broke the 42 lbs mark, and
second place only had 4 reds, but he did have a pile of heavy trout. As tired as everyone was from a full day of
fishing, I have to recognize the tournament director and weigh master, they
both fished the event, they both caught fish, and they both worked tirelessly
for nearly 3 hours at the scales measuring and weighing every fish that came
in. Without commitment and volunteerism
like those that run the Bayou Coast Club, there is no way these events would be
possible. Thank you guys!
I can’t help but think about the passing of Capt. Kristen as
I put this piece together. I have stayed
many nights over the years with Kristen and Danny at their home in Grand Isle
talking about strategies, locations, family and life in general and I have to
believe that with years of foul weather for this particular event, that
Kristen, likely sitting in a yak upstairs in the sky, had something to do with
the perfect conditions that fell upon us that day. You will be missed by many,
but forgotten by no one
Winners of the MC 9 took home over $2900 and weighed in over
1200 lbs of fish
Steve Lessard 1, Steve Neece 2, Clayton Shilling 3, Kevin
May 4, Josh Reppel 5, big fish Josh Reppel, Leopard red Wayne Lobb
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Making a Transition from Fresh to Salt, Pro Style
Ever sat in front of the TV and watched professional bass anglers go at it on the water, their attention to detail and the speed at which they make decisions is amazing. As they scan their depth finders and study the ground contours, water depths and temperatures, they quickly put together a game plan and go to work. With a dozen rods neatly placed on the deck, endless amounts of tackle stacked and organized in compartments throughout the boat leaving them thousands of options to comb through every second, their minds are racing through a constant checklist of the next lure to try, the next stump to attack, color changes, weight changes, line changes, the options are endless. While some people watch these shows and fool themselves into thinking that they too would catch big fish if they were fishing exclusive bodies of water, another group of viewers think, man, if I could have one day on the water with a pro, I would ask questions about every cast, bait choice, target choice, and anything else they think might possibly give them an edge up on the fish and on surrounding anglers.
Well this month I got to put all of those questions to rest
when I had a ride along with a local professional. Captain Matt McCabe of Pro Edge Fishing is a
local saltwater charter captain that specializes in chasing speckled trout
throughout the Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding areas, but what a lot of
people don’t know about Matt is that he spent 12 years on the pro bass fishing
circuits competing in the Bass Master Southern and Central open divisions. Matt’s knowledge of the saltwater was limited
growing up as his focus was always on the prized largemouth bass, but since
leaving the tour in 2009, Matt quickly turned his education to speckled trout
and that turn has earned him a successful charter business. What Matt may have lacked in youthful trout
knowledge was outweighed by his attention to detail and desire to be
successful.
Our trip started well before the sun even considered waking
up, as we rolled out of Southshore Bait and Marina, the 300 Yamaha was purring
and just waiting for the throttle to hammer down and push the 24 foot Skeeter
on its way. As a cold front had just
rolled through and the temperatures plummeted nearly 20 degrees and the wind
was blowing a solid 20 knots, I knew the day was going to be a tough one, but
in the back of my mind, I knew I was with a captain that had endured these
types of fronts in the past. Finally the
hammer fell and we were off through the darkness and up the intercostal
waterway to battle the elements and conquer Mother Nature. On a cold New Year’s Eve day, I originally
thought we were going to fish the “great wall”, but as we passed under the
famed “green Monster” I knew we were going into unchartered waters for me. As Matt eased up on the horses and the
Skeeter began to come off plane, he was constantly glued to his depth finder,
not his GPS, but his sonar. He quickly
pointed out we were in 40 feet of water and to watch the bottom as it was going
to gradually come up. At the point of
about 30 feet he shut down the engine, dropped the trolling motor and gave me a
play by play of what the bottom contour was going to do. As he walked me through the play by play I
was constantly glued to the screen, until he mentioned that we could start
fishing. He followed that up with, “we
can catch a few fish here, but where they really sit is about 150 yards up
where a small cut out of the ledge is sitting.”
I looked at the shoreline and the rocks nearby, but nothing to my eyes
could explain a cut out in the ledge.
Matt didn’t know exactly what created the missing section of the ledge,
but he knew where it was and he knew there would be fish there. As we worked the drop off and the deeper flat
above jigging Matrix shad on 3/8 and ½ oz jig heads boating a few fish here and
there we approached the “spot”. Matt
turned and said, “Watch this,” and with his next cast boated a nice trout that
went between 3 & 4 lbs. He was
right, he knew where they would be stacked up, and as we drifted over and
around the area, it was clear as daylight on the sonar, it was one of those
things you just wouldn’t come across if you’re not familiar with your
electronics.
Electronics is one of Matt’s greatest assets; he is a big
believer that in deep water and waters with any type of contour or cover
underneath, that your electronics can help result in either filling the box or
just covering the bottom of it. Matt
uses a Lowrance touch screen model because their system is user friendly and
their commands stay the same from one unit to the next, but taking his
knowledge of sonar use from his bass fishing days over into the saltwater arena
has really allowed him to learn things that a lot of other anglers just overlook. Matt can actually run his trolling motor
until he finds the fish on his Lowrance, turn the boat around, choose a lure
weight that falls to his specifics, and count it down until it’s sitting face
to face with a speckled trout, and while some people that are not knowledgeable
on sonar units may not believe this, I actually witnessed it. It can be done, and Matt can do it.
Matt is a big believer in fluorocarbon line and if you need
convincing he is happy to oblige. Matt
landed 4 trout in the boat before I landed one.
I knew he was a flouro guy and so am I, the only difference was he uses
pure flouro and I use a flouro 7 foot leader mated to braid, well needless to
say after being shown up for nearly an hour, I decided to start using one of
his rods that was spooled with straight flouro.
We actually did a little test prior to my hard headed transition and it
turns out that my lure was falling several seconds behind his lure, we chalked
that up to the buoyant properties of braid vs sinking flouro. These are the little subtleties that many
don’t ever grab hold too, and that’s just one of the advantages to getting into
the boat with not just a charter captain, but with one that’s spent a decade
competing for a living; this guy knows the little things that make a huge
difference.
After a few spots and the temperatures and wind continuing
to drop we decided to call it a day, after all it was New Year’s Eve and we
both had plans. Given the conditions and
the amount of fish in the box it was more than a good day, it was a great
one. Captain Matt is a true professional
in both knowledge and people skills, he does what he does to make others happy
and he has a great time doing it. It’s
not every day you find someone that loves his job, but when you’re with Matt;
it’s obvious he’s one of the few.
What’s your favorite way to fish?
Drop shot, I learned
it on Smith Mountain Lake in Georgia and it’s landed me more bass than I can
count. Bringing the drop shot into trout
fishing has really allowed my clients an exciting way to fish without watching
a cork.
What was your biggest challenge transitioning from Bass
Fishing for a living to Saltwater fishing for a living?
Learning the tidal
ranges, figuring out when and where to be on falling tides and rising tides in
different areas of the lake
Who was your biggest influencer or mentor when you
transitioned to trout fishing?
Chas Champagne was a
big mentor for years, he was an educator and a friend that really helped me
move forward learning speckled trout habits.
Mike Gallo of Angling
Adventures of Louisiana, Mike has been a teacher, a coach, and a business
professor. He has taught me all about
the saltwater industry and the business side of it all. I am not sure I would
have grown to where I am today without Mike in my corner.
What’s the best part of being a Charter Captain?
The kids, it’s all
about the kids. Getting a kid on the
boat and teaching him about more than just video games and seeing them smile
holding up their fish is just a pure joy to me. I take part in a lot of
charities and kid events because it’s the kids of today that are going to stand
up for all of us tomorrow.
Do you still have
sponsors that carried over from your bass fishing days to your chartering?
Well, Dockside marine
is my greatest supporter, but I am also on the pro teams for Skeeter, Yamaha,
and Seatow. I support a lot of products like Matrix Shad and Boss Outdoors, I
stick with companies whose products I believe in and actually use.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Fast Trout Action in Nasty Weather//Video
In the Final weeks of December, I had the opportunity to host good friend and great angler Craig Dye, of Last Cast Productions, down in Delacroix, la. As a kind gesture Craig went home and made a short clip of what the day was all about.
Conditions were in the lower 50s and a strong north wind was blowing along with a 1.2 foot falling tide. We caught everything on Matrix Shad and Rockport Rattler jig heads and Live shrimp. We didn't have to travel far from Sweetwater Marina to get into the action and we finished off a 50 speck limit before 9 am. From specks we moved on to some shaded sight fishing, but as you can see in the video, Craig was successful. Just click the pic below to get started on a 2 minute clip of a lot of fish.
Until Next Time,
Stay Safe & Catch1
Conditions were in the lower 50s and a strong north wind was blowing along with a 1.2 foot falling tide. We caught everything on Matrix Shad and Rockport Rattler jig heads and Live shrimp. We didn't have to travel far from Sweetwater Marina to get into the action and we finished off a 50 speck limit before 9 am. From specks we moved on to some shaded sight fishing, but as you can see in the video, Craig was successful. Just click the pic below to get started on a 2 minute clip of a lot of fish.
Until Next Time,
Stay Safe & Catch1
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Get ready for January and the Minimalist Challenge?????
We have waited way too long for the waters around south Louisiana
to reach the 50 degree mark, but it’s finally here. In the first week of January, over two nights,
the water temps dropped from 66 to 51 degrees in some parts. That drop is what many of us in the kayak
community have been waiting for. Days
where you don’t have to leave an hour before the sun, where you can chase trout
all day rather than redfish, and where you have to remind yourself to drink
enough water, because you’re not sweating like you did on Christmas day.
If you are chasing trout, now is the time. The trout transition into our interior
marshes started over a month ago, but the congregation of trout has been
minimal. You could go out there and
drift flats popping a cork, but the nonstop action has been minimal. Well, with the water temps now in the normal
range for where they should be, there shouldn’t be any problem finding schooled
up trout. Whether you are jigging the
draining marsh into Bayou Terre aux Boeufs or finding deep canals down in
Leeville, the action should be hot.
The easiest way to fill your bag this month is to find an
area where the marsh is draining into a deeper canal; this is an easy location
for stacked trout. Another good saying I
heard years ago that has held true when waters reach the low 50s is “when the water gets colder, fish over
oysters.” I am not exactly sure where I heard that saying, but it holds
true when the water temps drop.
Get ready for low tides, cold weather, and some fun camaraderie.
If you are fishing this month’s Minimalist Challenge down in
Leeville, your best bet for pulling off a win is to fill your bag with a limit
of reds and then chase your trout second.
If you can find some clean water around Lake Jesse and some redfish on
the way, then you are likely going to be in the running for some money. Lake Jesse has been producing some good
numbers of speckled trout lately with jigs and plastics and corky style lures.
If you decide to go south for the tournament, don’t be scared of the graveyard
area, it’s a deep area with lots of snags, but it holds some beautiful fish
this time of year. From Paddle Palooza
to last year’s Minimalist Challenge, there have been a lot of winning fish
pulled from the vicinity and if you don’t know where it’s at, just look for the
sunken barges and boats off the west side when driving across the Bridge to
Fourchon. There are also some solid
areas to fish north of Leeville on the West side that have some deep canals with
flats on each side that are covered with oysters. You will likely find some of the hometown
favorites scouring this area on tournament day and pre-fishing.
If you are staying local this month, Hopedale Lagoon is the
place for steady trout action, that is if the water continues its colder
temperatures. There are oysters spread
out throughout the lagoon and a channel in the middle that you can follow by
the crab trap bouyies. I am a big fan of
jigging matrix shad and quarter ounce or 8th ounce jig heads in the
“goon” but trolling works well too. You
can also usually find a solid bag of reds along the eastern shoreline using
spinner, spoons, or gulp under a cork.
Shell Beach is also another hot location this time of year
for the kayaking community. As duck
season comes to an end there is a lot of marsh areas between the intracoastal
and lake Borgne that hold a lot of red fish, but don’t forget to hit the mouths
of the canals you use to enter the marsh as they sometimes can hold a pile of
speckled trout.
No matter where you go this month make sure to dress heavy,
dress dry, and always have a spare set of clothes tucked under the deck in a
dry bag. I know it can seem like a hassle, but if you happen to fall in, it
will be the best thing you take with you.
Being in 50 degree water with air temps in the 40s is not a recipe for a
good time, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Until Next Time,
Stay Safe & Catch1
December to Remember
While fall fishing took a little longer than usual to kick
in this year, the recent string of cold fronts have definitely had the trout on
the move and their transition into our interior marshes is now in full
force. While they have been showing up
in low numbers in their usual winter spots, the fall areas have been on fire
throughout the gulf areas of the state, it seems every person I talk to is
slinging limits of yellow mouths over the gunnels every day.
This month I had the opportunity to get on the water with
some local superstars, in their own minds of course, and pick their brains
about different topics that they are passionate about. As I arrived at Rigolets Marina an hour
before the sun was set to rise, I was met by Ranger Pro and local guide of In
& Out Charters, Capt. Bubby Lamy, and General Manager, third generation
owner of Double D Meat Co, Josh Stogner.
These are two individuals that want nothing more than to succeed in
everything they do, whether it’s putting fish over the rail for clients, or
making sure that your family is getting the best country smoked sausage there
is, these guys are not only good at what they do, but they are proud of it.
Capt. Bubby is a native of south Louisiana, a family man, a
father of three, an inspiration to many, and a captain that strives to make
sure you’re smiling the entire day on the water. With over 30 years of experience fishing the
waters of Louisiana mixed with a personality so entertaining it’s contagious,
you can’t help but have a good time.
Josh is also a native a south Louisiana, a family man, a
father of two, and a provider to many of us throughout the country when it
comes to the best smoked sausage around.
With more years of experience in the processing industry than he wants
to admit, being the third generation of the family owned Double D Meat Co.,
Josh has worked long and hard to perfect their meats and grow their business
into a national sensation to taste buds, all while carrying on the family
traditions and values that his previous generations started nearly 50 years
ago.
With the sky still black and the wind beginning to blow,
Capt. Bubby pointed the bow of his Ranger Bay 2510 south and let loose on the
300 Yamaha horses and we were on our way.
The throttle stayed steady until we made it to our first destination,
“the wall”. As we arrived at the large
locks, it was a sunrise of great proportions, the sun was shining on the tugs
pushing the barges along the ICW, the tips of the Paris Rd Bridge or “green
monster” were shining, and for a minute it seemed that everything stood
still. But just as I was attempting to
take a few pictures I was reminded by the comical captain that it’s now fishing
time. We made our way to the back corner
section south of the gates and nosed our way slowly closer to the wall, Bubby
and I were jigging Matrix shad in Lemon Head and Limbo Slice, while Josh was
Carolina rigging live shrimp. Within
minutes Josh was hooked up and it didn’t take us long to figure out it wasn’t a
trout as the drag was screaming off the reel.
Josh hooked into a gorgeous redfish that did everything he could in his
attempt to elude the net, he made runs around several crab pot buoys, of which
we had to unwrap by hand while Josh continued to fight the beast, and after
what seemed like 10 minutes, we finally had the first fish in the boat. During this time a couple other boats had
pulled up and started working the back corner of the area. As we high fived and took a few pictures, we
were quick to get back to the task at hand.
Within minutes there were trout flying into the boat from every
direction. After 10 or 15 yellow mouths
in the box, Capt Bubby decided to make a move, his sights weren’t set on just
catching trout, he wanted to catch big trout, and so with that in mind, we
cranked up and moved to another section of the wall about a mile or two away.
As we arrived at location number two, there wasn’t a boat in
sight. Bubby positioned the boat along the wall in an effort to set us all up
working a small ledge in 27 feet of water, and as expected, the trout began
flooding the floor of the Ranger Bay.
These trout were all keepers and a little bigger, but still not what
Bubby was looking for. After about 30
minutes and another 20 trout bubby decided it was time to move again, but this
time he gave us options. Bubby looked at
Josh and asked him if he had ever sight fished reds, and with as straight a
face as one can have, Josh simply said. “Nope, but I’m open for anything.”
That’s all it took, you could see the excitement on Bubby’s
face, he was like a kid on Christmas morning, and I just knew what lied ahead
for Josh was going to be an experience he would never forget.
As we arrived in the middle of nowhere, all you could see
was crystal clear water and marsh grass for miles. Bubby and Josh got in the front of the boat
and I climbed up the T top and was perched like a bald eagle searching for his
next meal. Bubby knew these waters well
and was able to almost point out the fish before we could even see them. With matrix shad hooked up to spinner blades,
the flash and thump was too much for these reds to resist. First it was one red here and one red there,
and then it was schools of reds cornered in the back of ponds. Once Josh got his bearings and understood
what to look for and where in the column the reds were swimming, it didn’t take
him long to get in on the action landing his first sight fished redfish. Within a couple of hours there were three
limits of quality redfish on ice and I’m pretty sure some of the stories
throughout the day will be recalled and shared for years to come.
Running a business is never easy and running a family
business can have added consequences and pressures being you’re becoming part
of something that is bigger than you, and the last person you ever want to let
down is your own family. So with that in
mind, I asked Josh how he became involved in the family run Double D Meat Co,
when did he know he wanted to continue the family tradition, and what keeps him
motivated? Without hesitation, Josh quickly responded, “As a teenager I worked
at the plant during my summer and Christmas breaks from school, so I knew at
that time I wanted to stay in the family business when I graduated. I’ve
learned a lot from my Dad Mike and Uncle Tillman, two of the greatest all
around men I know, who trust me to run the family business just as Grandpa
Dutch trusted them. We strive every day to continue to produce a high quality
product that our loyal customers love and we continue to treat our customers as
friends. Whether we are called D&D, Two D’s or Double D it gives us a sense
of pride when we hear customers say they grew up eating our sausage and in
their eyes there is no other. We’ve been blessed and try to help the community
whenever we are able.”
Double D has been serving our community for 48 years strong
and has always had a family atmosphere over the last 30 plus years I’ve been
going there. They can ship to anywhere
in the U.S. by request and can be found at all of your local and major food
chains. As for their processing
operations of wild game, I don’t drop my deer of anywhere except DD in
Bogalusa, and now when you drop off your venison you can even enter your deer
by weight into their big buck competition to win a wide array of high end
prizes.
I did an article earlier this year on Double D Meat Co and
the myth of whether or not you get your own meat back after you drop it
off. Well we already dispelled that
myth, and getting to know Josh and seeing who he is as a person says a lot
about the family touch that is put into their products, and based on the
success of their company, the quality of their meat, taste of their meat, and
the instilled family values that Josh portrays, there is no question why they
have they have been dubbed, “Home of Country Smoked Sausage.”
Josh, what did you think about the trip? “It was a great day
of fishing; Sight fishing from an elevated position was a 1st for me but won’t
be the last. Any day on the water fishing with good people is a good day but
putting fish in the boat makes it a great day. “
Capt Bubby, what did know about DD Meats? “Double D is my
favorite smoke sausage, I’ve tried the rest now I eat the best, Double D Smoked
Sausage.”
Capt Bubby, what is it that draws you to chartering and to
fishing in general? “Although fishing is about catching fish for most people,
it’s not everything. It’s the friendships and the enjoyment you have trying to
catch them that’s everything.”
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