The easiest way to break habits

If you're tired of the same old routine, fishing the same area time and time again, throwing the same lures day in and day out, then it's time for you to get out of your routine and change some habits, and hopefully in the process, you might just pick up some good ones. 
And when it comes to fishing, there is no better way to break a habit, than to get on a boat with a Louisiana Charter Captain.  So, when I received an invite to head down to Hopedale and fish with the crew of Bayou Charters and stay at the Silver Side Lodge, I immediately dropped everything and packed a bag.
When I showed up, I was greeted with smiles and handshakes from some of the greats in the Louisiana outdoors fishing industry, to say I felt a little under qualified to be in their presence is an understatement.  But, as Captain Charlie Thomason showed up, all worry went out the window; it was as if we had been friends for years.  Capt. Charlie has an ambiance about him that makes everyone around him feel welcomed.

With introductions covered, we all headed to the boats, some with Capt. Charlie, some with Capt. Greg Boudreaux, and me and, Mainstream Marketing rep, Drew Davis, jumped in Captain Joe Vinson's boat. 

As we cruised through the Hopedale waterways, Capt. Joe filled us in on what's been hot and what's not lately.  And given the transition period the fish were in at the time, we were planning to target redfish.  I was in complete agreement as to our target of choice, but at the same time I was little taken back by the arsenal that was tied to the rods we were using.  Every rod had a MirrOlure "Top Dog'', a Paul Brown "fat boy", or a MirrOlure "lil john".  Now, I consider myself a fairly decent angler, and while I'm never afraid of fishing with MirrOlure lures, I usually reserve them for trout.  Well, the first learning lesson was just a few gallons of fuel away.

The sky was overcast, and in areas the water was crystal clear, and within minutes of the motor turning off, we eased up to a point with a current line running around it, and within a couple of cast Capt. Joe was hooked up, and from that point on, it seemed like every point we hit, there was a redfish coming over the gunnel.  We caught them on Top Dogs, Fat boys, and the lil John, it didn't seem to matter what we were throwing, as long as it had the words MirrOlure on the package. 

Now, when I target reds in the mid-evening, I am an inline spinner, spoon, and jig man, but after this trip, my arsenal now has no boundaries.  I think we finished the evening with well over our limits caught and released as the sun began to fall below the levee in the distance.
As we made it back to the lodge, we all sat around to the Cajun smells of fresh boiled seafood while we told stories about the day.  Sitting at a table and listening to Capt. Charlie talk about the history of the area, from canals that have been relocated, bays that used to be marshes, islands that have disappeared, and stories around how all the bayous earned their names, I was amazed at the wealth of knowledge the Louisiana native displayed.  Not only can this man and his crew catch fish, but he could teach a history class with the best of them.
The next morning was a welcomed awakening, hot coffee and fresh biscuits, it was like I was staying at my grandparents for the holiday season, and at this point, I was pretty sure I never wanted to leave. 

We all loaded up and headed across the street to the where the fleet of Triton Bay boats were resting in their hoist.  Today I got to spend the morning with Michael from MirrOlure, and Capt. Greg Boudreaux.
The morning run lasted about 20 minutes until we came off plane south of Point A la Hache, best I could tell.  The wind was minimal, the sky had cleared up, and it was topwater time.  In true Bayou Charters fashion, I grabbed the closest rod I could with a topwater on the end.  It didn't take any time at all for the explosions to start, within minutes we were on the fish.  Capt. Greg laid us smack down in the middle of a "Cajun Slam" wonderland.  We were catching reds and trout cast after cast, and before we knew it, there were even a few flounder coming over the sides of the boat.
Lesson number two learned, flounder LOVE a Paul Brown lure.  I have caught flounder on topwater, jigs, spinners, and spoons, but I have never seen them repeatedly attack a lure like they did the Paul Brown.  I sometimes fish tournaments where a flounder is all it takes to complete your bag, and I always find myself struggling to get them to chase something consistently, and after this trip, you can bet I will have a Paul Brown Corky or Fat Boy loop knotted to the end of my rod for the next event.

The mornings trip ended around 10 am with more fish than any of us needed, and that was a good thing being we chose to release them all, well almost all of them, we did keep a few flounder. 

I know a lot of people that own boats, and I know a lot of people that catch fish often, and some that catch fish rarely, but no matter what category you fall in to, taking a trip with a professional can elevate your game, increase your knowledge of new areas, learn about new and improved equipment and techniques, and more than anything, allow you to have a stress free day and almost always guarantee you're going to come home with a box full of fish.

Spending the evening and days on the water with Capt. Charlee and his crew is more than just catching fish; it's an educational experience that you can refer back to in the future time and time again.  Capt. Charlee has fished competitively in some of the industries top competitions, and not only competed, but won. His level of knowledge and willingness to share is second to none, and his personable demeanor makes him easy to talk to at any level.

So, if you're looking to up your game, learn new tactics, or just take the family for a weekend getaway, I would suggest reaching out to Captain Charlie with Bayou Charters, I promise, you won't be disappointed.  

 

Until next time,

Stay Safe & Catch1

In Search of Backyard Trout

  Every year around the beginning of fall the speckled trout start their transition back into Lake Pontchartrain, and every year I am anxiously awaiting their move to the extreme west.  At least far enough west for me to be able to check my daughter out of school early, hit the water, and come home with a bag full of vittles.
About 3 weeks ago the trout started showing up in the Lacombe area, and while they are there, they aren't piled up yet.  This past week, the bait fish started making appearances on the Mandeville lake front, and the Jacks have been exploding off the banks of the sea wall.  So at this point, the trout have made it into the Rigolets, into Lacombe, and now into Mandeville, the next stop on the trout train should be the Causeway and then the Tchefuncte.  If we continue to get some east winds blowing the salt water west, and some north winds keeping the north side of the lake clean, it shouldn't be long before my after work "honey holes" start paying off.
So, this weekend I decided to call a few friends and go test the waters inside and around the Tchefuncte River.  This area is only 8 miles from my house, and less than 4 miles from my daughters school, so you can imagine why I get excited around this time of year.  Friday I grabbed my girls off the bus and headed to the lake front to check the water clarity and to see if I could taste any hint of salt near the launch, and of course to let my girls climb dirt hills and have rock throwing contest.  Unfortunately the water tasted like it just came out the tap, but that doesn't always matter, its not like my taste buds are a scientific salinity tester, the trip was planned, the wind was right, and my hopes were high.
As 5 a.m. rolls around, Craig shows up at my house and we head south.  We are met at the launch by Mike, also known as Ole Yeller, or lately you might as well call him James bond, because he's been missing in action for nearly a year now.   We unload and start beating the banks and drop offs of the Tchefuncte River while keeping our headlights pointing toward Lake Pontchartrain.  As we are working top waters of every sort, and jigs of many colors and weights in the darkness, I finally get hooked up.  Not really a hook up, I thought I had some grass hung on my Skitterwalk that turned out to be the runt of runts in the largemouth bass world.  A few minutes later, Craig lands another bass in the pound range, and at this point, I knew it was time to move into the lake.  After all, we are in search of speckled trout, not green trout.
As we make it into the lake, the sun begins to fill the sky with an awesome show, the wind is calm, the air is cool, and the water is in the mid 70's.  Fish or not, this was going to be an awesome day.  We made our way off the shore line, on the shore line, around sunken cypress tree stumps, and petrified blow downs where everywhere.  It was a place that would make your skin crawl if you were running an outboard motor, especially being the water clarity was in the 4-6 foot range and you could see every shell and twig lining the lakes floor.  I can't remember the last time I saw the lake this clear in September.
I was finally blessed with a blowup, that I mistook for a giant spec, on my top water, and when the beast finally showed, it was a healthy 32'' red.  Even though we hadn't been there long, this fish definitely revived the group and we all got refocused on the task at hand.

The day continued slow, but thankfully we were all able to land fish, bull reds, rat reds, and bass, but no trout.  The good thing is that the conditions are getting right.  It's just a waiting game right now, but when the specs show up, you can bet I will be there.
Specs around the Tchefuncte can be finicky, they will show up in groves and in good weight numbers, but then as quickly as they show up, they will disappear, and they won't be back again until next year.
I couldn't have asked for a better crew to spend time on the water with for my first fall outing, great sunrise, cool weather, we all landed fish, and we all shared a few laughs throughout the morning.  And on top of it all, we were loaded up and back at the trucks for 9 a.m. and headed home to spend time with families.  So if you're looking for weights and numbers on the North shore, get ready, because timing is everything, and that time is getting closer every day.

Until Next Time,
Stay Safe & Catch1

Bass'n Harbuck Heaven II

As many of you know, I grew up on the Tchefuncte River since around 5 years old.  I used to catch catfish off the bank behind the house, ran drop lines and trot lines with my dad and brother before school, and even learned to use a fly rod at an early age for when the bream were bedded up, but nothing ever got my blood pumping like bass fishing.  I was a worm throwing machine at an early age, by 9, I was allowed to run the flat boat alone in the rivers throughout St Tammany Parish, and if it was in reach of my 6 gallon gas tank and 6 hp Evinrude, than I was there.  During summers I fished almost every day, at least when I remembered to charge the trolling motor battery from the day before.  And believe me, carrying a full size boat battery almost two acres from the boat slip to the house was no fun at all. 
Today, I spend most of my time in saltwater chasing trout and redfish, and every once in a while I get to journey south and chase Tarpon and Snook, and with all the great saltwater fishing around me, I still find myself thinking about bass fishing.
So when an invitation opened up to attend the final day as a bass fishing event on Lake Fork in Tx, I turned into a giddy little kid.  The event is taking place in November, and I have a lot of preparation to do. I haven't competed in the bass world in over 15 years, and based on the lures and techniques I've been reading about, a lot has changed.  I was so excited about this event, I even wiped off a couple of planned saltwater events, talked to my wife and made promises of weekends at home if I could go, I even cleaned up my dresser in the bedroom, and that's a big undertaking for me. 
I started google searches, wiping the dust off of old BASS Magazines, and circling lure choices in catalogs, when it all of a sudden hit me, all the knowledge in the world and fancy baits in the box won't do me any good if I don't start preparing myself mentally and physically for a change in technique and presentation.
So when I got an open invite to fish some good bass waters in north Louisiana, I jumped on it.  I was able to go three weeks ago, and it was a blast.  And thankfully for work, I was able to go again this week, with Adam Harbuck.
Adam brings me to a place I have nicknamed Harbuck Heaven, my first trip I landed a lot of fish, but one of them made the 4 lbs mark and another the 6 lbs mark, and landing fish like that in unchartered waters is like heaven to me.
But the trip this week didn't yield the same results.  We were fishing the day following a cold front, temps had dropped, water temps had dropped, we had a stiff 15 mph wind, and sunny skies. 
I had a feeling the bite was going to be off and the fish were going to be finicky during early evening hours, and they were.  I chose to fish a jig and pig, because I know its tough for bass to resist when worked right.  It's also an old favorite of mine and I wanted to make sure I could get the feel back for a soft strike on a falling lure with slack in the line, that, and I know jigs catch big bass.  The area we were fishing is full of grass on top and on bottom, its also covered in a lot of tree tops and hidden stumps.  I worked the jig every which way I knew, I drug it, jumped, bumped it, even worked on digging it in when I hit grass patches on the bottom.  It didn't take long to get a fish on, but it did take a couple hours before I was able to recognize the structure I was working the jig in to. 

Adam "the trainer"

I finally figured the bass were holding tight to structure, they weren't at all on the edges, I had to drop it on stumps and crawl it off, in the middle of tree tops and then over sunken branches, and when they hit it, they just nudged it, but it was enough to either see the line flicker or feel that ever so slight bump.
As the sun went down I made some moves on my lure choices, I caught a couple of bass on a home made contraption I named the Womper Stomper, and it worked great on surface grass beds as daylight fell.
I then moved to one of my all time favorites, the black spook.  The only problem with finding a black spook is that Zara doesn't make them anymore. But fortunately I told Adam about this a few weeks back, and when I arrived, he handed me 3 of them that looked like they just walked out of the processing plant.  Adam actually found a bunch of discounted spooks on sale, sanded them down, painted them, and customized the eyes, and I gotta tell ya.  They are awesome.  First cast landed a nice bass, second cast I had a bass knock the spook 3 feet in the air, 5th cast another bass, and this continued until it was too dark to fish and mosquitos where too thick to breath. 
Working this spook took a little bit of change, it wasn't that normal walk the dog approach that I would normally take for trout or reds, but I had to work it erratically, and so much that at times it looked like I was working a popper.  It seemed that the harder you worked it, the harder the bass would attack it.  It was yet another lesson re-learned, that I had filed way too far back in my fading memory.
This was a great trip and I thank Adam for all he's doing for me up in Shreveport, he doesn't know it yet, but he has become my silent training partner for the Tournament of Champions event in November.  I can't think of another way to get back into the groove than fishing with someone of Adam's caliber.

Until Next Time,
Stay Safe & Catch1