Today Rudy and I left out of Port Sulphur to fish speckled trout... Good weather yielded plenty boats out today but with out live shrimp for bait, few fish were caught. Water clarity was less than desirable as the Mississippi River stages are high, bringing in dirty fresh water. We fished mostly tandem sparkle beetles tight line under the feeding birds and even at that the amount of feeding birds eating bait chased to the subsurface by hungry trout were few. We caught enough for dinner but the fish were small. We threw back 10 under size fish.
Today Rudy and I left out of Port Sulphur under very calm and clear weather. Tide was on the high side as we made it down the Freeport Sulphur canal. Water in the canal was murky but cleared up as we entered the sulphur mine area. Several boats were already there when we started to fishing. We got into a good bite using live shrimp under clicking eggs corks and a nearby boat—which appeared to be a charter guide service— was steadily catching using the same thing. When we ran out of live shrimp, we switched to glow shrimp Berkley Gulps lures with chartreuse tail under the same cork aforementioned. The bite was still good but slowed down after and hour or so. So we headed to Bay Ronquille where we located diving seagulls and terns in route. We fished under the birds as trout were chasing the bait to the surface making it easy pickings for us to catch the feeding trout. Best bait was clear sparkle beetles with 1/8 oz. white jig heads in tandem fished tight line—we call these lures old faithful. We also discovered that gafftop catfish would hit the baits if we used corks, which is why we went tight line. The weather continued to be very calm, clear and bright as we limited out catching 50 speckled trout. We did have to throw back some under- sized trout but had a nice catch of mixed size fish. We left the trout biting and was back at the launch for 12:20 pm.
Today Rudy and I left out of Hopedale under very pleasant weather. Calm winds and a low tide but incoming as the morning went on. We fished various lures and egg clicking corks with Berkley Gulps 2 ft. down in a large lake in the area. Fishing was very slow for everyone we observed. We had to move around plenty to find the fish that we did catch. Most of the fish were caught in a large lagoon drifting.
I have fished out of Hopedale, Louisiana, for many, many years. This is a SE Louisiana village of fisherman and sports anglers since its inception. What you see here in these pictures is a striking view of a lone tree in an endless field of marsh grass and water—standing out like an announcement of survival to all its viewers for endless miles around. I can’t tell you how long it has stood here. I can only tell you it has survived some of the worse hurricanes known to man, including hurricane Katrina. While the entire area seen waters over 20 feet above the streets, decimating the entire area of homes, boats, life and businesses--- the Tree of Life still stands unhampered, as if a miraculous hand is protecting it. The most unusual part about this tree--though not readily approachable unless you brave walking into wet marsh grass--is that it appears to have a distinct grass-like garden surrounding its base—you can see it if you look closely. One marina owner told me soon after hurricane Katrina when I inquired why his boat lift hoist was still not in operation after many months, he replied: “The electric motor was damaged by saltwater waves that drenched it. And I’m still waiting for parts.” This hoist is over 23 ft above the ground, underscoring the height of the tidal flood surge.
This morning Rudy and I headed to Hopedale. The early morning was cold and calm. We headed to a lagoon near from the launch and started fishing clicking egg corks with Berkley gulps about 2 ft down. Tide was not too low but falling. We caught a few trout there but fishing was extremely slow. So we headed to the outside area of Hopedale near Lake Robin. Winds were picking up and it was getting colder as it was overcast as well. Nothing was happening in that area so we headed back to the inside area and fished a canal and nearby lagoon. Few more trout caught, one of which was a throw-back and also an under sized redfish. Rudy managed to catch a keeper redfish just before catching the under sized one. The day was miserably cold in that are. We caught dinner and was happy to get back to the launch.
Today Rudy and I left out of Hopedale to fish the Louisiana Marsh. Tide was low and the weather was clam and cold. Fishing was slow to dead at first and we didn’t see any boats catching fish. We made several moves and then ventured closer to the MRGO and fished Little Halfmoon Bay where we got into bull reds and 2 specks. We lost one bull red and kept 2. We fished Berkley Gulps under egg clicking corks. White worked best. Many boats came out during noon time when the tide would have been coming in.
Today George, Toni and I left out of Hopedale to fish Grand Lagoon and Lake Amadee. First stop we caught a few trout on various lures. The tide was high and the sky was overcast. In lake Amadee, I didn't see one boat land a fish in the morning though we had caught only 2 trout there. We headed to Lake Ameda and caught few more trout but it was very slow fishing with lures. We ended day with 15 trout, threw back some undersized ones; we had one green trout and a flounder. We fished the rock dam but there too were little fish being caught by the few boats that were there. I think the bright moon that night may have been the problem with fish feeding at night. The falling tide later that day may have yielded a better catch by those fishing then.
Today I left out of Hopedale solo to fish Lake Ameda. No tide, no wind, plenty gnats. There must of been 1 million boats out today for the holiday. I fished mostly clear sparkle beetles and 1/8 oz. jig heads in tandem under weightless egg cork because anything else was less productive. Using light 10 pound mono casting out with little action and a pop every now and then, produced some specks. I threw back at least 10 pencil-sized specks and came home with 15 total. I hardly seen any anglers catch any fish today. The day was beautiful as it progressed with sunshine. Was back at launch near 11:00 am.
Saturday Nov 17, 2012 Rudy and I headed to Hopedale to fish the Hopedale lagoon and surrounding area. Tide was high with a 2 ft differential and the weather was clear and chilly. Many boats on the water and it appeared many were catching fish. We fished egg clicking corks with Berkley gulps 2 ft down. We caught fish slowly at most spots, but didn't stay till tide started to fall so we could get back for LSU game. We were back at launch for 10 am with a dozen nice specks. Winds were high as we picked the boat up and headed home. Water was 58 degrees and fishing will get even better as the month progresses.
Saturday afternoon Susie, Rudy and I left out of Venice Marina to fish overnight in one of the SW Pass spillways with lights. Weather was picture perfect for fishing, with light winds and clear skies, evidenced by the many boat trailers in the parking lot. We first started fishing bottom with Berkley Gulps 4 inch new penny tipped with fresh shrimp on the bottom, just out side the main spillway of SW Pass. No action was encountered after 30 minutes of fishing. We moved to the inside area of the spillway along the canebrakes. We landed 3 very nice redfish in 45 minutes of fishing, and the action stopped dead. We tried other areas along the spillway but the tide was dead and so was the fishing action, We then headed to our favorite fishing spot in another spillway and anchored down. Action on the trout as the sunset set was too fast. We loaded the 155 qt ice chest by 10:00 PM. River stages in Venice remain low with clean water and plenty fishing action.
Port Sulphur
