Louisiana Sportsman
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Orion13 Profile Photo
Inshore Fishing in Southeast Louisiana
two 24' trout caught on black she dogs

me

two 24' trout caught on black she dogs

ouch!

me

ouch!

big 40' bullred

me

big 40' bullred

Topwater, caught everything…including my hand

This weekend was another relentless pursuit with downs, downs and finally some ups. I got off work early Thursday and headed to Cocodrie for some night fishing planning to spend the night solo in my tent. Little did I know the tent which I haven’t used in years since buying my camper wasn’t in the bag with the poles, only the rain fly. My buddy took his boat with a coworker night fishing too so I changed plans to leave around midnight with them. As soon as it got dark I started busting the trout under the lights on topwater, but all the trout were small 12-14” chasing after shrimp. I wanted to try live bait but no one had croakers to buy on the way out and I wanted to try floundering before we left instead of cast netting bait. I went on the monkey bar and Last Island but without staying late enough to hit the incoming tide all I saw were rat reds and stingrays.

I went back Saturday morning and tried rigs around West Timbalier. Again most of the trout were small. At one rig I caught a couple 17” trout and a 33” bullred but the storms came roaring in with a water spout after fishing a few hours. I rode in missing the thunderstorms by mere seconds. While heading in full speed, my halfway broken cover on my 150 quart became fully broken when blew into my boat’s windshield cracking that in half. Oh well who needs a windshield! I wanted to hunker down on the island but the radar screen was solid green so I played it safe with seeing all those bolts flashing.

Leaving early only makes me want go back even more, so today I went again to chance the scattered storms. Got to my favorite rig in the moonlight just as light was approaching the eastern horizon with dead calm seas. 1st cast, bang, 16” trout, next cast, boom, 24” trout! It was the best topwater fishing in a while. The big mommas only wanted the jet black / chartruse head she dog. I tried chrome and bone but nothing much took. I missed several big strikes like always but ended up with another 24” trout about about a dozen 18-21”. Then, while unhooking a fish the hook went into my hand. Bummer. Soon found out my leader crimpers where rusted shut, my wire cutters were home and my needle nose plyers were nearly rusted shut too. With only one hand getting this hook out was going to be a problem. No time for that. I took the hook off the split ring, clipped on a new bait and kept fishing with the hook in hand . The pain was nullified by the enjoyment of catching big trout. Finally after the bite settled I was able to almost flatten the barb on that nearly impossible to bend shedog hook and rip it out. Tried fishing live fingermullets but only caught a couple more. The bite shut down completely. Went hit another rig and caught a few more trout then a big 40' bullred decided to take the hook. What a battle! What a day!

Also caught a huge ladyfish so to live up to my reputation of eating everything I put my hook in, I’ll give it a shot for the first time because why not!




Now I just need to find some free time and fix my gear up instead of fishing every free minute.
August 05, 2012 at 2:44pm
10 Comments
Orion13 Profile Photo
Posted August 05, 2012 at 2:49pm
saturday's catch

me

saturday's catch

sunsetting friday before night fishing

me

sunsetting friday before night fishing

rainbow today

me

rainbow today

saturday's catch

saturday's catch

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jls Profile Photo
jls
Posted August 05, 2012 at 3:43pm
Partner

The Good the Bad&the Ugly huh Damum wasn't for Good Luck you be in Trouple I wish i could get in on that kinda Action Once!!!!!

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Admiral Rabbit Profile Photo
Posted August 05, 2012 at 4:24pm
'The Learn'n Process'

Great Medicine Man Kukunu sez:...might want to fixie-up a separate fishee box w/a big red First Aid cross on top of it...don't forget a bottle of toothache drops w/a new un-used H/D wire cutters...it's all relative !!!...cheers

P/S...your cooking knowledge is great, kind'a makes me hungry...but hooks in hand don't help hold'n a knife and fork ???...cheers

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CaptJS Profile Photo
Posted August 05, 2012 at 6:34pm
I love to fish top water

Things you need when you fish top water. You need a good hook remover like long needle nose. A fish holder works great and is a must. Never use a net use a boca grip which works great on reds and big trout. PS When you clean fish with elec. knife use one of those cut proof gloves learned from many problems.

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Orion13 Profile Photo
Posted August 06, 2012 at 9:42am
thanks captJS

do those boca grips work on fish over 60lbs? They only say what the scale goes to and wondering how they hold up to big lemon fish and giant sharks. I'd really like to get one of those. Yes, and i need a fish holder for sure!

and yes i'll be putting me a wire cutters in my first aid box now! That was the first time in all my life i had a hook go through the barb. Had just been lucky until yesterday.

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CaptJS Profile Photo
Posted August 06, 2012 at 11:19am
Guess they would but I would use a gaft on that size fish

I found one that is about 3ft long and it works great on big trout and reds when you have all those hooks. If you use a net you will spend all day taking hooks out of the net. With the boca grip and a good niddle nose you don't even need to touch the fish. Works great for catch and release.

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Orion13 Profile Photo
Posted August 06, 2012 at 12:33pm
need one 3 feet for sure

cool well i never used the gaft on sharks yet because i need to measure them and many times they are just short of that 54' forklength so i wouldn't want to harm the fish. Theres got to be a better way than grabbing them big sharks by hand from the water to boat them for a measurement so i look forward to seeing if the biggest boca grip i can find will work of them.

just wnet upload a clip from my cheap 30 dollar sunglass cameras. I like them ok but the quality is not up to par, i want to get me a gopro soon. I just hope gopro's shoot in the direction with the head gear as the sunglass cameras do.

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Orion13 Profile Photo
Posted August 08, 2012 at 8:30am
the fish log

The lady fish was great but it had one major flaw, small bones everywhere and it was very mushy though that’s not a problem with my technique. They were the soft bones so didn't notice when cleaning, next time I’ll keep one to see if there’s a way to debone them better since the taste was great.

Good point with the crab trap!

I've been keeping a log so hopefully I’ll have an article on all the odd fish I eat next year. I usually try eating odd stuff grilled and seasoned alongside fresh trout so there’s a fair comparison of the texture and taste.

For all big fish or slightly fishy fish they'll easily be cure by first taking out all red meat then soaking in vinegar/icewater for a few minutes as soon as cleaned then I’ll soak in thick buttermilk for a night or two. After that I’ll pat dry and then season and cook.

If a fish has mushy texture I’ll skip the vinegar/icewater completely being extra carefully to keep the fillet super clean and go straight into the cold buttermilk.

Then to make any strange fish taste good, after the marinating process I’ll poach in water then add them into eggs, bread crumbs, instant mashed potatoe flakes along with chopped onions and seasonings and have delicious fish patties which all fish taste great in. This works especially well for types of fish that are mushy and don't freeze well. The patties freeze just fine in wax paper.

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Orion13 Profile Photo
Posted August 09, 2012 at 12:26pm
trout are better in buttermilk!

Drew-b don’t knock something until you try something. Do you eat speckled trout and bass because I marinate those in buttermilk and they taste a whole like better than plain fillets, but that’s just me and my client’s opinions, to each their own. But if you deep fry anything in greese it’ll taste good without a soak usually but I value my heart health so I choose not eat the typical Cajun way anymore. As a nutritionist and previous culinary arts student in college cooking healthy is my passion so using different seasonings and marinades help any meat and fish have more unique flavors and textures. Many of my clients and friends enjoy eating at my house verses restaurants because restaurants are just usually plain salt, pepper and oil though many high dollar fancy restaurants do have some killer seafood dishes which I do enjoy and are flavored well. I personally can’t stand to eat anywheres where the food is only fixed with salt and fat to make taste good and I hate spending high dollars at nice restaurants for fish I can catch myself. I also notice at many restaurants they don't take their time to cut the red meat out of fish and you'll have peices that taste fishy. This has happened several times with catch of the day and redfish courtbillions at restaurants. With a proper cleaning those fish would've been way better imo. Same thing with shrimp, unless their mudbottom or butterflied i don't want no sand grinding in my teeth so many times i hate shrimp dishes at places unless the sand is taken out of the tails. Sorry about the rant.

I also soak fish in different fruit juices, hard liquiors and salad dressings to mix up flavors and keep from getting bored. Try out some buttermilk with your usual fish and you may surprise yourself!

Though sometimes certain fish are duds and not worth the time and effort to clean and fix and just indeed may leave you bletching, lol!

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Orion13 Profile Photo
Posted August 09, 2012 at 12:57pm
good point

good point, I personally would not recommend lady fish to anyone!

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