We were down Thursday thru Saturday of last week on PAL WMA. Thursday and Friday were very slow with just small pockets of ducks here and there. The front blew through Friday night bringing strong north winds (30-40 mph) and much colder temps. There were hundreds of ducks in areas where there were none the day before. We shot a 2 man limit Saturday morning in less than an hour. This was more than we had shot the previous 2 days. Previous days most ducks seen were teal. Our limit on Saturday was 10 greys, 1 drake wigeon and a drake pintail. A little more patience and we could likely have shot more pintail. Fishing had slacked off from the previous weeks reports but we still managed to catch easy limits of reds (16-18 inches)and a few white trout in the cuts off of the passes. Others were catching BIG reds in the intersections of canals off the passes. The jump was hot for trout the week before but a rise in the river pushed the cleaner water and fish closer to the gulf. No boats fishing the jump when we returned on Saturday. I did hear a report of the hunting being very good around the wagon wheel on Saturday morning. Talked to one hunter at Cypress Cove that said Baptiste Collette area had a lot of ducks, but they were mostly hanging out on the pass itself. This was my only trip down there this year. I was surprised to find a fair amount of grass in the areas we hunted, but not nearly what it would be on a hurricane-less year. If the ducks that showed up Saturday decide to hang around at all it should be worth a trip. Good Luck.

First comment is spot on.

Ducks have been folowing the fronts. There will be birds a day or two after the fronts and then they are gone. No food to hold them around PAL. Second split has been very slow. Hunts producing 2 or 3 ducks per hunter. Murdered the trout 2 weeks before Christmas. Muddy and colder water (56 degrees) has killed the trout bite where they were feeding. We went day after Christmas and had 3 trout. Probably going to have to go to Yellow Cotton or near the gulf for trout.

Thanks...

That was a great report shallowmind..thank you

I don't get down to Venice as often as I'd like anymore. I'm fortunate to get down there for a yearly trip and usually check the reports several times a day prior to making the trip to see if I can get any little piece (nugget) of helpful information. Just wanted to give Coot a current and first hand assessment of the conditions I found down there so that he could have a pretty good idea of what to expect if he decided to make the trip. As they say, 'Ya gotta go to know' and hopefully Coot makes the trip and has a great time. Sometimes these reports are the next best thing to being there and hopefully the information provided proves to be useful to someone about to spend a lot of time, effort, and money on their next trip. Coot always gives some good reports and I look forward to reading about his next trip. I just wish I could go as often as he does :-) Go get 'em...

Thanks again Shallowminded. I decided not to go to Venice this weekend. Actually took off today from hunting to catch up on chores. A buddy of mine hunting down there this morning texted me that it was very slow, but he did bag a snow goose. I managed to knock down a 2 man limit yesterday, but lost a few cripples hunting in SE LA near Biloxi Marsh. The birds are flying best from 9:30 to 11:30am, especially the grey ducks. Back at it tomorrow. 15-20 knot north winds tomorrow.... Should be good conditions.