Locust Bayou fishing trip

Dad and I, went down the river Saturday morning to Locust Bayou and the near vicinty, fishing for reds and drum. After a very rough ride across the bay, we fished for six hours with only two small reds and about ten hardheads to show for our troubles.

We knew the tide was going to start falling rapidly after lunch time, but we tried to push our luck by going early and it just did not pay off for us or any of the other many boats we saw and spoke with.

However about two o'clock I guess the dinner bell rang and the bite was on! We started catching mostly drum with a few reds mixed in, one after another, until we ran out of bait.

I caught my personal best black drum. It weighed 40.9 lbs. and gave me a heck of a fight. We were fishing in about fifteen feet of water and these fish would just refuse to come to the top of the water. We use 30 lb. mono, so we can horse them pretty good most of the time, but they would get almost to the top and then just scream the line off on a long run. When we did get them to the top, they would splash us all over, head away from the boat and then back down again. It was crazy (but fun)! Especially when you did not have time to recover from one fish to the next.

There were several boats fishing the reef at the mouth of the bayou, for specks. They seemed to be doing quite well in numbers, not quite sure about the size as I saw a lot of throwbacks. But most of the boats were there for several hours.

Anyway we left about six o'clock and it took us double the normal time to get back to Morgan City due to the high winds that whipped the bay into a frenzy. I woke up this morning feeling like I had been lifting weights and also like someone had worked over my lower back with a two-by-four.

But you know what, I'm thinking about heading out again tommorrow! I guess some of us fishermen and hunters are not real smart------or is just that it is SOOOO MUCH FUN???

Get out and get you some!!!!

Great pics!!! How long did that take you to finally get it in?

Kirk

Kirk I would say most of the fights lasted close to ten minutes. The big one maybe a little longer, but all of them were a BLAST!

You and your Dad always catch giant fish!! Good catch.
Alecia

Do you keep all of the drum that you catch or do you release them? What brand and size of boat do you have? You have mentioned that you run the bay and was wondering how well it takes the chop. What size motor are you using.

Alecia, I give all the credit to my Dad, who has taught me almost everything I know about both hunting and fishing. He started me out young fishing, but I did not start deer hunting until I was 24. Now for 23 years I am still learning from his lifetime of experience. He has always been my favorite fishing and hunting partner.

We have a great time together, whether we load up or get skunked, and believe me, we have had our share of days when we can't get a fish to bite or a deer to walk anywhere close to us. But the good days far outnumber the bad. Dad's passion in fishing is catching big bull reds and drum and I sure don't mind helping him out!

As to our boats, mine is a fifteen foot with a 25 hp, while his is 16 ft. with a 30 hp. Very gas efficient, and they get us to where we want to go, but really not made to take the pounding we took Saturday. We try to pick our days with light winds but you know how that goes. They are both very good in the shallow water that we encounter at the Delta during bowseason.

We do not keep the black drum unless they are under about 7 lbs. But that is rare when we catch them that small. We just catch and release, although we do weigh and snap a picture with the larger ones. We do keep the reds.

I saw ya'll out there .... HOW in the world did you make it back across the bay in that small boat that evening........ it was some rough ........ I bet dem live jackets were pulled tight..LOL

Hey Ricky,
Just wanted to let you and your dad know the reds and drum were on a good bite Sat. about noon. A few big boys came by to gobble up our crabs and entertain our international fishermen. Your secret spot "Down Dularge" was the place. Good Luck and hope we run into you soon on the water. Capt. Ricky Brondum

Bighead, it was a heck of a ride across the bay that afternoon. We did not count on the wind blwoing that hard and man did we pay for that miscalculation. But after a day of rest we were good as new and ready to go again!

Capt. Ricky good to hear ya'll had a good day. I'll bet you check the water at the boat landing before putting over-----RIGHT? Glad to see you got so much help from all of our readers with your oil slick mishap. There are some really good guys on here. And a few, of them are downright hilarious, but I won't mention any names. No I would NEVER mention anyone like Russ "Wack 'em Stack'em" Widowmaker, no I wouldn't do that ------well O.K. MAYBE I MIGHT!

Bring on the deer season!!!!!!!!