Friday 7-13-12, early start from Dockside and quick run to my favorite 5 mile long reef. Started chunkin purple beetle and later switched to matrix midnight mullet. 1 Nice flounder and I throwback flounder, moved to the Hospital wall for 1 throwback speck and a hardhead, tried purple beetle and chartreuse beetle. Gave in to the Black cloud and wind at 9 or so ,quick trip to the house. Steady incoming tide, water temp 84, clean, loaded with shiners (pogies) all along the bridge.

Sunday 7-15-12, Turned off the alarm at 3am when I spotted lightening out the window, should have looked at the radar. Woke up at 7 and started getting the urge to fish immediately,all rain off to the east around Miss. Put it off till 8 and loaded the boat and headed for Rigolets Marina. 50 shrimp, (getting desperate), a launch and a bag of ice later punched in false Mouth Byu on the GPS and off I went. Smooth ride across Lake Borgne, with a 1 trout stop at a rig in the lake, hit the marsh and started lookin for reds. Hit some ponds that looked like respectable redfish habitat but no takers. Farther out tried another “gotta have reds” spot and the race was on. Reds feedin on shiners made it easy to spot them, getting in front of them with a nice live shrimp was another story. Got so excited one time I tried to throw backwards at one and threw the whole pole over board, fortunately no spectators around to enjoy the sight of me tryin to get my rodnreel back and keep an eye on the reds still bustin the shinners.Wind picked up and made sight fishin impossible, moved around just castin to the shore without much luck so Home I headed, Choppy ride back across the lake and at the house for 4:30pm. Incomin, then fallin tide all day with clean water about 84 deg, wind light early the ESE at 10 later. All fish) caught on live shrimp on Carolina rig and under a popping cork. Fished pockets and points to finish the catchin with:
4 keeper reds 18-24 inches
2 specks 12-22 inches
2 flounders
Lots of hardheads and ladyfish
1 stingray
1 rodnreel
Keep food cold. Packed a small igloo playmate with 4 bottles of water, boiled eggs, and a ham samich. Put the gel pack in first then the water and eggs and samich. Samich got hot and made Sunday night and Monday really miserable till the IMODIUM started workin. Lots of ice is a must.

Tip from Capt Mike at the CCA meeting last Tuesday, settled the” where to go” decision for a trip with Chris and Mike from work. Made our way Friday, from the launch at rigolets in Chris’s Skeeter, at about 5:30 am to a rig in Lake Borgne. Armed with some nice lively shrimp from dockside, we headed for the honey hole, unexpected SW wind had lake Borgne hoppin, after many bumps and tests to see if the water was salty, we arrived to find 2 other boats already catchin, one try at anchoring (ever tell ya I hate anchoring, pretty sure the guys in the boat already there weren’t to thrilled either.) and draggin off the spot, lead to tying off to the rig which worked out well as the fish we caught were all located right where we originally dropped anchor to start with (I’ll take luck over skill anytime). Even though we were not in my boat I seemed to be the person responsible for the rough, wet ride and honey hole selection, considering the lake conditions. Untill he started catchin ,Mike even threatened to hold back the special lunch samich we had for me, I even was blamed for the escape of the first trout Chris almost caught. The catchin started quick but lots of hardheads, croaker, stingray and ladyfish were taking advantage of the live shrimp anchored by the Carolina rigs with treble hooks. (Finally got the brothers rigged with them after numerous complaints of” why I can’t hook um“(Mike) and “WTH, lost another one“. (Chris) Treble hooks are a pain (literally) to fish with but, the escapes, to, in the box rate is great. Boxed some nice specks and White trout before the live shrimp ran out. Caught a couple more on tight lined sparkle beetles before the trout figured that trick out. Made a run to the Biloxi marsh in search of some reds, but one stop only produced two specks. The clouds and wind that we were enjoying moved on and the HEAT made the decision to Haul AZZ unanimous.
Quick trip back to the launch for 11AM ended the fishing part of the day with.

36 specks 12-22 inches ( Mike told Chris we probably had 15, maybe)
4 white trout 12inch max.
Lots of throw back trout
Lots of Lady Fish
Lots of 6 inch Croakers
Half dozen hardheads

Always one more story with these two, I decided to not take a share of the catch, as Mike needed fish for his wife’s poor ill mom and Chris was hoping for favor from his wife if he really brought fish home from a fishing trip. All was well till Chris went to dump some trash while Mike divided the fish between them. When Chris returned Mike told him we had total 15 trout, but that he gave him the biggest 8 for his share. I figured right there, mother -in -law aint getting none of these filets.

Can’t wait for the next chance to fish with these guys, Mike’s boat next, in his element, Poppin corks and smelly dead bait.

Camera problem, no pics. Missed a shot of possibly the smallest gaff top caught on a hook (Mike

Always been impressed by reports by Capt Mike Gallo, Angling adventures of LA, on the internet and from people I know that have fished with him. Tuesday night at a CCA meeting in Slidell he did it again. Besides sharing tips on redfish catchin in the marsh he explained WHY he chooses the equipment, presentation and location, best fit to the fisher people in the boat with him on that particular trip. I have been fishin the Biloxi/ La. Marsh for 40 years with fairly good success, go and do the same thing every time and hope it works. The itty bitti things learned, remembered and put to use over the years is the difference between good, bad and great trips. This guy never goes out hoping for a successful trip he knows it will be. I always learn more about catchin from the professionals at the CCA meetings ;( remembering and putting what I learn to use is another problem), you won’t get this kind of info in a BS meeting at a launch. Can’t wait for the next meeting. Like HE says,” Gotta go to know.”
No, I don’t work for Capt. Mike or CCA, just sayin, if you are always on the fishin sights askin for catchin info, here is the opportunity.

Real early start from DOCKSIDE with 100 live shrimp and 2 friends from work (guess they still my friends). Me, Mike and Chris headed out to win a small work related fishin tournament. Plan of the day was hit the Hospital wall (not literally) on the way to Lake Borgne rigs then fish back thru unknown and Lake Catherine to the bridges at Hwy 11. Weigh in around Carr dr.
Almost to the wall and ALARM starts yellin motors HOT. Limped to the northern pilin at the wall and tied off. Tried fishin with Carolina rig and live shrimp, but the tide was fallin so hard the 1/2oz weight only slowed the bait drift down slightly, (would have been better with a RUCKER RIG but no 1oz weights). After a few rocks and 1 big gaff top we used the trollin motor to get closer to shore hopin the tide would be lighter there, not much, managed some small croakers and a white trout before starting work on the engine. Removed 1 thermostat( easiest one to get to), then off to the salt byu area, decided the trip to lake Borgne was a little risky today, Alarm started screamin again so we got on the trollin motor to get the rest of the way to a point where the tide was movin good. Anchored up and started chunkin poppin corks with live shrimp. Had a fairly good , short, bite then the croakers, 6inch trout and hardheads took over, few more nice trout lost at the boat and that was it. One trout almost to the boat, (Chris), and after a few stabs with the net, (Mike), trout escapes. Chris looks at me, Mike looks at me, OH NO, I aint gonna be the judge, left it up to the Brothers to sort out the guilty party, LMAO.
Moved to the rocks in front of lakeshore and only caught hardheads, (plenty hardheads). Decided to take the other thermostat out, ended up easier than the first. More water comin out the exhaust but none out the tell tale. Headed for the trestle and the water started flowin pretty good and no alarm. Got to the trestle, no tide, hot air, no more live bait, decided to call it a day at 11am. Slept thru the weighin. SORRY FELLERS. Final tally:
4- specks 2lb ea
1 white 12 inch max
Gazillion hardheads,
Almost that many croakers 6inches long
1 gaff top
2 break offs, (Chris), SHARK or RED, great debate still goin on when we landed.
Few Hates,
Mike hates fishin the lake,
Chris hates fishin with plastics,
I hate fishin with live bait and usin the anchor (did both today)

Still had fun. And would do it all again in a minute.

Always fun fishin with these two guys, can‘t wait for the next opportunity.

Intellicast prediction, Wind light and variable, later ,east @6. My prediction, light fallin tide for four hours(according to my system using river gauges.com), perfect combination for some pilin jiggin at the twin span.
Early start,(4:30am launch at DOCKSIDE beat the crowds), got a tip from dockside that the hot spot was toward the Rigolets but already made up my mind there would be enough trout at the bridges to satisfy my need for THE TAP. Got to the lake and WT???????, 3ft rollers from a stiff west south west wind. Bounced across the lake and had to piddle around till it was light enough to see where the Purple beetle was landin. Rough but fishable.Too rough to tell what the tide was doing. Right off caught a small flounder, returned to become a bigger flounder , or a meal for someone that don’t throw anything back. Few small throw back trout then nothin,and it was off to my favorite 5 mile long reef. Couldn‘t decide where to start so I picked a nice angle thru the waves (sideways) and started where ever it intersected with the trestle.(between 175-176). First cast 13” trout, second cast 8” trout then nothing but bottoms for the next 50 pilings. Made a few more moves picking up 1 here and there till about noon,when the old body reminded me about food and Air Conditioning at the house.
WSW wind then Light winds and incoming tide , water temp about 80, clarity, dirty then clearing when the wind laid was the conditions of the day. Baits tried, purple beetle, key lime hybrid, chartruse beetle with orange tail, midnight mullet matrix all on 3/8 oz jig head, all caught something. Ended the trip with:
5- Keeper trout12-15inches
1- nice flounder
1 -throw back flounder
1 -18 inch drum
Bunch of throw back trout 8-11 inches
Bunch of bottoms, usually have a, get loose rate, of 5-1, but none today. At this rate might be cheaper to buy live shrimp.
That leads to a Question. Do any of the live bait fisher people at the bridges get hung up and lose tackle as much as the plastics people? OOPS! Cleaned fish without a pic.

To all the mothers out there, Have a happy one.

Got to the second item on my list of things to do first thing in the morning, and saw a post from ADMIRAL RABBIT about fishes favorite lure colors in a TP article, by the time I finished readin I knew I had to go Fishin.Loaded the boat, hooked to truck threw some water in the chest and off to DOCKSIDE for ice and launch at about 10am. Called oneofthepack on the way and found out he was just starting coffee and donuts with familyofthepack, (I should have called sooner ,might have got a donut).” I’ll let you know” was the reply to the fishin invite. Seemed like forever but 2 minutes later, he will be at tites in 30 min. .10 min later “I’m at tites”. Quick run and pickup and we were off to the bridges. Decided after some success at the Twin span Friday that would be a good place to start. Tide was hard incommin so we tried casting up current and work back to the boat but too much water movin, got a few trout and one submarine, that towed us all over under the bridge before Stanley grabbed the spool and ended the battle.Moved to my favorite 5 mile long reef, south end. Many cast and retrieves later we relocated to 175, neither locn was the motherlode we were expecting. About 2pm The rumbling and black clouds over Slidell got our attention when the wind picked up and 3 streaks of lightning flew across the sky. About the same time we decided we were hungry and made a 40 mph run to THE DOCK for hamburger and fries, side order of Fried dill pickles and many root beers later, we were headed back in search of some bridge trout .Can’t for the life of me remember wher we started the second half of the trip but besides a few bottoms and a throwback flounder we decided to relocate.Headed for the 4 oclock feedin frenzy at FB 4 . Everybody we talked to new that the bite would be at four oclock, After my missing the feedin times the last two weeks I new we were going to stay till the bite started or it got to dark to see. Poked around between FB 4 and FB 6 both sides of the bridge and Hwy with only a few throw back trout to talk about . Got stuck between a bunch of anchored up fisher persons and waited it out, finally at 5:30 or so the crowds thinned and the trout started bitin. Tons of throwbacks and some nice keepers kept the catchin steady till 7:30 or so.No crowd at the launch made for a easy pickup and handshakes ended the day about 8 or so. Incommin tide all the time we were fishin, Water temp 80, clear to start cloudy later at the north end.Started with the purple beetle and chartruse w/orange tail beetle both on 3/8 round white jig head. Stanley stayed with the purple while I swapped to Midnight mullet Matrix when I broke off on the bottom and didn’t feel like reriggin.Both did well. As usual didn’t remember the sunscreen till it was to late. Friend of Stanley asked for next catch so mno fish cleanin to be done.
Finished the day with:
18 –keeper trout 12-16inches
32- throwback trout 6 to 11-7/8 inches
8 – trout (LSU1AGAIN donation) 2 throw back
2- throw back flounders
1 huge something, broke off
More bottom break offs than I want to remember.

Last Friday started late and missed the early bite, this Friday started early and left before the late bite started.
ONEOFTHEPACK QUOTE “ Silverwonders turned at 2:10pm

Early start at DOCKSIDE with 2 friends lookin for THE BITE at my favorite 5 mile long reef. Quick launch and boat ride got us started at 175 at 6am.First fish at 6:10 am and 2 more at 6:20 am. Then I made the comment “only 72 more to go”. Fished for 2 more hours for 2 fish before making a run to another bridge. Started picking up a few trout on and off before that ended . Tried the Twin span for drum and only got 6” croakers, but the shade was nice. Back to the trestle about 12:30pm for 2 lost at the boat trout and a throw back flounder then headed for the launch and the AIR CONDITIONED truck at 1pm .

Don’t know what happened to the predicted tide and wind but I will use the lack of water moving and dead calm wind as my slow day catchin excuse. Water temperature about 72 and it was really clear every where we tried. Lots of bait around the pilings(mostly Mullets). Most fish caught jiggin a Chartreuse cocaho with an orange tail, next was the chartreuse beetle with orange tail, not much luck with the purple beetle and numerous other color combinations. All on 3/8oz lead heads.

Ended the day with
14 trout 12-18 inches (will need to suppliment with 2 pack frozen filets for a fish fry to day)
1 nice flounder
Several lost at the boat trout and throw back trout ,flounders and croakers.

Come on September weather predict, low 45, high 65, wind light and variable out of the north east.

Decided at 7:30am to make a trip to my favorite 5 mile long reef. Quick launch at dockside at 8:30 and decided to try the hwy 11 bridge around mid lake. Half hour later moved to the south shore reef by the twin spans. No takers at either locn. Light fallin tide and light wind made fishin easy , catchin was another story. Made the move to the trestle and started chunkin around 174 at 9:30. Did ok till 10 when the tide changed and the bite seemed to stop, least that’s when everybody else hauled butt. Stuck it out for a while near the south shore and mid lake and headed in about noon. Water temp was 70 and looked really clean, where I fished, for as much wind we been havin.
Talked to a couple of friends on the water and at the launch and all had good catches. Gotta get the early bite. Tried different colors and weights but the chartreuse beetle on 3/8 jig was the best for the short time I was catchin. Managed to slime up the box with
7 trout about 14-20inches
1 nice flounder
2 throw back trout, new ice chest don’t have ruler on cover so if they needed to be measured back they went.
Might have to try a short trip Sunday(early) to feel better.

Nice weather forecast for Friday made the decision to fish today easy. A friend, Chris, accepted the offer to go so we made our way to DOCKSIDE at 5:30am. Already had a line but all were prepared so the launchin went fast and after payin for the launch and a couple bags of ice we were off to my favorite 5-mile long reef. Light west wind had the lake a little choppy that stayed with us all morning, no tide, then incoming . Don’t know what the water temp was but Chris was de slimin once and stated “waters still cool” so I guess I’ll stick with that. West wind 5-10. Hit areas of murky and clean water here and there but seemed to get better the farther south we went. Started at firebreak 3 and fished south to 5 with out much luck. Relocated past 174 and started driftin north , had couple in the box when we got to the group anchored at 174 so we started fishin south, did this till 11:18 when number 50 fit the box. Real pleasant day as everyone (easy 100 boats) fished the bridge, as it should be fished, get in line and keep movin, either direction. Looked ahead once and DURN I’m fishin behind Dudley and another great Lake P fishermen, who will remain anonymous, I’m watchin double and triple hookups 100 ft in front of us thinking won’t be nothing left when we get there, WRONG . Never saw so many courteous bridge fishermen ever , maybe we’re learnin. Started with purple beetle on 3/8 round jig head, I switched to Chartruse beetle after Chris put # four in the boat to my none. Stuck with that till the end. Chris had me till I hit ONEOFTHEPACKS “crazy 15 minuts” and I made up the deficit.
Ended the morning with
50 specks 12-20 inches
2 flounders
2 wore out old bodies, ever tell you I hate West wind.

Decided to try the lake this morning before the high wind prediction set in. Launched at Dockside, said hello to Mr. Bill and headed for my favorite 5 mile long reef at 5:45 or so. Tried the north end but dirty water lowered my confidence so i headed for old faithfull 174. Started pickin off a few right away and then the bite stopped. Moved past the small armada there and fished to 176+ where the bite picked up again. all fish caught on purple beetle on 3/8 matrix jig head. Tried all the favorite colors but the beetle was the ticket for me. Bounced back to dockside for an easy pickup at about 11: 15. Finally had the pleasure of meeting Mel,(Hymilage) in person. Need to make a trip together if I can pry him off the big pilins. Finished the morning with 25 trout and 1 flounder. Would have finished 6 fish sooner if I can ever get the hang of a landin net in lake P.

Headed to my favorite 5 mile long reef Friday with nephew aboard. Foggy ride from dockside and we started chunkin about 7 ,lots of chunkin later we moved to the other 2 bridges and had about the same luck.back to original start and picked up 1 here 1 there .All fish caught on lemon head and midnight mullet matrix, on fallin tide and clean 65-70 deg water. Nephew had a knack for gettin loose from the normal lure stealin snags, not for me , lost my normal 2-5 jigs. Ended at noon with 4 trout and 1 throw back flounder. Napped thru afternoon invite from oneofthepack ,durn, hate when that happens.

Friday

Caught myself singing”IT‘S OVER” (Roy Orbison) on the way home from the Rigolets launch yesterday.. Made the trip to Byu Biloxi from the Rigolets at daylight hoping to get a few hours of fishin in before the front came thru. Me and the front (with nonstop wind and rain)got there about the same time. By the time I ran thru the marsh to my first spot that has been good for 9-10 quick trout, the wind and falling tide had 2 ft. rollers hiding whatever may have been ready to bite. Headed towards muscle bay and made drifts in a few deep-water passes only getting a few in the box. Stuck it out in that area without much luck and headed home about11:30.15-20 NE wind made the return trip across Lake Borgne slower than the morning trip. Probably last trip for the winter to the interior marsh . Non-winter had the bite last longer, for me, this year than usual. Next trips will be to the Lake P Bridges till it gets too crowded and then to the eastern areas of the la. Marsh till fall. (Sounds like a plan huh).
Ended the trip with:

4 keeper trout 12-15

6 throw back trout

1 acrobat trout (in one side the boat, hit the ice chest and out the other side the boat.) This seemed to trigger my rendition of George Carlin’s seven words not fit for TV).

2- 20inch drum returned to make more drum for the people who don’t mind cleanin them.

1 - HARDHEAD, yep, a hardhead caught on plastic. Its summer!!!!!!!

Planed a solo trip to my favorite 5mile long reef for Friday, but got a call from LSU1AGAIN, wind or no wind, “Gotta go he says” want to jump aboard. We launched and Headed out and started chunkin, 3 casts and first 2 pound trout hit the box at 6:30 off so. Just kept back and forth over the same area. From the Shore out till it got to rough to keep the trollin motor in the water. Purple beetle, Lemon drop Matrix and avacado hybrid ,on 3/8oz round head did all the catchin. Bite died and bodies wore out about noon. Water was the cleanest I have ever seen it considering all the wind lately, not sure of the temp,( NDBC has 68deg) lots of ssw wind and sunshine, fallin tide most of the morning. Ended a fun trip with John with

22specks 15-25inches

1 red 19 inches

Met up with Wayne about 6 am and made our way from the Rigolets to Byu Biloxi Friday to do some deep water exploring and try to avoid the expected crowds taking advantage of the only decent weather report for a while. Explore we did. Tried 4-5 spots that I have not fished in a while but have produced in the past and found a few throwback trout and 1 keeper red. Made the move to the deeper water around muscle bay and got on a slow but decent bite. Lots of throw backs but several trout 18inches. Tried top and bottom and the better idea was the tight line with lemon matrix on 1/4oz round white head.
Water temp was 58-60 deg, clarity plum clear. Wind 5-10 most of the day then it laid about 3pm and the gnats got nasty.
Had a first for a trip to the marsh. NO OTHER BOATS. Only time I have ever been there without seeing one single fishin boat, kinda spooky but nice to fish around without the compition.

Calm ride back across lake Borgne. Ended the day about 4pm with
34 specks 12-18 inches
1 red 24 inches
1 drum 30 inches, Wayne( released to wear out another fisherperson)

Friday trip to the lake P bridges turned into a one more trip to Byu Biloxi to see if a limit of trout were still there. All I saw in the weather forecast was WIND: light, and variable, and some chance of rain. Didn’t see when the front was going to come thru.
Launched at Rigolets and made the quick run to Byu Biloxi across a choppy Lake Borgne. Headed for some deep water and started tight line with purple beetle on ¼ oz round white head. Few casts later got a hit as soon as the lure hit the water, nother one reelin in. Switched to poppin cork with chartreuse cocaho tipped with shrimp and the bite was on, for about 30 minutes, (12 feet of water, with a cork, go figure) 9 in the box and that many throw backs and the bite ended just as fast as it started. Made a few moves in the area without any luck so I moved toward Muscle bay. Tried some lagoons with poppin cork but no luck so I started tight line in deep passes and managed to add to the box.
This is when payin attention to when the front was gettin here would have paid off. About 2pm the light rain started and I needed 5 more trout to make the limit. Kept fishin till the wind blasted around to north. Stored everything and hauled butt for lake Borgne before it got rough, TO LATE. I have been crossin Lake Borgne for 40 years and this was by far the worse ride I ever had.. Steady Fours , with the occasional, W T H WAS THAT !!!!!!!.
Checked the wind history on NDBC for Shell beach Friday and found at 2:30 or so wind north , 27 w/gust 31 knots. YEP!!!!!!
I’m sure someone can still do a trout slam in the Biloxi marsh, but, if you are the type of fisherperson that needs to limit out by 9 to have a good trip , you won‘t have fun. Nice trout are still in the Biloxi marsh and still bittin, just need patience and confidence that the next cast will be a trout in the box and that enough cast will produce a limit.

Water temp 55, clarity good, wind light most of the day(5-10)
Purple beetle and lemon matrix did the trick today
Not many fisher people out today.

Ended the trip with:
23 trout 12-15 inches (lost count of throw backs)
1 sheepshead (returned to burn up someone elses electric knife)
1 memorable boat ride.

No intention to fish today, BUT when the GOTTA GO hits ya, you gotta go. Slow start this morning after a great party at Nephews for the Saints game. Boiled crabs , raw oysters and all the snackins the law allows. Hooked up and launched at the Rigolets, quick trip to the ICW to try and join in on the DOCKSIDE video fun. Really low tide so I ducked into the first canal I could float the boat in and started chunkin,@ 10:00am . Started with lemon head matrix and the second cast hit the extra poles and got a back lash to rival all back lashes. Grabbed another pole and used the midnight mullet matrix already on a ¼ oz round white head. First Red almost to the boat self released. Put 3 quick ones in the box then went a while with no bites. Found another bunch and boxed 2 and lost 1. Caught a few for the fun of it and released them to fight another day. Water was dead low and clean to start and incoming and murky when I finished @1:00pm.
Finished the day with
5 keeper reds 16 - 24”
2 reds self release
3 reds catch and release

Nephew had to work(crabbin) so Me and Wayne made the trip to the Biloxi Marsh. Fog had Slidell and the roads heading out of town a mass of confusion. Stop and go traffic on 433 started to back up at the salt byu bridge and stayed that way to hwy 90. Late launch at rigolets and slow ride to Lake Borgne was par for the coarse but 5 miles into the lake the fog was gone and we made the rest of the trip in good time.Started chunkin in some deep water and had no takers. Made a move and started boxin a few keepers after sortin thru the throw backs. Spent the rest of the day between petes and macks pass some poppin cork but mostly tightline where we could find deep movin water. Tide pretty low but if your familiar with the area it ’s not a problem. Not a day for newbees with a GPS to go exploring. Started with purple beetle on 1/4oz head and switched to lemon pepper matrix shad when the beetle broke off, stayed with the lemon the rest of the day.Wayne tried every color in the box tryin to get a steady bite goin, but the bite was just slow no matter we threw at them Nice ride back to rigolets about 3 ended a fun trip. Lot better than workin.
25 trout 12-16”
1 throw back flounder
1 throw back sheepshead.

Wonder if some one make a CAST-O-MATIC. Would love to know how many chunks it takes to make my arm this tired..

Friday fishin

Made the trip from Rigolets to Byu Biloxi at daylight. Few bumps but not a bad ride. Started at cutoff with poppin cork with chartruse cocaho tail tipped with shrimp. Only action was a few throw back trout and a huge Drum that self released half way to the boat(WHEW). Made a move across the pipeline and spent another hour catchin throwbacks. Headed for Mussel and Stump as planed but got side tracked by a nice moving tide in the deep canal leading to Mussel.Started tightline with purple beetle on ¼ oz head and switched to Lemon Pepper matrix shad when the bite stopped. Back and forth when the bite died seemed to work today. Lots of fish caught this way but 5-1 throw backs to keepers, but from talking to passing boaters it sounded like this was as good a way as any to spend the day. Moved between the tee and the mouth at mussel most of the day. Went to Hanks pass and only got throw backs ,tried at the mouth of crooked byu and mussel no takers. 16 keepers in the box so I decided to make a break for the house. On the way back to BB I took an alternate route to avoid creeping past all the boats lined up fishing from muscle to Petes. Noticed the 11-13ft depth and since I had room for 9 more trout made a stop in a turn and started fishin the bottom. BAM first cast, keeper trout before the lure got to the bottom . Threw the spear and finished my limit , all 9 were 12-14” trout with only a couple of throw backs. Caught a few more catch and release just for the excitement after a grind it out day. I’ll take luck over skill any day of fishin. Water temp in the morning was 55 and on the way home in a calm Lake Borgne it was 59. Fairly clean water and the tide moved pretty good all day in spite of the .94 range. Wind picked up some but not a problem. Weather don’t look promising for a TRIP Monday buy I can hope. Got a busy next two days.

Finished at 2:23
25 trout

.
Must be getting old. Canceled a trip last Friday with Nephew (to windy), cancelled a trip with oneofthepack Saturday (to windy) changed my mind for a trip Monday (might rain) didn’t call Wayne cause I didn’t want to cancel another trip, then Wednesday morning news, forecast (sun and light wind), off I went to the Rigolets for a quick launch and ride to Byu Biloxi. Kinda late start launchin , didn’t start fishin until 7am. Depth finder broke so I don’t know what the water temp was, but the conditions were perfect, fallin tide all day, light wind and clean water most areas tried. Started jiggin in a deep canal off Muscle Bay pickin up a few keeper trout and a throwback red along with several throw back trout. Moved to another deep pass and snagged a couple there. Lots of fisher people out, made the boat traffic non-stop, but when you chose to fish the main thoroughfares, it’s expected and it doesn‘t seem to bother the fish in the deep water. Moved to Hanks pass area and started boxing a few on tight line and poppin cork, the cork method was more productive so that’s what I stuck with. Made one more stop in a cut off of Byu Biloxi on the way back to Lake Borgne and finished my limit at 2:30 pm. Fish caught tightlinin fell prey to the purple beetle on a ¼ oz white round jig head . Fish caught under poppin cork on chartreuse cocaho tail tipped with shrimp. The only stop with fast bite was the last one,7 trout in 30 min. no throw backs, rest of the day was catch 2 move 100 ft catch 2/3 move 100 ft. No fish in big groups for me, which is nice since it spreads the fun out over the day, as opposed to first stop catch 20 and spend the next 6 hours tryin to get 5 more. Finished the day with
25 trout 12-14”

Lesson of the day:
Don’t forget to empty the PEE bucket, when a boat getting on plane reaches 20 MPH Pee bucket flies up and empties itself.

Guess I’ll go wash the boat.