I know the spillway is still high but does anyone know how the water level is in Lake Verret and the area? May try a trip before the front comes in this week. Thanks in advance.
Anybody know how the water level is at Lake Verret? I know the spillway side is high based on the 7' reading at Morgan City. I was thinking about going to Verret next week for cats and bream. Thanks, Mike
Took my dad to Catfish Lake on Monday. We were greeted with 10-15 mph East wind and a slack high tide until mid-morning. We bounced around canals on the North end of the lake with no luck. I was closely watching the clouds and radar to make sure we wouldn't get caught in a storm. Finally, I decided to head to the canals on the Southwest side. Found diving birds on Bayou Blue and the fight was on! We stayed in one spot for 4 hours catching white trout and specks. There were plenty of throw-backs but kept 44 white trout and 15 specks, with some nice size ones as a bonus.
Bait of choice was old school shad rigs tipped with dead shrimp. The fish were in a feeding frenzy and they would sometimes hit a baitless hook but a baited hook was the key.
Also, thanks to the boaters who slowed down and went around the diving birds rather than running through the middle. We sincerely appreciated the courtesy.
I've always fished Lake Verret in the spring and summer for catfish but I've been wondering how they run in the winter months. I was thinking of going next week but not sure of what to expect. Can anyone with winter experience for cats chime in?
I have my regular spots to try and they still have to eat but not sure if they are very active in winter.
Thanks, Mike
I decided to go against the grain and fish today, the day after a front came through because it's the only day I could go. Wow, what a tough day it was. Got on the water at about 7:30am and had 2 nice reds in the boat by 8:20. I thought maybe this would be a productive day. Only had 3-4 more hits the rest of the day.
Fished Bayou Blue and Little Gray Duck on the South side of Catfish Lake. Battled 15mph winds all day but the water was moving everywhere. Only saw 1 small group of birds diving but there was an oyster boat dragging nearby that, I believe, spooked the school and the birds left. Saw several dolphin around throughout the day that were eating well but you can't do battle with them.
Oh well, we gave it a try. I don't think I'll fish that soon after a front again.
I took a couple of good friends, Dwayne and Wick Mayers, to Catfish Lake this past Saturday. Water was on the rise and we had to endure a stiff 10-15 SE wind that was only supposed to be 5mph. Oh well, we made the best of it. Tried canals on north end of the lake. Found them to be stained but water was moving. Caught a few reds and a keeper trout or two there. Went over to the west side to fish Bayou Blue. Found cleaner water that had reds cruising the bank. Had a blast sightfishing the reds on plastics and also live minnows under a float. This was incredible. They were hungry! Ended the day with 15 beautiful reds and 3 keeper specks. Had to bug out when the trolling motor batteries were nearly dead.
The 2 smaller reds are just over 16' and the biggest was 26' and 7.5 lbs, with the rest being 19-22' and about 5 lbs. Specks were 12-14'.
I'm constantly reading everyone's reports. Now I finally get to report on a successful trip. Thanks to all for the great reports.
Everybody has seen these shows on tv where the noodlers jam their hands in a hole and pull out a monster catfish then they cradle them like a 50 lb labrador. My question is, do these monster cats still have the poisonous fins and if so, why aren't these people getting stuck? Seems like the fish do a lot of flopping without causing the noodlers any pain. Just wondering. Thanks
I'm in the process of re-carpetting my boat. There is carpet on all surfaces but due to the complex curves and angles on the bow, I want to carpet the flat part of the bow deck and paint the complex areas with some type of paint w/ sand added for a non-slip surface. The area under the carpet is not painted, it is exposed fiberglass. My question is, what type of paint should I use and how many coats should do the trick? Could this be done with standard latex paint or is there a better paint for marine use? Thanks for any input.
Tried to fish the Shell Cuts Tuesday. The lillies have everything all choked up. Tried several ways of getting in but had to settle for the canals around the 30 and 16, also Logans. Fished hard, only had 1 small sacalait and about 6 throwback bass.
I had read a while back of a new launch that was to be built on Hwy 90 for access to Cataoutchie. Does anyone have any info on this such as where will it be, when will it be built, etc? There is a lot of new side road construction going on around that area near Davis Pond and Pier 90. Wonder if it will be in there somewhere. Thanks.
Man, what's going on with the classified ads? I've noticed for quite a while that they have been messed up. The ads are all jumbled up with different dates. It makes it real hard to check the recent ads when there are old ads mixed in. I was looking at boats the other day and recognized one from a long time ago. I thought, "man, that boat hasn't sold yet?" Then I realized that the ad was from October! Can someone please shed some light on this? Thanks
I was wondering what happened to the gentlman with the screenname "oldtimer"? I haven't read anything from or about him since he helped FLiesitdies out with his motor dilemma. I know there were a lot of people here who helped flies get back on the water due to "oldtimers" thoughtfulness. I'm on this website almost daily (wife says I'm addicted to it), so why haven't I heard from him?
Is there a creel and size limit for white trout? I looked in the La WLF reg booklet but, unless I missed it, I see no mention of white trout, only specks. It's been many years since we have caught whites and I can't remember if there is a limit. Thanks in advance, Mikey
Oh, I know that canal. We've been slow-cruising thru there sightseeing. Thanks.
Beast, where is Bayou Crab boat launch? I'm not familiar with that.
Aiming for catfish and bream. Maybe I will wait till it drops some. I have fished Verret in the past when it was high but didn't do well because they were in the woods. Thanks for the quick reply.
Went to Lake Verret yesterday. Stiff wind was blowing out of the south at about 10mph which made fishing either side of the lake difficult. Caught 11 nice cats overall. Caught most on rod/reel and some on noodles using night crawlers. Water is still somewhat high but the lake looked beautiful green and Pierre Part Bay was coffee colored.
Thanks for the report. I've been wondering about the water height and quality. I may head out there this weekend, dodging the rain, of course.
I made a trip to Verret today with my daughter. Water is about 1.5' higher than normal. Wind was about 15 mph out of the South/southeast. Lake was very stirred up and muddy. 2-3' whitecaps on the lake made for a very wet boat ride. We tried on the Northwest side but couldn't hold position good enough to fish. Went over to the East side just south of the Crackerhead canal down to the point. Only came back with 4 decent cats. Fished nightcrawlers under a float and also tossed noodles. Not a very productive day but it was good to run gas thru the old motor. Quality time on the water with my daughter beats catching a lot of fish any day. Gators and huge garfish are all over the east side of the lake.
1 of the cats is a gafftop (very good eating) and the other 4 are blue cats, not hard heads. My dad wanted to keep them to fry whole. We caught many more cats but those were the biggest and enough for a taste.
I wear Costa Man-o-war with blue lenses for everything, (driving, fishing salt and freshwater, etc) and I love them. Costly, but good. Second the comment about wearing a keeper strap of sorts (preferably floating type). I have a couple of friends that have the Wiley X brand and they love them. I had a pair of Berkley $5 glasses. Good polarization but they were too tight.
Huck, I like that idea of limiting scammers by # of posts and/or minimum time, but maybe not so many required posts. I'm sure there are many like me who don't post a lot. I have been registered on here since 2008 and I bet I have maybe 25-30 posts in that time. I post when I can, which is obviously not often. I do like the time restraint though.
Tony, I noticed that there is now a 'photo-attached' type of icon on the title to threads. Thanks for implementing this change. I like it. Also, thanks for listening to our complaints/suggestions on the new format. I know it won't go back to the old way, but the small changes from our suggestions makes it a little easier to get used to.
Tony, here\\\'s a suggestion. How about an icon of some sort indicating that the original post that started a thread has pics attached. Reason? I like to see pics as I'm scrolling thru the posts. Sometimes I might venture thru the Offshore topics, for instance, and like to look at the pics. then read the associated story. As it is now, you have to look at each thread to see if there is any pics attached. Just an idea.\r\n\r\nAnd while I\'m here, why does the text of a post go all the way to the end of the line and cut off words instead of putting the complete word on the next line? Very hard to read a post with broken words.
I don\\\'t like the new format at all! I find it harder to navigate and I like seeing the pics before opening a thread. I HATE CHANGE! Is this gonna screw up the classifieds section too? If so, how is one to see the items for sale without clicking on each one? As far as doing things on my phone.....it's a phone. I make calls, texts, and take pics. Then I upload pics to my home computer. I don't do all those other fancy posting things on my phone. Couldn't even tell you how it's done. Besides, the print is WAY too small to read an article. In this case, mikey don't like it! But thank you for allowing us to vent our frustrations.
I normally fish the north, west and east side depending on the wind, all with varied luck. As expected, some times are better than others. Hopefully I'll get out there and check it out. I will report if I do get to go. Thanks for the responses.
Thanks for the report. My daughter wants to go before she goes back to school next week. I have never fished in the winter for cats, but like I said in my other post, they still gotta eat. I may try next Monday, weather permitting.
maisweh, that's awesome. I love it. Took me a minute but I got it.
My buddy and I went to Verret again today. We had 2 bass (not much size), 7 catfish and 26 bream/chinquapin. Fished the trees with worms. Not a bad day at all. Water is still kinda high but it is moving and not muddy.
My buddy and I went last Tuesday. Water is high but moving. Not too muddy. Fished west side and caught 22 nice cats and 21 bull bream and chinquapin. Had a great time.
I'm not sure about the beaches, but the roads will be full which means parking will be a nightmare. There will be about 15,000 extra people there this weekend for the GITR. It's been a few years since I've been there for the Rodeo, but the people are everywhere. I'm guessing the beaches will be busy.
Fourchon may be an alternative if you are still wanting to be in the area.
Went Thurs 4-4-13 and got 10 nice cats on worms in the lake. Water was very muddy and wind was beating things up. Couple throw backs but most were 2-3 lb range. Made nice mess of filets.
I made it to the lake last Wednesday, Found the water level not too bad. It was a little high with water up in the woods but the color was very good. Managed 19 nice cats with a few throwbacks along with 1 nice chinquipin, and 2 nice bream. Also lost a couple of nice bream. Using night crawlers about 2' under a float. Only 1 of the cats had eggs....surprised by that because a friend of mine was there at the same time and most of his had eggs. Fish on!!