With the Mississippi on the rise and the Basin as well, a great alternative is The Secret Fishing Hole. My son and I went this afternoon after church and caught about 20 in just 3 hrs. Kept 10 'drakes' for all you purists out there. Here are a couple of the ones too big to keep...
Made a trip to the pond in Zachary. My son and I boated 25-30 on baby Pop-Rs, swim baits and crank baits in 6 hrs of fishing. First fish my son caught was 7lbs and mine was 4.5 lbs. He missed one over 5 and a second that could have gone 8+. The fish are chasing schooling bait fish in the middle of the lake. Definitely worth the trip. Here are the pictures. We caught our limit by 10:30 am and the owner asked us to take some of the 10' runts to kind of thin them out. The big fish is not ours. A customer caught it last week but I wanted y'all to see how big they are.
90 Days, boys and girls....just 90 Days!!!
Made a trip to Sec 120 Rd this past weekend. Paddled back on the left side to check out the grass and the condition of the water. Last year it was full of duck seed and the ducks just wouldn't work in it. The water was stagnate because the lack of sunlight penetration allowed the grass to die. This year there is hardly any duck seed. Saw only 3 woodies but hopefully this frontal passage and the North Farm youth hunt will bring 'em in.
Left there and went walk the South Farm. Wildlife and fisheries is starting to flood the fields. They're going to flood the north section for the first split this year. This is a change in their protocol so we'll see how well it works. The big field (unit 3) in the south end of the property has been laser-leveled and is full of really good grass. They will flood that field as well. It's big enough to put 5 blinds in it. Bring some blind material because there is no natural cover in it.
Less than 100 days left for rice-rockets!!!
ONLY 143 DAYS LEFT TO GO!!!!
Made a trip this morning with my son to Catahoula Lake with Brett Herring of ShellShocked Guide Service. First time hunting that infamous lake and it did not disappoint. Brett set us up on a blind with several hundred decoys with a north wind blowing and clear skies. If you've never had an opportunity to harvest Canvasbacks, you owe it to yourself to call Brett. He called effectively and brought the ducks in right on top of us. His dog Abby earned her keep having to chase the Kevlar-vested cans. The variety of ducks was incredible. Cans, mallards, pintails, teal, Jacks, gadwalls, wigeon and the love able smiling mallards. We ended up with 6 Canvasbacks, 2 Mallards, 2 Pintails, 2 shovelers , and a teal. Would have easily completed the 3-man limit had we shot towards the end as we did in the beginning. His blinds are well brushed, dry and hide you very well.
Made the opening day dove hunt at Point aux Chenes WMA Saturday afternoon. Got run out of the field by a thunderstorm about an hour in. Over 500 doves killed in that field according to the agent. Saw lots of ducks but no teal. Was tempted by a few flocks that wanted to lite in the field.
If anyone is planning to make a teal hunt at the South Farm in Sherburne, you better bring you own water 'cuz dey ain't none! Even the two trenches on the east side have only abou 3' of water. If they would pump water it would be magnificent with the grass that's grown up in there but unless we get some serious rain between now and the 14th, don't waste your time. Good news is there are no mosquitos! Did make one kill while I was there...
In just 4 weeks, we'll be loading the boats, packing the gear, loading the dekes, and recharging the mojos to be ready to jump in the blinds first thing in the morning.
Only 44 days and it's on like donkey kong!!
I want to recommend a guide service for spectacular teal hunting. Satch Moore with Moore Farms has provided some incredible teal action for me and my son for the last couple of years. We typically get our limit before the sun cracks the horizon. He has pit blinds in rice fields and the teal come fast and furious so you can make a midweek hunt and still get back in time to get your hours at work if you want.
He charges $100 per gun and a $75 guide fee. With 24 teal to be taken and 3 hunters per blind, it works out to $125 per man. Well worth the price considering the concentrations of teal he has there. Give him a call @ (337) 540-5211 You won't be disappointed. He has accommodations there as well if you want to spend the night before.
Hunted the incoming front this past Thursday morning. The rain pelted us as we set out the decoys. All we could do is turn our backs to the wind and wait it out. Shortly after the rain stopped, the wind came from the west. We heard it coming! What ensued was the best mallard hunt I've ever experienced in Louisiana. Everything in the air were mallards. You'd start working three and by the second pass, there would be ten and then fifteen by the third. Ducks were looking to get out of the wind so any come-back call would cause them to drop 100 ft at a time. God is too good!
Made a hunt with the crew from Moore Farms in Welsh, LA this morning. Skies were clear and the North wind was cold. Not a bunch of ducks but we made the best of the shot opportunities. Killed 10 teal, 2 spoonies, and the piste de la resistance, our guide called in 3 Speckled-bellies from about a half mile away. I heard him say 'kill 'em all' as he called the shot. We followed the order!
I have never heard shooting on the magnitude which I heard this past Saturday morning. Buy stock in ammunition companies because I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say about 3000 rounds were fired in our area. Ducks were EVERYWHERE! We got 11: 6 green wings, 1 pintail, 1 wigeon, 2 green heads, and a spoonie. We heard the first shot at 5:30am. That's 26 minutes before legal shooting time. Then the 'war' began and didn't begin to slow till 8 am. My first shot took down 2 teal!
There were at least 3 bald eagles flying over the Bonne Carre spillway this afternoon near sunset. They had all the egrets and ibis stirred up and the ducks as well. There were at least 200 ducks either on the water or in the air. It's neat to see duck populations out there again.
Saw a couple flocks of big ducks over the Bonnet Carre spillway. That's a good sign.
For the second year in a row, Rick Moore has out-done himself. My son and I went Friday and once again, smoked 'em!! 12 teal in just 26 minutes. It would have been sooner but our shooting was a little rusty at first. Give him a try...you won't be disappointed.
He no longer rents boats. It was too much maintenance. You can launch a boat but use trolling motor only.
You can call for a reservation at 225-938-4647. You'll speak to Mrs. Darlene.
It's off LA 19 just north of Zachary on Yardley St.
Me. Dickie still owns it and it's still a great place to fish.
You'll have to find bank which may soon be hard to come by. I told my son that muddy water puts bass on cover and it turned out to be true that day. I find the bass are less spooky in the muddy water.
Yep. Stephensville in the main bayou in muddy water
Hunted South farm this past Thursday as the front came through. It was a good one
Water is too low in my opinion for an outboard.
Walked the South Farm last Wednesday. They're pumping water into the ponds because it's bone dry. Saw a group of hoods, 2 mallards, 3 otters, a mink, and a few dozen coons feasting on crawfish. It's very dry so I don't doubt that 120 is low
I've always done well during the split for ducks in December in De Cade. Fish a clear sparkle beetle under a rattling cork about 18'. Drift down the crab trap bouys.
If you continue past Little Alabama Rd and drive along Big Alabama Bayou, you'll come to the campground area. Drive past it and you'll cross a fence where the Atchafalaya NWR begins. Pull to the right and walk perpendicular to the road along the tree line for abou 100 yds. The dove field is on the right.
Called the Sherburne office and asked them again if they were going to pump water. I spoke to Ken and he said if there was no water in the ponds by now, then they're not likely to be planning on pumping. They start pumping 2wks before the season so if they haven't pumped water it's because they have no plans to do so.
Spoke with the agents there and they said they won't pump water for teal season. It's a shame because they have some great plant growth and some land that they've tilled. Should be phenomenal for duck season.
Moore Farms in Welsh has some good dove hunting.
337-540-5211
Had a good hunt with Ben There club in Welsh as well.
Bump
Gotta be the moon phase and that front that passed through which came down from Canada and the Midwest. Should be hearing plenty of sighting reports over the next couple days.
I hunt Wax, Sherburne and Moore Farms in Welsh
The Secret Fishing Hole in Zachary. Best bass fishing in all of Baton Rouge
That smile on his face was worth the guide fee!
Do not use Superior!!! I gave them a dozen shimano reels to clean, calcuttas, chronarchs,and castaics. They weren't giving me any problems but I had had them a while and fished both fresh and salt water with them for 5 years so I figured I'd get them serviced. I got them back and didn't fish with them for about 6 months. They all squeal like stuck pigs!! I cannot believe how poorly they now perform and I cuss Superior everytime I go fishing.
I gently released every fish we caught. Some were let go back in the lake and 10 were gently release in Lake Crisco carefully coated in yellow mustard and cornmeal!