Southwest pass reefs
 

Hey guy's I've never been to the pass and was wondering if the reefs are marked? I don't want damage my boat on low tides.

Most of the reefs are not marked and they alot of them aren't very deep. I would be very cautious or go with someone who is familiar with the area a few times before running all over the place by yourself.

If you mean you are going through the pass then hug the red markers and you will be fine...if you mean to fish the reefs IN the pass I agree with ragin and say try to find someone who knows them.

About how far are the reefs from the red markers? Also thanks for the info

reefs are on the green marker side..if you were looking at a map the reefs they are in the west cove you see in the pass. Now if you are after trout you can go through the pass and there are fishable reefs on the gulf side of marsh island. a lot of people fish those areas...I am still not clear if you mean to get through the pass or fish the reefs IN the pass

do you have a GPS? Some of the bigger reefs are marked on some GPS maps if you have a navionics chip or similar. Also if you dont know the red markers should be on your left when you are going out

go during a low tide and you can see the reefs from inside the channel. pay close attention to the red and green channel marker, they make a curve and if youre not paying attention you can go right through the area that has the reef.

Jopheso,
I'd like to fish the reefs in and around the pass

Fishing the pass without a map and accompanied by a fisherman familiar with the area is a sure setup for a major scrape or worse. I know the pass and area reefs pretty good and still pay for "exploring" new spots. The area have claimed plenty outboards.

There is a reef chip you can put in a Garmin device that will show every reef in the Pass, and south of Marsh Island, also Tete Butte. I have one and would not go without it. You can run all you want in the reefs

I also have a reef chip an wouldn't go anywhere without it. It's dangerous I kno people who have sunk boats an actually flew out da boat hitting reefs. There are reefs by the red markers also so jus stay between them if you are Gunna. An the safest thing if you wanna fish reefs in the pass I would say drop ya trolling motor by a channel marker then troll the rest of the way it's the ones that you can't see that will bite! Good luck! Don't go outside unless u jus fishing pavy or tbute any further east is a maze of reefs an white poles extremely dangerous! Tight lines brotha

Is that the one that magic video sells? I heard it was a ridiculous price like 300 bucks?

I heard more like $500
 

when the guy from Magic Video installed my depth finder....think he said it was produced by some guy named Matt I believe....

500 for a chip....insanity

yep...maybe if it was a chip for the whole louisiana coast I could see paying that, but just for the reefs south of Marsh Island?

Matt is the guy who made it and it is 500
Andre at magic video sells em also.

Lower unit is way more than the cost of a chip. Don't go in the pass without someone who knows the area. Last year there was a Contender on a reef with all the gadgets known to man. Sit by the mouth of the pass and follow someone through. If you go early in the morning you will have plenty of opportunities to follow someone.

I bet they had fun getting out of that shallow water

Yeah you right,I got stuck before exploring the area north of caldwell. Luckily no major damage. Fishing with speckchaser a while back we saw this boat high and dry.

The last red marker gets nocked down every now and then and when it does it looks wide open like you could just run anywhere, but you cant. The pass makes a dog leg. I saw a big double rig shrimp trawler stuck near where the red marker should have been 2 years ago.

Montauk, are u in that boat, or is that someone else's. Look's a lot like a a boat of someone I know.

No I was not in the boat in the pic....it was a group over men prolly in their 40's drunk as a skunk. They would trim the motors down and dig the props into the shell,sounded nasty. Then they tried to push that big bi. :rotfl: Nothing we could do to help,im sure they had to wait for high tide to get out.

a goo alternative to the $500 reef chip is the chip from standard mapping. only $80 and is really accurate. http://www.aerialcharts.com/servlet/StoreFront I love it and for the price you cant go wrong. shows all the reefs as well.


also check out www.flashearth.com the aerial photos were taken at a low tide and will highlight any reef that will take off your lower unit.

Lol. yep, them dudes were in a bad way. Im sure that was a long day for them.

Looks like it's
 

only for Lowrance....no Garmin software yet.....

Is that the anchor rope off the front of the boat in the pic you posted??

You still have to be careful even with the chip. It helps out with the fishing but it's not 100 percent dead on. I have the 500 dollar chip and still scraped a reef while trying to fish close. It's still worth the 500 dollars though for sure.

wow! Ya know, I'd been thinking about a trip down to Venice. I'm glad I didnt go. I had no idea that the place was full of reefs.

We were talking about southwest pass in vermillion bay on this thread. There is also a southwest pass in venice. No reefs like vbay but plenty of sandbars and other things to watch for.

I have that reef chip that Andre sells from Majic video. Anyone interested in it, I'll sell it for $400. If interested, send me a P.M. The only reason I don't use it is because I have a lowrance now. Great chip.

Yep, If I remember right, I think they were trying to use the anchor llike a
winch.:spineyes:

That is the best 500$ dollars you will spend in your life if you fish vbay area like we do its a must south of marsh island. An this thing is super accurate!!! I hardly never look up when I'm running the reefs keep my eyes on that GPS! That Lil triangle "your boat" touches any part of that dark blue area u hit reef!
It ever shows cuts an holes in the reefs so u use you noggin when that water is rippin through there an the fishin is Hott an heavy!

The reef chip is an absolute must. Matt Landry is the guy that makes the chip. I wouldn't deal with anyone else. Best $500 YOU WILL EVER SPEND. I called him on his cell 519-3947 and picked up the chip the next day

It that the 500 card. Pic. I want to compare it to my factor hds 7 touch map pic of the pass

sent from my Galaxy NOTE II

if you go there, just stop at the mouth of the pass and follow the boat parade. there will be a bunch of boats going thru the pass.

or wait on a crewboat and follow them thru.

red, right, returning on the markers and you can't go wrong.

good luck.

if u do run aground, be sure to mark that spot so u can go fish it later!!!!!

My dad drilled Red, Right, Return in my head when i was about ten. If you draw a straight line from one red marker to the next and stay within ten feet of that line on the way out of the bay into the gulf, you will be in the channel. Although when you pass the second-to-last red marker, its better to sweep to your left (marsh island side) a bit, but as long as you remain inside of the green and red while going through , you'll be in 20+ feet of water. If your fishing t-butte, turn very wide right after you get past the oyster sticks and watch your depth finder so it doesnt pass 3 feet. Diamond is a little tougher. The water is so high right now that the charts aren't very accurate in my opinion. If your going to fish the reefs, i strongly suggest you invest in any kind of GPS with a backtrack or visual track feature because once in the reefs, they start to look different as the tide shifts and its much easier to come back out the way you go in. I use several and even the phone based apps work well until you get outside of the pass. i can send you some charts via email if you need. I also have a handheld that i use on my waverunner with the Navionics Gold Louisiana chip that I'm selling if you want to try it, but if you have a smartphone the USA Marine apps are fantastic for just 10 bucks. PM me if you are interested in trying the handheld or want some chart pics. Ferraridriver2@aol.com. I have picked up and brought in several beat up fishermen who I noticed standing on the reef with no boat because they ran their fiberglass hull into the last reef and sank it. The strength of the current there is a killer. Following someone is great as long as you have someone to follow back. Sorry for the long two cents. I almost lost my brother on those reefs.

Reef Map
 

This an image of the reef map sold for $500 (sorry hard to see picture taken with phone) Much more detail than standard charts

No offense but for 500 bucks I would like it to be more detailed than that. Navionics gold chip shows most of those reefs for much cheaper.

No Comparison

This is from my hds 7 touch. Not too bad. If I zoom in closer it will show the reef with the shaded caution area around it as you can see. The pic below shows shell keys. I it will show pavey, rabbit, eugene reef etc.

sent from my Galaxy NOTE II

Pic of same area

Nice

sent from my Galaxy NOTE II

I see how it shows the reefs more clearly just hard to drop 500 bucks.

reef chip
 

This is the view from the chip
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