Lee and I went from Venice to Dulac by water. We ran the open route in his boat. Our mission was to get a houseboat he bought and tow it to Empire. About a 70 mile straight run from red pass to the Houma canal. The seas were flat calm.
It was a long easy run. We got the barge hooked up and settled in for the long 5 mph trip back. As soon as we hooked up the stbd. lower unit started growling. We had no choice but to continue and hope it held up.
Our route back was mostly on the inside. We had excellent seas all the time but there were very heavy storms just north of us and we did not want to be caught out there in a helpless state. We cut through the inside to Port Fourchon. By the time we got just outside Havloine canal it was already after 10 and the lightning north of us was very impressive. We anchored in for the night. I got up around 6 and first thing I did was cast a cork into the water. Yep trout here. Lee got up as soon as he heard the cork rattle with the trout on and we were back on our mission. He attempted a shortcut and we almost got into a very bad situation. With our tow still behind us we continued on. Good thing the large boat traffic was light and no recreational during the week.
Once at the Empire jetties there was still enough light to navigate the way into Empire. There were storms very near and I put on foul weather gear but it never hit us. Only a few feet away though. This is what ended our trip.
After 2 days on the water you would think I had enough. NOT! It is Friday and nothing on the books so I grabbed the bay boat. Last minute could not find anybody so off I went alone. My mission was to get an amberjack, go back into state waters for a limit of red snapper then go inside for redfish etc. I left the marina at 9:20. As I started down the passes the winds were blowing 12 mph with gusts to 15. Twice I started to turn around but I decided to continue. Once at the mouth of the pass I was greeted with a head sea all the way to where I wanted to go for the amberjack. It was not as bad a ride as I thought it would be. There is a sandbar we always go around but today my boat could not go in that direction so I cut the inside. The waves were enough that I could see if it was getting shallow. I never had less than 5.6 reading on the depth finder. Plenty of water. May have found a new short cut. At the AJ rig I dropped a jig down with nothing happening. I circled around the rig till the sounder lit up at 120 to 140 feet. Dropped down and on the second bounce I get hit. Missed it but fed it back like an injured fish and on the first twitch hooked up. Note to self*** Put a belt of some kind on the bay boat for things like this. Have a bunch of dinky ones in the shed that customers have left and would have helped me with this guy. When I got him in the boat I checked my GPS and I was 1000 feet away from the rig.
The metal ruler across the fish box is 36 inches. I then went into state waters looking for red snapper. One place I tried had some young energetic guys running all over and I had to move on.
The second place was better but I had a hard time keeping out of the structure so it took some time to find a place to get them out. My first one was 24 inches.
Second was 20 and the last was 25 inches. Those are fork length measurements. My next move was to find some redfish. I go into a bay along the beach and hook up on the first cast. The problem bull red. After fighting him I was ready for amberjack instead. I had to chase him with the trolling motor.
This was the smallest of 3 so I called it quits. On the way back I ducked in and out of several passes looking for new areas and cuts to some of the ponds. I got home and cleaned the rewards. This is my first snapper of the year for myself and the season will close the end of this month.
Time to face reality. I have 4 acres of unattended grass to cut today. Thinking of making a quick hit tomorrow for some trout tomorrow before the Saints game. Just a thought. Have to make that call tomorrow morning.
Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.
CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM
09-07-2013, 09:36 AM
2 missions
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