The Pen

Thanks to the members of the Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club for turning us on to the Pen in Chalmette. Or as they say down there, da pen down in da parrish. From Baton Rouge take I-10 to New Orleans, then left at the split towards Slidell, then take the 510 (Hwy 47) exit towards Chalmette. Once you go over the bridge look for Marina Road on the left. There is a Travel Lodge there with a green roof and a convenience store, it's the first store that you get to after you cross the bridge. It's an hour and a half trip from Baton Rouge.
Anyway, back to the report. In the winter it's an evening bite. Right in front of the new two story camp with the copper roof is a deep hole. Black and red drum are on the bottom. A sink tip will get your fly there. When the trout are in there, they can be caught from the surface down. We caught lots of big black drum, slow at first then every cast right at dark.

Hwy 1 fishing spots

Last year Catch Cormier wrote an article for the RSFF newsletter. It details all of the fishing spots that can be reached by car from Golden Meadow south. Here are links to that newsletter and a map of the Fourchon to GI area.
Redletter 0507.pdf
Hwy 1 Map.pdf

Fall catch and eat

Hogy, Kevin, and I arrived Friday for the RSFF's Fall Catch and Eat, ready to catch some fish. We went into the ponds to the right of the landing at Catfish Lake and caught trout all day, as well as some reds. Total was about 30 keepers for the day. Saturday we arrived a the canal to Elmer's Island to view a torrent of water pouring through, and 20 mph winds. We back tracked to the TPH and started out bank fishing with poppers under a cork. Kevin went behind the island and caught two really nice flounders and lost several more at the kayak. I saw two guys steady catching trout and went to see what they were using. Large Johnson Sprite gold spoons. I put one on and caught several as well. We ended up with a respectable box of fish. Sunday morning we got to the TPH at about 7, it was still cold. I was about ready to pack it in, but went ahead and tried with a DOA under a cork. First two casts, two fish. We all got in the kayaks and fished the hole and the marsh behind the island. Hogy got a redfish at least 30 lbs to right under the kayak and broke the leader trying to get it off the bottom. I stayed in the TPH trowing a gold spoon and caught trout almost on every cast. Just as we were all about ready to call it a day at 1 pm, trout started busting shrimp in the middle of the hole. We drifted among them and caught schooles on every cast, and some big ones. I was limited out and Hogy and Keven had about 15 nice trout each. We packed it in and went and cleaned fish for over an hour before we headed back to BR. I almost forgot the highlight of the trip. Hogy cut a trout up and put it on the bottom of the hole. He caught and landed a huge gar, over five feet! It was released unharmed.

Got G.A.S.?

In internet music circles we call it G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrome. It starts as a quest to upgrade your equipment and it can take on a life of it's own. Luckily by buying used at the right price, you can easily sell or trade equipment for what you paid for it and end up breaking even. Usually there is a detour into collecting instead of using gear. Luckily I'm through with that. I really like what I have now and use it all. For more details on that go to http://noahvale.freeshell.org and click on "My Basses".
Anyway what's that got to do with Louisiana Fishing? I have had a power boat for most of my adult life. I got into fishing from a kayak last year. Well I started with a canoe, and then got a kayak.. I am on kayak number three now. All the money spent on the canoe and other kayaks all came back to me when I sold them. Now I have what I should have gotten first - a Native Watercraft Magic 12. All of my other kayaks have been good, but the downfall with a kayak for me is the seat. In a power boat, you can stand and you don't suffer from "yakbutt". The Natives hands down have to the best seat in the biz. Here's a pic of my new Magic tricked out and ready to do battle with redfish:

Finsport Fly Wallet

I've been on a quest to get the right setup for salt water water fly fishing from my Pungo 120 kayak. Love the kayak, but room is limited. I like to wear a life jacket, and have one with a couple of zip-up pockets. Almost works. And yeah, I have vests, two waist packs, tons of fly boxes, and on and on...
And yes, I support my local shops - when they have what I want. I also shop online. I actually make my living selling online, so I appreciate the support I get as well. After all a lot of online sellers are shops too, some of us are shops available to the whole world...
So I was placing an order at Sierra Trading Post. I get their email come-ons and they sent me a coupon 10% off with free shipping for an order over $100. I put together an order from their already discounted clearance section. Picked up Frog Togs rain jacket for $29!
Anyway back to the topic at hand. I got one of these:
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,97787_Finsport-6008-Fly-Wallet.html
EVERYTHING I need fits in it! Tools, leaders, tippet, more flies than I should really take, all in a 9x5 inch when closed wallet. It has a clip that attaches to a D ring on the life jacket. Love it!

Suspending Clouser

I got this idea at warmfly.com. Instead of a lead head, a piece of flip-flop foam is used for the eyes. It floats hook down, so the color pattern is reversed. I used some glow in the dark tinsel as well as gold krystal flash. It floats until the bucktail gets wet, then is suspends just under the surface as you strip. So far it has been effective for bass, I also want to try if for specks at night.

Fingernail spoon files

These are really easy to do and they work well for redfish. I get the fake fingernails at the "Everythings a Dollar" store for a dollar! The more expensive ones available elsewhere really don't work as well, as they are heavier. A quick scissor trim and shaping with the $1 nail files I got at the same store does it. I then color them yellow with a Sharpie. I've used super glue in the past, but the easiest and quickest way to attach the Mustaad 34007 #2 hook is with a mini hot glue gun. The I coat them with a little 5 minute epoxy and using a salt shaker, I cover them with ultra fine glitter (from Wal-Mart). I do this over a box so that I can catch the excess glitter and return it to the salt shaker. Then after the 5 minute is set, I go over it with a thin coat of 30 minute epoxy and put them on a drying wheel. If you are careful to only use very thin coats of epoxy, they only weigh 1 gram each.

Afternoon gills

I put my kayak in a neighborhood pond late yesterday afternoon. The pond is full of small bass. I could see the bass chasing the smaller bream that I caught as I pulled them in. Some of the ones I caught have signs of bass attacks. I caught a couple of the bass, all small. I kept these bream, probably caught another two dozen throwbacks. After I pulled my kayak up right at dark, I tossed the foam spider along the bank where I had caught several bass on previous trips and caught the three largest bream of the day, one right after the other.

Little Missouri River

Made the RSFF trip to Murfreesboro, Arkansas this past weekend. They stock rainbow trout below the dam at Lake Greeson. It's only six and a half miles of river with thousands of trout. Much fun!
More pictures here: http://ammonspictures.com/v/album_001/little_missouri_jan_2008/

Made a trip to the Telephone Pole Hole yesterday. Caught several flounder on the east end flats, then moved to the hole. We anchored our boats and waded to the edge of the pit and had good trout action on clousers.