Today I had the pleasure of fishing with a local group from New Orleans Louisiana. They arrived at the log cabins yesterday late in the afternoon and settled in for the night. We barbecued some deer meat last night and spent some quality time catching up on old stories about all the fishing trips we had down here when we were kids. Now that I think about it when we were kids and I mean young kids we would sneak five gallons of gas out of my dad’s shed and head out in the morning and not come back until dark thirty. We would fish from daylight til dark without eating a thing all day. If our parents knew how far we would venture off during the day I think they would have busted our behinds. We would set out first thing in the morning and head south towards Barataria Bay and back in those days there were islands just about all the way across the bay so we would island hop from one island to the next until we made it to the other side. Of course the other side of Barataria Bay is the barrier islands to the gulf of mexico. Well after concurring that path we decided to turn west and learn our way to Grand Isle that is about another ten miles down the beach towards the west. We would have to refuel our small wooden flat boats in order to have enough fuel to make it back home. Well in the mist of learning our way as kids we would fish every island we past to see if there were any speckled trout or red fish hanging around the outer edges. That my friend is how I learned not only my way of going but what islands held fish. Not only what islands were holding fish but what conditions where present while catching fish on certain days as well as not catching fish on other days. You see once you learn a new spot where you might box up a limit of beautiful speckled trout you should always take notice of what the conditions are on that day. See what way the tide of going, what way the wind is blowing, how clean is the water, how much of a tide range you have for that day, what time of the day you caught ect. There is a reason the speckled trout was feeding on that day at that location and at that time of the day. Always take notice of what the conditions are when you do good on a fishing trip. Most folks simply go out and catch a box of fish and never once pay any attention to what the conditions are while they are catching one trout after another. That my friend is one of the biggest tips I can give you in regards to becoming a better fisherman.
Well getting back to my friends that are down for the weekend to do some speckled trout fishing with me. I picked them up this morning from the log cabins right at safe light and we headed north towards lake hermitage. It is hardly a boat ride from the village before you get to the strike zone of where the speckled trout are feeding this time of the year. You see this time of the year the egg sacks go flat and the breeding season is over and all the trout come in from the barrier islands to the shallow flats, duck ponds and dead end pipe line canals for the fall and winter months of the year. As I said the shrimp have all just about left and there is not much for the trout to feed on so soft plastic has been working fine. We had a stiff north wind this morning at about fifteen miles per hour and the tide was falling hard. However the clarity of the water has not yet got dirty from the cool front that is passing through and the speckled trout was feeding like crazy. It didn’t take long to box up our limit of beautiful speckled trout fishing the electric chicken three feet under a popping cork. It was just about as fast as you threw your line the cork would go down and you were reeling another speckled trout to the boat. Well I don’t have to tell you what we will be eating tonight for dinner. We all got together and cleaned the fish, bagged them up and iced them down for the day. Couple of the guys helped me clean the boat and everyone headed to there cabin for a quick nap. Now that is what I call a very good day on the water. There is truly nothing like spending time on the water with old friends catching speckled trout and red fish talking about how we used to do the same thing fifty years ago when we were kids. What a great time it was and also a beautiful day. Weather you are building new memories or revisiting old ones, spending time on the water doing some good speckled trout and red fish fishing is one of the best times you could possible have.
If you have small kids, boys or girls no matter what they are like, it is your responsibility to expose them to the outdoors. Let them make up there mind weather they like it or not. You might be surprised how much they will like it. I promise the memories that you will build with your kids will be unforgettable and they will talk about those fishing trips they went with you long after you are gone. You can’t buy a kid anything better then just simply spending time with them on the water catching speckled trout and red fish. They will share those stories with there children and there children will do the same for there children. That is just how life on the water and in the outdoors goes.
