Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Took a Long Overdue Kayak Trip

The Louisiana marsh never ceases to fascinate me. It's a remarkable productive fishery with salt and freshwater fish swimming side by side with each other. I lost a small bass, let go quite a few undersized fish and kept enough for a mess.



These "camps" are nicer than my house. They are inaccessible by land. All construction materials get barged in.



When I fish this area, my primary technique is a two rod slow troll. The lagoon is only 4-5 feet deep in most places. Pedaling at a speed that keeps the bait just off the bottom is the trick. Pedal kayaks are the way to go for fishing and photography.



Speckled trout and redfish are the main target. Today was a first. I caught a sheepshead trolling.

Nice PB, looks like a lot of fun.

Wow. Looks nice. Amazing houses on stilts.

How deep is it at low tide?

That looks great!

Didja pee off the deck?

We have minimal tidal exchange here. 2 feet of difference between high and low is extreme. It's typically around a foot of difference. We also have one high and low tide a day (diunrnal tides)

I just stand up and pee off the side of the yak.

👍👍

That Sheepshead would be my choice for dinner.

^^^^^ sheepshead.

That looks to be a blast,
What were the temps ?

Great pics!

If a boat blows the horn just ask them to pull over and have a conversation.

LOL

Air and water temp in the upper 50s.

Good stuff, I love that area, having had duty in Biloxi many years ago & spent fun times in NO !!

Looks like fun! Have only used my peddle kayak in freshwater but it makes a good fishing platform. Play in the salt as much as you can before moving to TN, you will miss it!

I will surely miss it.

Nice pics Paul, looks like fun.

Looks like a blast Paul love the multi-species aspect.

It's not unusual to come back from a marsh trip with 5 different species. Specs, reds and largemouth bass are the most common. Black drum, flounder, and white trout are regulars. The Sheepshead was a first from a kayak and my first ever on an artificial bait.

Ever had a gator come after ya?

+2.

Those small trout are probably too watery. The red would be way under size here.

Paul, have you ever tried shrimp tipped jigs for the Reds?

I have only had 2 interesting encounters with gators. I was in Davis Bayou in Ocean Springs and had a large gator swim directly out of a cove right toward me. When it got about 10 feet away, it started flaking me until I got away from the cove. It submerged and the bubble trail led back to the cove. I paddled up a little creek on the opposite side of the cove and heard baby gators sounding their call.

Another time I was walking my dog along the banks of a lagoon when a smallish gator exploded out of the water, jaws popping toward Shadow. I instinctively jumped in between them and it lunged at me. We backed away and I saw a number of babies in the water where she came from. I went back a while later with a camera and enticed her to come at me again. This is her. You can see a few babies in the lagoon behind her. She took her motherly role seriously.






Unless they have babies, they aren't normally aggressive.















They will get after a topwater bait.

Yep. I'll tip artificial baits when the bite is slow.

My favorite bait is a Slayer Baits Sinister Swim Tail 3.5" in Houdini color. That's what you see hanging out of the sheepshead's mouth. These baits are lightly infused with a scent. Not like Gulp baits that need to stay in a broth. They don't stink up your tackle box either. They have incredible action. As I slowly troll the bait along, I can see my rod tip vibrating from their action. Few other baits do that at slow speeds. They are also very tough. It's not uncommon to catch 10-12 fish before they start coming apart.

https://slayerinc.com/product-category/soft-plastic-baits/sinister-swim-tail/

How can there only be 1 high and 1 low tide per day?

The red was right at 16" That's the lower limit in LA. We can keep 5, only one of which can be greater than 27" I like the smaller trout. LA just changed the creel limit from 25 per person to 15 per person and the lower size limit from 12" to 13" I had half a dozen or so between 12-13.

It's that way across much of the Gulf Coast.

You should start a thread about the fish you catch with pictures.

It would be fun.

I don't post a ton of pictures because I don't take a lot of pictures, and I don't want my face all over the internet like you, you fatass drunk vodka-nosed moron.
I don't need to feed my ego, like you do.

Paul, I got to a point with trout that I rarely keep them. I don't know what they're like in Louisiana, but here in Florida by the time you fillet them and cook them there's not much left because they have a lot of water in the meat. Reds are a completely different story. I'll eat them all day long. An easy way to cook them is in tin foil. Spread some butter on the bottom of the foil, lay the fillets in, mayonnaise, butter, sliced onion on top. Little fresh ground black pepper, paprika sprinkled on top or Tony's. Wrap them up sealed in the foil and cook them on the grill. They're done when you're ready for them. As long as you don't pierce the foil, you don't ruin the fish. Pour the sauce and the onions from the tin foil over the fish when you serve. Delicious. Gotta love some Reds. Sometimes do them in a cast iron skillet if it's not a big crowd. Do snook the same way.

Pedal kayaks are the way to go for fishing and photography.


Of course you would have a " pedal" kayak
🤣

Of course! I even wear spandex for a more authentic experience. I really want to catch a Halibut off my yak.

I love redfish any way it's cooked. The way you described sounds outstanding. When I get larger ones, I'll grill steaks. A little salt, lemon pepper and Tony's. I drizzle them with lemon butter. That keeps it moist, causes a flare-up and gives it a light char. With this one and the sheepshead, I'll cast iron skillet blacken them. Specks are just so-so to me. I fry them.

Just so we are clear you don't have any pictures and you won't be starting a thread such as the one Paul did in which you act like an azz?

I am pretty sure Paul never posted his mug in this thread, just the fish he caught that you bitched about being watery and to small.

Just Checkin?

Damn, where are my manners.

You're a phony. You always have been. You charge way too much for your copycat rifles. You're a diluted yuktard getting all your "information" from the neocon pipeline.. And you're a vodka-nosed red faced fatass drunk. Period.

By the way, I never bitched about any fish. I made a comment about the texture of a fish of which I've caught thousands. More than you will ever see in your useless lifetime. (Lies, just like you always do). Now go back to your vodka bottle and your cot, you pathetic drunk.

You 2 have the the purtyist blue eyes. But.

Quit posting that all over the internet. It's frowned on by those who lack pictures.

You're taking away their safe space where everyone is equal, even if they never do shit but shit post.

Ok, but how? I am seriously curious. I thought tides were based on the gravitational impact of the moon orbiting the earth and that there were always 2 high and 2 low tides within about 24 hours. Please enlighten me/us. I am not ashamed to be ignorant and readily confess that I don't know everything about everything.

I remember getting stationed in Galveston TX with the Coast Guard in 1987. It was weird to me to see twice a day high and low tides since I had spent most of my life on the Northern Gulf.

This explains how. https://www.tideschart.com/blog/tides/why-do-diurnal-tides-occur/

As a hillbilly, I'm not qualified on tides.
That makes me 24hrcampfire qualified to take a stab at it.

Since the tides are affected by the moon, rotating roughly around the earth
in an east-west orbit, and a good bit of the Gulf beaches stretch East West,
the tides aren't as big as on North South coasts.


I guess.

And in Florida, we sometimes have 2 and we sometimes have 4 Tides per day. On the west coast of Florida where I used to live we had more 2 tide days than we do here in South Florida.

I'm a self-made, humble patriot. I don't lie about what I've done. I do what I do. Sometimes I post about it. Sometimes I don't. I've been all over the world and I don't lie about that, either. I will never count out to lying phoney, slick with memes, internet punks like you.

You, however are a two-faced rip off lying red face drunk.

Got it, drunk punk?

Lol.

Great post Paul. And thanks for sharing.

BTW, we have roughly the same results, Specks, Reds, Sheepshead, Snook, with a gold or silver spoon. Mostly all we use in S. TX. Thinking that's the same ship channel we have here. Same stilted fishin shacks too.

Did not know you guys had many snook in South Texas. I had heard of a few getting caught on the Eastern side of the state's coast.

I really don't care about what you claim to have done.

I was just commenting on you shit posting in this thread about "watery" trout and small red fish.

I figure anyone, such as you, who runs down a nice picture thread is just a envious low life.

The fact you have never caught anything better is just icing on the do nothing cake.

Posted pictures matter as anyone, such as you, can claim anything on the internet. With out pictures your just one more rando on the internet spouting lies.

I find Paul's pictures interesting because what he did is very different than anything here in Wyoming. When you call his catch small and "watery" it reeks of envy. I can smell it through the screen.

Any how have a nice evening being all sour and such.

What’s the slot limit now on reds and sea trout. I’m thinking of coming down in February to LA for reds. I miss the food of LA I went to Tulane

Thanks for the link Paul.

Unlike you, I don't "claim" anything. Just like in real life. You should try it some time. Might improve your schit reputation.

And unlike you, I don't get on the internet and lie. I didn't run down Paul's pictures. I like seeing them. I made a comment about the texture of trout. Which was not a lie. Completely from experience, and a lot of it.

If you knew anything about trout, you would know what I said was exactly true, as with anybody else that has enough experience. One example? A friend of mine and I caught 72 speckled trout in one night, fishing the lights around a bridge near Honeymoon Island. I know a little bit about what I'm talking about.

I will always direct sourness toward internet lying vodka-nosed meme-slinger punks like you.

One other thing. Of all your posts ever on this board, I have never once seen you give anyone a useful tip or perform any act of generosity. The only thing you ever do is try to run somebody else down, feed your drunkass ego, sell overrated high priced guns, and blather neocon infected yuktard bullschit.

Now go back to your cot.

Except about catching 72 trout in one night but with no pictures?


Instead of shit posting in Paul's picture thread maybe spend $100 bucks on a camera and take pictures of those "72" trout nights and do your own thread.

I can't say no one will be an azz, like you, and shit post in your thread but I can say it won't be me.

You're just a lying old fatass Rudolph red-nosed drunk. I'll post what I want to post when I want to post it. I don't take orders from a phoney vodka drunk like you. STFU and go back to your cot and vodka bottle and your overpriced knockoff rifles.

Alcohol use also triggers inflammatory cytokines, which cause the skin to swell. The combination of these elements can cause a flushed face and other rosacea symptoms.

Just to be clear we won't be seeing any pictures of your "72" trout?

Several years ago.. at night, you fat drunkass chkunt.

This is what you do. This is all you do. You come on here at nightwhen you're all drunked up with a vodka bottle in your lap and your big rosy red Rudolph vodka-nose. You're pathetic. Go get in your cot. I'll mail you some more of my farts.

Cameras have worked really well at night for many decades.

So again, you made claims but can not back up those claims.

So again, you just shit post in others thread because you're a failure.

It adds to the fun that you feel better getting your azz kick up around your ears if you pretend the azz kicker is "drunked up".

You still hanging around sniffing my farts, you stupid old coot?
No claims, you stupid old drunk Rudolph red-nosed chkunt. I did what I did and I don't have to produce pictures to justify it to your lying drunk Rudolph red-nosed ass. All you do is come on here and fugk up thread after thread with your vodka bottle between your knees. You want more of my farts, no problem. I'll mail them to you. Now take your vodka bottle and go back and piss your stinky old cot, loser. Be sure and come back with some neocon yuktard stupidity, too.

F(_)CK it, I'm all in on the Barnyard/Burnz 2024 ticket. Forget Trump, these cats know more about swamp living than any of those in deesea, so let's raze this country in style; spandex, cheap vodka, sheity guns, crocs and inconveniencing others with our own boosheit while waxing eleeteyesm ... It's obviously what our Founders would have wanted if'n ya can read cursive, so piss on all you haters! Barnyard & Burnz ain't no Bullsheit!

All I can say is, must be hell trying to sell some mediocre ARs to people who know more about them than you do. What, with all the decent manufacturers around that make their own parts to spec and put together some hellacious rifles. And the market flooded with excellent ARSs. Must suck to be you. Now bring on some more hate and start another thread war with your yuktard stupidity. What a fool.

I have thought of getting a kayak for fishing on lakes.

Just like that?

Newton’s Third Law would have me overboard every time.

Great photos from a place many of us are not familiar with.

Yep, rare to catch them on an artificial, but I have caught them on Gulp scented artificial shrimp lures along with flounder, specks and reds.

Cool thread Paul. Looks like a great way to fish.

Modern fishing specific kayaks are very stable. When you add a pedal drive, they are even more stable. The "foot" of the pedal drive unit is heavy (weight beneath the surface) and it acts as a fin stabilizer.

You should. With the insane price of motorboats these days, they are beyond the budget of most people. I catch as many fish in my yak as I did when I had my motorboat. Granted, it's not a lot, but it's way cheaper to suck at fishing in a kayak. Another advantage is that you can put them in and access places that motorboats can't go.

The last one I caught in Florida while kayaking off a sailboat anchored at Cape St. George Island was big enough to make some fish tacos out of. We had pretty good luck that day & I thought those fish were similar to what I catch in Louisiana.



I really do like being down in the swamps & marshes of south Louisiana. But the last time I was working on a camp south of Houma in the sweltering jungle heat, I only managed to catch a single fish. No, that's not bait. That's what I caught. It was still a good day to be out there.



Usually we do okay...

Cool trip

What brands would you be looking at?

No problem catching that many schoolies when they're biting. We used to catch over 100 sometimes 200 or more in Baffin Bay back in the 70s on dead shrimp and popping corks. no limits on them back then.

All of the USA made brands other than Pelican are very good. It's a matter of whether you want a propeller drive or fin drive. I have had both. I lean toward prop drive. A lot of modern fishing kayaks are huge barges that weigh over 100 pounds without the drive unit. That's a bit too much for my bad back and bad shoulder. I have a Native Slayer Propel 10 that is the lightest on the market. It's a wide stable kayak that's easy to move around. It's slow and doesn't track well though. It's great for what it is at about $2200. The one pictured in my post is an Old Town Malibu PDL 120. It's about as big and heavy as I'd want to manage. It rides great. It's fast, stable and tracks very well. The Old Town pedal unit is smoother and more responsive than the Native unit. At about $2000, it's the best value on the market in my opinion.

This is a pretty good read for anyone considering a pedal drive fishing kayak. It touches on some of the minor differences from brand to brand. Things like the rudder and pedal drive deployment and recovery.

https://kayakanglermag.com/stories/...ng-kayak-pedal-powered-olympics-testing/

These are made in Thailand. I bought one for my wife. It's pretty darn good. The pedal drive unit isn't as robust, but I think for the casual fisher, it should give good service. This particular model is not as stable as most fishing yaks. They took a paddle drive hull and altered it to accommodate a pedal drive unit. Initial stability is a bit lacking, but secondary stability is good. The rudder mechanism is kinda cheesy. They had free shipping earlier in the week.

https://waterwaysusa.com/collections/pedal-motor-kayaks/products/flash

I'd avoid Chinese made kayaks.

10 years ago, it was almost always a guaranteed limit of 25 per person in this area. It's been steadily worsening. That's why we recently adjusted the creel and size limits. I think the fishery will recover pretty quickly.

Thanks PB.