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Tony Fontenot is one of our local treasures, a good Christian man who loves to fish.  Here he is with some friends putting the smack down on some trout using the TTF "Shiney Hiney" lure.

Castin' Cajun

These guys aren't kayakers but they are among my favorite fishermen and .

Castin' Cajun.

TTF Friday!

It was a great day of fishing Friday. God prepared great weather, my fishing buddy was ready to roll, and the fish (with a little coaxing) were there to be found. I wrapped up my double limit by 11:30am here are the end results.

There were a number of things that the trip had in store for us. First a sunrise launch at Bason's Marina near Galiano is almost always accompanied by a friendly greating from the owner, a smile, a friendly joke and over the levee you go. Prep to launch and the usual pair of Osprey that hang out about 100yds from the launch.

I tried to get a photo but photography is not my strong point:


But for the third trip in a row the water (unlike my photography) was crystal clear and our fishing tactics had to address the issue.

That's when you refer to this chart at TTF.

And it was text book as I put a hurt on the trout fishing a TTF KFM White and Pumkinseed "straighlined" to wrack up a pretty quick limit of trout."

Then for fun I put on the new Lil' Dummy Speckled Trout.

I was over my limit but I wished I had put that Lil' Dummy on sooner because I was catching bigger trout and having a blast. This bait fishes awesome. It's so easy to walk and the trout destroyed it (or tried to).



Then it was a 100 foot paddle to the school of reds I'd been listening to and watching for the last hour. There they were in 4 inches of water. Backs out crushing mullet and baby crab. (apparently some full size crab to as I grabbed one to fillet him a full crab leg came squirting out of his butt - a bit gross but funny)

So I get to them without spooking them make my first cast over the school. They freak out from the shadow of the lure (a one quarter ounce Nemire Black spoon) and I enacted my new policy.

"Eat a Sandwich"

Three times now I've spooked reds, stopped ate a sandwich, and caught them. And I did it again Friday. I tried to get some picts of the water clarity, (did I mention I'm no photographer):




Well I had put away the TTF tackle and pulled out the Nemire spoon and proceeded to put a smackdown on the reds (although I missed as many as I caught and one almost stole my rod and reel with a violent attack)- here are some shots of the reds:







Some folks will say to me, "That Nemire spoon is just too expensive" this one spoon has caught about 30 reds the last 5 without the skirt. I say it's worth every penny.

Have fun; fish hard; give God the glory!

See ya on the water

TTF Video of the Month

A great how to video on fishing with soft plastics from the folks at TTF one of my sponsors and a great vendor.

Rent a Buddy

New program for the new year. "Rent a buddy"is for the new kayaker who needs some guilt free help. You bring your own gear, kayak, poles, everything, I'll meet or transport us to a fishing local we will choose together. I'll teach you everything you need to know help you with working out the kinks in your gear. We will also try and catch some fish at the same time.

Flat fee of $50 although locations could impact cost.

Silver and Gold in the Mine

One of my favorite fishing locations is the "Sulfur Mine" near Lockport, La. I just love getting in there and digging up treasures of Speckled Trout, and Redfish. Yesterday I got off to a late start but it turned out just fine. I paddled out to the mine stopping at two preliminary spots that I always try for a few fish but that was it second stop it was on. My limit of 25 trout took about 2 hours to complete. Then I paddled off to look for reds.

The problem wasn't finding the reds it was getting to them. Despite the frigid day they were hanging out in about 4" of water. One big ole bruiser running about 30 inches was taunting me for about an hour. He was up in about two inches of water just throwing bait and mud everywhere but it was too shallow for my kayak!

So I fished around the edge of the pond he was in. I was actually stuck in the mud and caught two nice reds. Had an odd day in that I then proceeded to lose four nice reds after significant battles. They were throwing mud everywhere but they also threw my hooks!

Finally I pushed myself into the pond with the big red but he vanished into thin air. I did see a 4 foot long gar with 2/3rds of his body sticking in the air and the rest in the mud. Not sure if he was staying warm, stuck, or dying. He moved a few times but didn't flinch when I hit him with my spoon.

Anyway I ran out of calories and went home tired but happy remembering to thank God for his creation and knowing that we had meals for our family and a couple of others. What a blessing.

Lures for the day:

TTF Killer Flats Minnows in Phat Tuesday and Texas Roach did most of the damage including two of the reds.

Nickel Plated Spoon did the rest (it was a windy day so I was throwing a 1/2 ounce Johnson instead of the Black Nemire - my regular bait). Reds were having nothing to do with the Gold Spoon today. Don't forget to go dark often in the winter and on overcast days.

Call Him Al

That's right I will call him Al (that's his name after all). It has been a great year of fishing and I've learned much. The final tourney of the Angler of the Year Series wound up on the 19th. The infamous "Where Y'at Throwdown" held in "da Parish" St. Bernard was another record setting tourney. I was proud to not only be a participant but one of the organizers of the events for Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club (www.BCKFC.org) in 2011. For me it was a hectic year fishing all 7 events for the first time and it was humbling because the competition has grown so much! Highlights were a 2nd place finish at the Minimalist Challenge and a 1st place Redfish at PaddlePalooza. From there it was mostly double digit finishes and I finished with my first DQ.

That's right I was DQ'ed for a late weight in at the "Where Y'at Throwdown" and it was my first failure to make a weigh in ever. I just lost track of time and arrived 3 minutes late. It ultimately didn't matter as I did not finish in the top 10 and the weigh in points would not have salvaged my 5th place standing in the overall event score. I lost out to a good angler and nice guy "OleDog" and feel it couldn't go to a nicer guy.

But the story of the day was that we called a last minute audible and headed out to the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet Dam (Mr Go) and fished a spot I'd never been to before. After 2 hours of utter frustration I was leaving to go back to my favored location but I met "Al" at the launch and after listening to him tell me of his epic catches I headed back to the Dam with him. We drug my kayak over the dam (a good 50-75 yard portage) and found a much quiter spot to fish (there were dozens of anglers trying to fish in a two acre fishing hole on the other side).

Within minutes of arriving I had a 19" trout in the boat and I was very excited. But from there it was hard work. I tried popping corks, I tried my TTF Hackberry Hustlers (and picked up 5 decent trout including the largest of the day), but nothing seemed to be working consistently. Finally I watched another angler (SaltWarrior) pulling in some respectable trout on a 4" Gulp New Penny Shrimp. Which I had none of - in fact I almost never throw the 4" bait but after rumaging around I found "Electric Chicken" 4" Gulp which is bright green and orange and I thought, "Orange and copper are fairly close". I promptly started catching a trout about every 30 mintues.

It was hard fishing, slow retrieve with a twitch, sinking the bait down about 3-4 ft and the fish were not holding in schools. But slowly I put together a stringer that was much larger than last years 5th place stringer and I thought - time to go. But the allure of catchig a flounder stopped me a few more times. Then I found a school of trout and upgraded my stringer of 5 some more (final weight was 7.9lbs - not bad but not great). Top winners were consistently over 10lbs total stringer.

But those stops plus the drag over the dam and stopping to chit-chat along the way was a killer. Suddenly I got in my truck and realized "I've got 20 minutes to make a 30 minute drive". What was I thinking? Oh well I made the drive in 23 minutes but that was still just too late.

I've coined a saying, "Don't let a tournament ruin a good day of fishing". I had a good day. 15 nice sized trout, met a new friend, learned a new fishing style and new location - that's priceless. I grew as a fisherman and likely as a person and that is what matters most.

And 6th place out of ov3er 100 serious anglers just isn't that bad. Thanks to Al for an excellent day on the water, thanks to the Lord for His great creation, the ability to get out and enjoy it, and thanks to my wife for letting me go (again, and again, and again)!