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Scouting

Cocodrie

January 12, 2014
Exploring, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Saltwater, Scouting
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Really happy to make it out for the first time in a long time, though the trip ended up being somewhat bittersweet. I fished Cocodrie today so that I wouldn’t be totally blind when Minimalist Challenge rolls around next weekend. This was a pure scouting trip as I’ve never fished the area. It was a nice change of pace from the typical Hwy 1 trip, but it’s obvious that I need to spend more time in the area to really learn the ins and outs.

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I met Steve at the launch and we were greeted with slick calm water and low tides to start the day. Reds spooked off the banks of the canals we traveled as we made our way to our destination. After a while the amount of reds that were pushing was just too much for me to pass up and I began to sightfish. Reds seemed to be everywhere, but they were super spooky. The water was pretty clear, so that didn’t come as such a surprise, but even when a cast was perfectly placed they were not very aggressive to eat. It was a bit frustrating, I felt like I was doing everything right, but I wasn’t getting any results. Eventually I got off the schneid with a nice baby bull at 31.5″. Unfortunately I didn’t take him on the fly as I had a jig in my hand at the time. I didn’t want to switch rods and blow my shot.

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I stuck to the fly rod after that, unfortunately the number of redfish I was sighting began to decrease. I did manage to get one to the boat. At 25″ he puts me on the board for the Massey’s CPR tourney.

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Shortly after this fish, the tide turned, winds picked up and most of the water I came across became turbid. Reds were difficult to see after that and paddling became quite a chore. I headed back to the launch with my tail tucked between my legs as Mother Nature had defeated me. It’s been too long since my last paddle and my body was letting me know that.

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Not the stellar trip I hoped I’d have, but a trip nonetheless. Hopefully next weekend goes a little differently and more fish make it to the boat. Cocodrie has a lot of potential for the sight fisher, I look forward to spending more time here.

Frenchtown Road Conservation Area

October 30, 2013
Exploring, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Freshwater, Hiking, Scouting, Warmwater
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This past Saturday Amanda and I had a chance to check out BREC’s newest park, the Frenchtown Road Conservation Area, which is the biggest conservation area in the system at 495 acres. It encompasses most of the land between the Amite and Comite Rivers, south of the Illinois Central Railroad. Currently there are a little over three miles of hiking trails on the property through mostly bottomland hardwood forest.

These trails are just the beginning of the park’s intended development. I’m hopeful that established kayak/canoe launches are in the master plan, as it sits now the only river access that is available is via a 0.7 mile railroad trail to a beach on the Amite River at the park’s NE corner. Any new access to our area’s scenic rivers is a good thing, but it looks like I’ll have to invest in a cart before I can give this stretch of water a proper go. I did manage to get a few mid-hike casts off from the beach and was rewarded with a little spotted bass for my efforts.

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It was a nice day for a hike and I look forward to using this area more in the future. There was a little confusion on the trails though. Seems a nearby property owner was not too pleased at the location of the big loop trail in the park and “No Trespassing” signs were placed toward the end of the trail turning this loop into a long one way. According to the park’s facebook page it sounds like a bypass trail has been added and the area can be avoided. You’d think they would figure these things out before opening the park, but live and learn I guess.

Lakes of the Kisatchie

September 19, 2013
Exploring, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Freshwater, Kayak Fishing, Scouting, Warmwater
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Knowing that my days on the water will be limited once the baby arrives, I spent a day in the Kisatchie National Forest looking for largemouth bass. Normally if I wanted to do some bass fishing I’d prefer to spend my time on a river, catching spotted bass until I was flat wore out. On this day, however, I was going for a home run, looking for an above average bass. I had never laid eyes on any of the lakes in the Kisatchie, much less fished them, but I had good reason to believe there were some nice bass in at least one of the lakes I fished.

Upon arrival the lake was as I expected – empty. The water was crystal clear, the entire lake bottom covered in grass, deeper toward the dam, covered in lilies on the shallow end. I wish I could tell you fishing was spectacular, but it wasn’t. I caught two, both around 12″, a disappointing result when you drive 2.5 hours. Still, the lake was beautiful, one of the nicest I’ve seen in Louisiana.

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I had time to head to another lake that was the site of an old timber mill 100 years ago. It wasn’t as nice as the previous lake, it looked like who ever managed the lake had been doing a lot of work clearing brush around the lake’s shoreline – not sure if that is the best thing from a fishery perspective.  This lake also had a shallow end covered in lily pads though these lilies were much bigger. I pulled three bass out of this lake with the biggest going 13″. In both lakes the bass were caught in the shallow end swimming a bait along a grass edge or popping a topwater next to the lilies.

I went for the home run, looking for big bass in distant lakes, but all I could muster was a bloop single. I did enjoy scouting an area of Louisiana that actually has some elevation to it though. It was a nice change of pace with a drive time similar to that of Grand Isle to Baton Rouge – not like I haven’t done that in a day.

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