This morning, when dawn broke to a dreary, overcast sky and the remnants of week-long winds blowing across the marshes and lakes left most of Southeast Louisiana’s water bodies murky and turbid, I realized right away that it wasn’t going to be a day conducive to catching fish—any kind of fish.
And when the Laura Buchtel’s Thursday forecast included the promise of another round of drenching rains from about mid-day onward, I immediately called Capt. Kenny Kreeger, my scheduled fishing guide for the day, and suggested he meet me not at the boat launch but at the local sporting goods store.
“What we gonna be doing there, Frank,” he asked inquisitively.
“We’re gonna put together a suggested Christmas gift list for fishermen,” I answered with anticipation. “And that’s what we’re gonna get on the air tonight on ‘The Fishin’ Game Report.’ I figured that this is the time the year when shoppers could use a little help choosing the right presents for all the fishermen on their Christmas lists.”
Fifteen minutes later, armed with a neatly typed list, we were both walking the aisles in one of Slidell’s most quaint—but specialty—sporting goods shops. Fishermen shoppers were already there, picking up almost every conceivable item that could be wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree as gifts.
“Looka this, Frank,” Gus Maggiore, shop owner, summoned me to see. “Every year we print these up and put them on top of the main counter in the store for folks looking to compile a Santa list. They browse around, add items to the list, and then return closer to Christmas week to actually buy the items as gifts. Here, take a look at some of the items folks give as presents every year:
Combination fishing tool, Swiss Army knife, fillet knife and cleaning board. Fish cleaning gloves, 48-quart Ice chest, mosquito and gnat spray, gnat mask, GPS unit for boat, Power-Pole boat anchor, Cajun anchor, fishing map collection, tackle box or bag, terminal end assortment (hooks, sinkers, swivels, leaders, line, etc.), bait bucket, hooded sweatshirt, fishing shirts, cargo pants, boat shoes, waterproof boat dufflebag, spinning and/or casting rods and reels, knife sharpening tools, hook sharpening tool, rod holders for the boat, fish grilling rack for the BBQ, windbreaker jacket, modern high-tech rain suit or poncho, long nose pliers, new life jacket, battery powered line stripper, new spools of both PowerPro and monofilament line, polarized sunglasses,stainless steel thermos, a variety of fishing books on freshwater, saltwater, and offshore fishing, and the ultimate gift: a scheduled charter trip with a guide.
“Now I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to begin collecting these items,” Capt. Kenny urged. “Like every other Christmas gift, these sportsmen’s gifts go just as fast. Wait until a day or two before Christmas and you’ll end up either not find what you’re looking for because they’ve all been sold out, or you’ll spend the better part of the season trying to find which store or merchant in particular handles the gift item you want.
“As the old adage goes, to ensure a Merry Christmas ‘Shop Early and Shop Often’.”
Now next week I’ll be “rocking around the Christmas tree” with my wife, kids, and grandkids, so I won’t get back out on the water and have another report for you until New Year’s Eve when I make the final trip of the year with Capt. Ahab down at Delacroix. So until then, have a very “Merry Christmas.”
Peace!
Frank Davis
P.S. Of course, if you already ready for Christmas and you absolutely have to get out on the water andgo fishin’ regardless of the weather conditions, just follow the same advice I gave you last Thursday in last week’s report. Specifically. . .
1) Now is a great time to catch speckled trout, white trout, redfish, black drum, sheephead, croakers, ground mullets, channel and blue cats right in the middle of Lake Pontchartrain.
2) Drift back and forth between the Twin Signals and Marker 174 on the railroad trestle.
3) Get out early.
4) Fish your peak tidal periods.
5) Look for the isolated pockets of clean, green water.
6) Regardless of where you fish, fish the west side of the trestle
7) If the tide is falling, fish close to and toward the trestle.
8) If the tide is incoming, fish out from and away from the trestle
9) Try a spot—if nothing happens in, say, 15 minutes, move.
10) Move only small distances—a block or two at a time is ideal.
11) Use live shrimp on a Carolina rig.
12) If you get a strike that kills the shrimp, put on another shrimp.
13) If in doubt at all, “measure.” Don’t keep anything undersize.
14) Keep only your legal limit—keep a good and accurate count.
15) It’s Christmas—be courteous to other fishermen! Don’t crowd them!
16) Best ingress point is Rigolets Marina on US 90.
17) The facility has a first-rate triple back down ramp. And. . .
18) Rigolets almost always has a good supply of live bait.
Just remember one thing, though! Stay out of my spots!
