Delacroix Report – 11/17/2018

Beautiful weather on Saturday! Light winds out of the East and cool temperatures made for a nice ride out and pleasant day on the water. There was little to no water movement which makes catching tough, but my guests were determined to make every cast count. We hit a couple of windward shorelines targeting redfish with live shrimp and dead shrimp carolina rigged. It was slow at first as the water temperature was hovering just above 55 degrees. Once the water warmed, so did the fish and the catching got better and better till we ran out of bait. We got into a redfish bite that was very strong. The fish were 14-29″ and good fighters. We tired of throwing back redfish as the bull reds were coming in 2 and 3 fish at a time. We moved down the shoreline slightly and got into the Black drum with some nice speckled trout mixed in. The drum were perfect size between 16-20″ and the trout were between 16-18″. We also had a few Sheepshead, Largemouth Bass AKA “Green Trout” and a flounder hit the shrimp. All in all a very good day on the water. It looks like the trout are starting to show up again which is a welcome sight. It has been a tough season on my usual target species. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 7/19/2017

Early start in the Delacroix marsh this morning. We left the dock before daylight to cover much of the run before available fishing time was spent travelling. Good move as we hit the spot right as it was light enough to cast to the point. Not as much bait moving around as yesterday, but the action was soon hot. The trout were not quite as big either, but numbers count too! The fish did not want corks today and would only respond to live shrimp carolina rigged in the current. We worked over the specks until the skies started to loom dark and close. We decided to head out a little earlier this time to try for some redfish before we got soaked or run in early. We hit a cove with a small little cut that leads to a marsh pond. It typically holds a few reds. We worked the cut with live and dead shrimp 3 feet under corks. The redfish responded and we caught a pile of reds just over 18″. The weather moved in and finally we called it for a run back to the dock. Great day in a magical place – Delacroix! Good luck out there this week!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 7/18/2017

The fishing is fantastic right now in the Delacroix marsh. The only issue is that you have to be there at daylight to catch the speckled trout bite and avoid the lines of strong thunderstorms that have been covering up the sound. We found a good bite this AM along an outside shoreline. It had water moving around the point and plenty of bait. Big specks were awaiting our offering of live shrimp both carolina rigged and 3 feet under corks. The trout were in the 15-22″ class and were getting bigger as the weather deteriorated. We stayed as long as we could and hauled it out just as it started to pour on the motor. We were close to limits and thought that we could stop at other spots a few miles away, but the weather had other ideas at it basically ran us all the way back to the dock. We will be back after them tomorrow. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 7/14/2017

Afternoon trip today out of the Delacroix Marsh. We got a late start leaving the dock and only had a couple of hours to fish. We headed to the areas that I have been doing well only to find hardhead catfish. we decided to run to another area and work some drains along an outside shoreline with the falling tide. That proved to be the ticket for a box full of redfish in the 18-22″ class. These fish wanted dead shrimp 3′ under corks thrown right up against the marsh grass. As usual, the best action was right at dark when all my guests were hooked up at once as the reds were in a feeding frenzy. I like fishing late, but do not like the run back to the dock in the dark. The good fishing continues out of Delacroix! Good luck out there this week!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix fishing report – 3/31/2017

Been a while since I have fished for speckled trout and redfish. My guests hit the Delacroix marsh just before daylight to find a gentle falling tide and a slight breeze. It was actually a little cool as we were scooting down the Bayou! We decided to try a small inside lake and work the mouth of a small bayou that was emptying into the lake. Good choice as shrimp were jumping out of the water and getting crushed by fish. We worked live shrimp Carolina rigged, 2 feet under corks and tight lined plastics. All worked and speckled trout in the 12-15″ class were hitting the ice box. The action slowed as the falling tide quit. We decided to venture further out to find the incoming tide and set up where a bayou was draining into a larger lake. The action was fast and furious on everything we threw out and the crew quickly switched over to plastics to put a hurting on trout. These fish were in the 14-18″ class. We got close to full limits, but our fast action could not be hidden from the other boats driving by and eventually they were swarming around us with their trolling motors engaged and shut the bite down. We hit one more spot to finish the limit and worked a deep canal with an adjacent shallow oyster lined flat. Nice trout up to 2 pounds were hitting plastics in the deep water and crushing live shrimp 2 feet under corks up on the flat. It was great to be fishing again after a long hunting season! By the results of this trip, it should be a banner year for fishing in the Delacroix marsh! Good luck out there.

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 12/22/2016

Strange tide today in the Delacroix Marsh. We hit the water after daylight to find a slight falling tide. We motored to where a small bayou drains into a small flat. There is a deep oyster lined hole adjacent to the bayou. We staged up current of the hole and started fishing. My guests were throwing live shrimp Carolina rigged. We started catching quickly, but had to wade through some small speckled trout to get some into the ice chest. The wind started to pick up out of the Southeast and the action slowed. We headed to another similar spot and got on them again. We again had to wade through small trout, but kept putting fish in the box too. The tide quit and the action slowed. We stayed in the same spot waiting for the tide to start rising, but it never did. Not quite sure why, but we fished slack water for a while. We started to pick up sheeepshead after sheepshead and decided to keep them. Sheepshead are tough to clean, but excellent table fare. We stayed until we ran out of live shrimp and took it back to the boat slip. Good day of fishing! Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 12/11/2016

It was cold this morning on the boat ride out into the Delacroix marsh. Brisk winds out of the SE and water temperatures in the upper 40’s made the fishing tough early. The temperature started to warm up mid morning and the fish started to feed. We found a spot where the rising tide was moving around a point and falling off the shelf into deep water. We set up with the wind to our backs and worked the deep hole with live shrimp Carolina rigged and artificial cocahoes. The trout were feeding, but the bite was extremely light and tough to feel. Once we figured out the pattern, we started to fill the ice chest with specks in the 12-15″ class. Not huge, but really good eaters! We also picked up a handful of sheepshead, redfish and black drum in the hole. Finished the day with a box full of fish. The weather is supposed to warm this week and the fishing should be solid. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Duck report – 12/3/2016

My guests were hit with brisk East winds and rough seas in the Mississippi River this morning. We took a little longer getting across the River this morning as I had to travel further down river into the seas to avoid getting drenched by spray from cross wind travel. No worries, cold and wet is what duck hunting is all about! The water level was slightly higher today and allowed us to hunt in a nice pond on the Northeast side of the property. We set out decoys in a species clustered pattern on both sides of the blind and ran into the blind to await legal shooting time. Plenty of early action on Bluewing and Greenwing teal. The time arrived and we had a bunch of birds down on the water. We made a loop to pick up birds and adjust decoy placement. Noticed that one of the drake Bluewing Teal had a leg band. We called the band report hotline and found that the birds was banded on 8/14/2016 in Saskatuwan Canada. Pretty cool stuff! The action slowed up after the initial flurry. Stragglers were coming into the pond in ones and twos and the harvest numbers increased. We waited out the birds to finish up our limits. Another good shoot in the Mississippi River Delta! The first split of the season closes on 12/4/2016, but we will be back out there with the second split opening on 12/17/2016. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Duck report – 12/2/2016

Ideal duck hunting weather this morning. My guests had brisk winds out of the Northeast and falling tides making the water level perfect for one of my ponds on the Noirth side of the property. We got a small spread of decoys set up – gadwall on the right of the blind a dozen bluewing and greenwing teal on the left. I placed a pair of mottled ducks in the center close to the blind. We drove into the blind and waited for the magic hour to arrive. Ducks were working the pond including a Mallard drake hovering over the decoys 5 minutes before legal shooting time. Good for him, bad for us. Once legal time arrived, we started dropping ducks. The action was fast and furious and the pond was full of floating ducks. We took a quick spin to retrieve ducks and pulled back into the blind to finish off the limits. The action slowed, but we were able to finish up shortly afterwards. Good bag today with Bluewing Teal, Greenwing Teal and Mottled ducks. We will be back at it again tomorrow. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 11/21/2016

Cool weather this morning for the boat ride to the fishing grounds. We hit the water early and worked the inside waters for speckled trout. We stopped at a small lake with a deep bayou entering into the lake. The falling tide had the water set up perfectly and we worked over the trout with live shrimp carolina rigged and artificial cocahoes. The wind picked up and swung the boat around and we lost the bite. We hit several other spots with minimal success. We moved back to the initial area and found another honey hole. These fish wanted artificial lures slow rolled near the bottom. We finished up soon after with quality trout in the 13-18″ class. The winter pattern is quickly approaching. It should be a good run. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff