Delacroix Report – 7/7/2021

More rain predicted for today. We hit the honey hole before daylight. The spot did not look right, no water moving, no bait moving. Was worried until the first cast resulted in rod bending action. Big speckled trout started hitting the ice chest on live shrimp 2 feet under corks. The fish were in the 18-22″ class. As the tide began to move the action improved and was steady until the sun got up. It got sporadic afterwards and we decided to try for some other species. We hit a small cove with a couple of marsh drains and got on some nice slot redfish in the 18-25″ class. We also picked up a few sheepshead, black drum and a bonus doormat flounder. Thunder started to roll so we ran for the protection of the marsh and hit an inside spot. We started to pickup small trout in the 12-14″ class on live shrimp carolina rigged. This action continued until the rain built up beside us and we decided to make the run back home in the dry. The fishing is picking up in the Delacroix area and look forward to getting back out there. Good luck!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 7/6/2021

The light show in the sky was intense as we arrived at the boat this morning. Rain was building to the East and the South. We looked at the radar and decided to take a chance by fishing at the some spots close to the boat slip just in case it got too nasty. As it got light, the rain stayed South and East so we ventured further out to the edge of the bay where the salinities are better. We found a point with moving water and bait and found hungry fish. Speckled trout in the 18-22″ class found the ice chest on live shrimp both carolina rigged and 2 feet under corks. The trout also were interested in artificial cocahoes on 3/8 ounce jigheads. The tide slowed and the trout bite died, so we hit a slough that leads to a small pond and found nice reds in the 18-28″ class. These fish were super aggressive and we lost several due to breakoffs. We also picked up some black drum and sheepshead to round out the fish box. The rain started to close in on us so we took it bak to the boat slip to start cleaning fish before the bottom fell out. Great day on the water! An above average chance of rain is predicted the rest of the week. Good luck out there this week!

Captain Jeff

Wild Turkey hunting report

Spent the last few days with a guest in the turkey woods. We did a good round of scouting the evening before and found some familiar patterns of turkey movement. We listened for roost gobbles, but did not hear anything. The alarm clock went off early on day one and we took a long walk in the dark to arrive at a very high percentage food plot on the edge of a fresh clearcut. Unfortunately, the wind had picked up to 15-20 mph and we did not hear any gobbles. We let out some calls, but did not get reply. 30 minutes in, a log truck rolled by unexpectedly and ruined our set. We headed for plan B, another long walk to a wooded flat. We had a long set but did not get any response. We hit plan C, another long walk into a stand of thinned pines. We hit the calls and got response. There were 2 gobblers that answered from different locations, one was 150 yards away, the other maybe 250. We hit again to an immediate response, quiet time for us as we changed positions slightly to get ready for the charge. Ten minutes later, I see the blue head bopping in quick. We walked up 20 yards in front of me and started clucking. He was a limb hanger with a rope that dragged the ground. Unfortunately, my guest was facing the other way and never saw the bird as he walked out of our lives gobbling and looking for that hen. We eased out of there and hit a couple of more places with no luck. In the evening, we walked back into the area of the close encounter and sat quiet. Nothing happening until 7:51 PM when we first heard and then saw him fly up 70 yards away. Great, but we were now pinned down and could not move. He never gobbled and we waited until well after dark to slowly belly crawl out of there. A sleepless night would follow with nervous anticipation of day 2. My guest had a pedometer that said we walked just under 10 miles using my favorite run and gun style of hunting! Day 2 had us up even earlier to make a sneak back after the roosted gobbler. We made it as close as we could and set up for the show. The time arrived and he boomed an ear deafening gobble from 70 yards away. Oh Boy! Then we heard several other gobbles further away and from there is was on. Gobblers were hammering for the next 30 minutes. We let out some soft clucks, which received an immediate response. Our gobbler dropped down and headed headed down the hill to an open green field lane. Now we were out of position and he would not budge, he wanted that hen to come out in open. Meanwhile the other gobblers, which I think were 3-4 different birds were hammering away. I called sparingly to let the close gobbler know we were still there and he would answer, but not budge. Eventually he drifted off toward the other gobblers and the chase was on. We moved methodically toward the bunch as they gobbled on their own. They would gobble and we would move. The classic chess match! We closed distance without calling and got to within about 80 yards of the last gobble. We found a decent setup and got ready. Moments later a gobbler walked out with its head down about 50 yards away. It was hard to see as the sun was now right in our face. My guest clucked, the gobbler stood up and BOOM. I crane my head around to see him fly off at 8:30 AM. The woods came alive as turkeys were clucking and trying to figure out what happened. There must have been a big flock congregated together. We stayed seated hoping for another chance, but not to be. They all moved away and we walked down to see what happened as the disappointment set in. We found no indications of a hit, it appears that the shot string sailed right over his head. Talk about a long walk back to the truck. We hit a couple of other areas and made long loops to strike again but no luck as we called it a hunt with over 6 miles on the pedometer. Well, that is turkey hunting! It takes so many factors to line up for a harvest and any one of them can foil your effort. We had a great time, had super close encounters and can’t wait to do it again. Good luck out there this week!

Captain Jeff

Wild turkey hunting report

The wild turkey action has been hot. The season dates have been set right this year after several set too late in previous years. The trees and flowering plants are blooming and gobbling action is steady. Cool mornings have been very pleasant for the run and gun hunting style of hunting that I enjoy so much. We have been in action every hunt and a couple of good birds have been harvested. There is still alot of season left and we will be back out there after them this weekend. Good luck out there!

Captain Jeff

Duck Hunting Report – 11/1/2018

Great morning for the kids! This past weekend was the opener for youth hunters in the Mississippi River Delta. The winds were light, the ponds full of groceries and the ducks are down. My guest on Saturday was treated to a pond full of un pressured ducks. It did not take long for a limit to hit the water. The bag consisted of Bluewing Teal with one Greenwing Teal. We saw alot of other species too including gadwall, pintail, mottled and shoveler. Good times and can’t wait to do it again. 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 Report – 7/8/2017

Good fishing conditions in the early morning out of the Delacroix marsh. The rain held off just long enough for my guests to get a few hours of a good trout bite in before sprinting for the cover of the dock. We hit the edge of a large interior lake where a deep bayou enters and set up for an incoming tide. The bite was slow at first, but got better as the spot set up. The trout started to inhale live shrimp carolina rigged in 5 feet of water. The speckled trout were in the 13-18″ class with very few undersized fish in the mix. The fish box was starting to fill up when the skies around us started to get dark. We kept at it as long as we could and ended up having to run for our safety as lighting started to crack all around us. We got home dry and had a great, but a short trip. Good luck out there this week!

Captain Jeff

Delacroix Report – 6/10/2017

The good fishing continues in the Delacroix marsh. We hit the same area as yesterday and had similar conditions. The results were the same. The fat speckled trout were hungry and waiting for our live shrimp Carolina rigged offerings. The group had their fill of trout so we ventured off after some redfish action. We got to the area where the redfish have been hanging out and wow, the boats were everywhere. Apparently, the word is out. I could not fish where I wanted to be so we tried another area with much less crowding. We hit a spot with 2 small drains feed a duck pond. We threw live and dead shrimp under corks up into the drains. Bingo, redfish responded with crushing blows to the shrimp and in some4 cases the corks. Crazy good redfish action as we limited out in short order. Just another great Delcroix day! Good luck out there this week!

Captain Jeff