MARCH 2002

March 7, 2001- Mike Meyers and his buddy Brien from Cincinnati, Ohio were on board today.
They wrer taking vacation for a week in the Big Easy and taking in the sights, but there is only so
much shopping you can do and the guys wanted to get in a days fishing. We selected the best day in
this transitional time to try and get on the fish. We managed to get an early start on this cold morning
with real high barometric pressure but we still had an anticipation of getting on a decent bite. The first
area I wanted to try gave up only one redfish that Brien hooked up with, but that would be the only
taker in this first stop. After a couple of other manuveres and no luck, we stubled upon a few very
nice specks in the Bakes' Bay area. The specks were really not co-operating very well but the guys
were diligent in their efforts and we did manage 8 real pretty specks in the 14-20" range. All fish
were taken by tightlining various salt water assassins on 1/4 oz. jigheads. All of the other baits I had
tried were to no avail. This time of year can be real tough to get on fish. Sometimes you can really put
the hurt on them, and the very next day in the same area with the same conditions you will struggle.
After 8:30 the wind really started to pick up and confined us to certain areas. And from that time until
noon we had only managed 1 more speck and 1 more redfish. Although it was a struggle to put fish in
the boat on this day, everyone caught fish and the guys had a real good time and thoroughly enjoyed
their trip with me. We ended our trip with 9 specks and 2 redfish. Once the milder temps move in
over the area, I would expect the small bait fish to start showing and the gulls will show the way as to
where the fish are holding up, and by April the shrimp will also make their presence known in the
marsh and perimeter bays. I am really looking forward to a great spring and summer session this year.
Until then, Titelines!!

FEBRUARY 2002

February 14, 2002- Today I had Matt Glatt, and his buddies, Marty and Jason all of Covington, La.
onboard. It is always a hoot to fish with Matt, lots of cutting up and laughs. Matt has booked
numerous trips with Titeline Charters and has done very well and has even limited out on many
occasions while fishing with me. Well, this trip was going to be a lot tougher for the guys as we were
faced with 18-20 knots of a beast of a N/E. The weather man sure got it wrong today....winds were
forecasted to be 8-15, and it looked like it was going to be a good day. Our first casts yielded some
very hefty specks in the 17-19" class and were caught on chartreuse swas' with the fire tail and I was
tossing my old favorite mirrolure. The .9 range of the falling tide was just about over and what little
was left of it was really being hampered by the N/E breeze as it would not let it fall. Shortly after the
first 7 or 8 specks were in the chest, the wind really started to howl and this took us off of the flats
where the big fish hold up, and put us into the protection of the marsh. The guys were really hanging
in there on a very slow bite, with only a few more fish coming in. We then opted to go and get on the
redfish, but this effort, to my surprise, was in vain. The reds in the past have been really biting well
and limits were no problem, but it appears that the onshore breezes were a bit too much for them,
and they had the lock-jawas well as the specks did. After combing the area, our searches would only
produce lots of stained water from the high winds. We did manage to find an old area that I
remembered about that would be protected and would probably have good water. Well the water
was good and we were protected, but only managed 6 more specks here. Our only option at this
point to try and get back on fish was to return to the mouth of the bayou that we started in and go
inside the marsh again to work on the fish that we knew were there but not feeding. Rising barometric
pressure, high winds, and no water movement was going to be the "motivation" for this manuvere.
We changed baits, presentations and colors regularly to get the fish to bite. All of this worked to put
fish in the boat but we could not get the trout to bite with any consistency. We finaly called the trip
and ended up with 42 very nice specks. Only a hand full were 13", and the rest were 14-21". Not
too bad of a trip considering the conditions we were faced with. Thanks a lot guys, for hanging in
there, and as usual, Matt, I really enjoyed having you back. Titelines!!

JANUARY 2002

January 17,18,19,21, 2002- Well to start off on these 4 days of fishing, on Thursday the 17th, I
had Bill Sheets from Little Rock, Ar. onboard. Bill took a day off from a convention he was attending
in New Orleans to get in on the fun. What an awesome day on the water we had. First cast was at
7:30 a.m. and by 11:00 we had our limit of beautiful speckled trout. The 50 beauties would fall victim
to Bills' presentations of Saltwater Assassins rigged "titeline" on 1/4 oz. jig heads. I must say that Bills'
angling skills would put him on the "A" team, as he was just obliterating specks on almost everycast.
Whenever the bite would slow he adjusted his presentation and would soon be back on the bite. The
chartreuse color in the seashad was the hot bait today, and presentations kept in the 5-7" range in 8-
10' of water was the ticket to acheiving the limit on the sweet-eatin-hard-fightin specks. Bill was so
impressed with the Delacroix Island area, and I with him, he booked another trip with me to bring
members of his family down in the summer. The Delacroix area has now seemed to recover from the
arctic blasts that had occurred earlier in the month and in addition, the Mississippi River stage is now
in the 5' range making the fresh water diversions slow down from the 12' river levels a few weeks
ago. The only thing you need right now to have success fishing the Delacroix area is the desire to
come on down. This 4 day report continues below the image of Bill Sheets showing off one of the
fifty speckled trout we caught on his trip.

The next 4 days were scheduled to fish with John Fraunfelter of Pottstown, Pa. along with his f.i.l.
Don Kolessar of Philadelphia, Pa. As I had told John back in November when he booked the trip, I
am glad you guys are planning to stay for 4 days as we would be lucky to get in on 2 days of good
fishing during this time of year. The fishing in January is awesome down at the "Island", but you really
have to pick your days as fronts are really coming through our little corner of the world frequently.
We started off on Friday morning with awesome conditions. Calm winds and good water movement
made for a lot of great action on specks early. We soon had a nice meso' speks in the chest that
were caught while tight-lining swas'. I then had the inspiration to toss a big bait as the air temps were
warming. This paid off in a real big way as my shallow water presentation of a crawfish/tiger striped
mirrolure was being inhaled by some monster specks in the 2-4# class. Soon the guys were tossing
the same bait and we boated a dozen of the silver beauties 19-24". This awesome action would soon
quell as did the bite on the swas, due to the water movement coming to a close. This would take us
out to the outer bays on this windless day in search of Mr. Bull Red. John and Don enjoyed the ride
out viewing playful porpoises, various species of ducks, and also got a glimpse of our Louisiana
oyster lugger fleets hard at work to put the tasty crustaceons on our oyster bars scattered all over the
city of New Orleans. Upon our arrival at the rig of choice, we tossed out some live cocahoe minnows
rigged on jig heads and before you could say "Get the Net" our rods were doubled over and drags
were screeming as some monster redfish found our baits. I thought we would be in trouble landing
these bronze brutes because the big fish were taking our baits right next to a section of pilings that
would easily cut our 8-10# test lines. The only way we would have a chance to fight and land these
fish would be to tighten down the drag and "horse the fish" to get them turned in the direction of the
boat. I was impressed with John and Don with all of their fishing skills including getting these monster
redfish turned and landed into the boat. The only downside to any of this is that we could only keep
one redfish each as they were all over the 27" mark. Smaller redfish 16-26" could have been boated,
but they were nowhere around here. We returned to the dock with a 96 qt. chest loaded with big
specks and reds. The next morning we got an earlier start as the weekends can get a little crowded
with boats. We started off in the same fashion as the day before but we could not get on as many
numbers of fish due to a 18-22 knot southerly breeze starting and would soon build to 20-25kt and
gust to 30. This really makes it tough to get the trout to bite even in protected waters. After a couple
of manuveres that would not pay, we decided to go to an area that I have been catching a lot of
redfish at. The shoreline would be leeward, and our chances were good that we would get on a bite.
This area has been producing a lot of redfish and black drum, but mostly juvenile fish. After
positioning the boat directly on a point on land, we tossed out market shrimp and live minnows 18"
under floats. This proved to be the ticket once again in this area, but to our surprise the juvenile fish
were not as thick and lots of keeper redfish and blkack drum would make their way into the chest.
The forecast had warned of an approaching front in the early p.m. with an 80% chance of rain. With
our ice-chest nearly maxed out and wind gusts of over 30 knots, we decided it best to get on back in
before the ominous skies to the N/W would overcome us. This is the good part.... I started the engine
and tried to back off of the point of land that we had positioned on about 90 minutes before, but
apparently the tide had fallen a bit and the extra weight in fish we had boarded aided in the hull
sticking. After failed attempts with the engine to free the hull, we got out of the boat by jumping over
to the thick marsh grass with the bow line along with us. Even by lightening the load nearly 600# the
hull would still remain lodged. This was not good. Before any further action to free the hull, I made
some cell calls back to the dock to inform a few folks of our dilema, in case we could not get off.
One of the last things you want to do is get into the water. The soft mud in our Louisiana waters tend
to hold you down like quicksand. We finally freed the hull after a bit of quick thinking. We used the
10' section of PVC pipe that I use in shallow water areas to anchor the boat as a piece of material to
stand on so I could get into the water and attempt a lift and push motion on the stern area of the boat.
This was the answer. I was able to get the hull to slide over a couple of feet and eventualy get the
bow of the hull dragged over to the marsh which in turn freed the stern and we were soon afloat and
underway, but not quite in time as the rains hit us 5 minutes from the dock. Afterwards at the fish
cleaning table we discovered that we were just a few fish light of our 15 fish limit on redfish and
wound up with 12 redfish 16-20" and 38 specks 13-20". We all got a good shower and then relaxed
in front of the T.V. to watch John and Dons' team the Eagles' put a serious whoopin' on those
Chicago Bears while enjoying some delicious grilled hamburgers and football snacks. We decided
that after that horrible blow which turned the shallow water lagoons in the area to muddy mess, we
would take Sunday off to give the marsh some time to heal. The guys would take some sights in the
"BIG EASY", and I returned home. We resumed on Monday morning only to be greeted by fog as
thick as shrimp and okra gumbo. We felt our way through the marsh and eventually in our area to
fish. There was a very low light situation on this foggy morning and the specks would not cooperate.
More than an hour later and only six trout being caught, the fog had lifted and we found that the
marsh had not yet healed from the big blow on Saturday. The water was still stained and the lure
visibility in the water was only 4-5". This made the rest of the day very tough for anyone out trying to
get on fish. After a couple of hours of dissapointment, we submitted to the conditions and gave up on
the trout, but returned to stick-em' point to get in on a redfish bite before the guys had to get back for
their flight. This paid off but in much smaller dividends that our last visit here on Saturday. We
returned most of the fish to swim and fight us another day as John and Don had already packed more
fish away than they needed, a 48 qt. chest packed to the brim with freshley packed and deep frozen
filets of speckled trout and redfish. The skipper kept a few fish to bring home and enjoy. John and
Don really enjoyed their fishing vacation and the hospitality of the folks down in Delacroix Island, and
I most certainly enjoyed their company and the ease that they had given me in doing my job. Both
were very good fishermen, and I certainly look to the future for the chance to once again have the
pleasure of fishing with them again.

January 15, 2001-Today I had the extreme pleasure of fishing with Aubry Brumfield and his
buddies Rex, Jim, and Bubby, all from Tylertown, Ms. We had some pretty tough conditions to fish
in on this chilly bluebird day. A front had just pushed through and we were facing a 15-18 knot n/n/w
breeze that was blowing directly oppopsite the direction of a hard falling tide. This made it very hard
to get a decent presentatiuon of a bait down to where the fish are. Aubry wanted to learn the
Delacroix area, and also how to fish it in the winter time. The only way to get trout in the boat this time
of year is by using artificial baits, but to learn all of the "how tos'" in these conditions turned out to be a
bit of a task for this crew from Mississippi. Presentation is everything when it comes to this type of
fishing. The fish were there and the guys were taking in all of the instruction but in this particular area,
only the skipper could manage to boat some fish. We had to make a move to a more wind protected
area. Not long after our arrival we discovered that the conditions were a little more favorable to get a
decent presentation down to the fish and then everyone was hooking up with some fine speckled
trout. Aubry had the hot hand of the group in this area and boated some nice specks. Once this
action quelled, we took off to an area to do some redfishing, and by baiting up some market bait on
jigheads 2' under floats, the guys were soon puttin' a pretty good hurt on these bronze beauties. A lot
of the reds were undersized and had to be released, but there were some pretty hefty keepers in the
mix that found their way to the ice-chest. Buddy really got into a nice red that took him for a ride with
a real good pull on light tackle, and after a 5 minute battle, the 10# monster submitted to the landing
net and was also boated. Soon the talk on the boat were all of the recipies that you can use to grill
"Redfish on the Half-shell", which is the entire sides of the fish removed from the fish and the skin and
scales are left intact to the meat. You then proceed to grill the fish scales down 12" over white hot
coals righ after you have basted it with some worchestershire sauce and melted butter and then
coated with your favorite condiments, close the cover of the cooker and in 5-7 minutes you will be
treating your tastebuds to a real fine eating experience. We made it back to the dock with 40 specks
12-18", and 10 redfish 17-27". Only if the wind would have co-operated a bit more, I truly believe
the guys would have slaughtered the specks....some days just aren't as productive. The overall
conditions around the Delacroix Island Marsh are improving with every passing day. Lots of limits
were reported taken last Saturday and Sunday as the tides are coming back and good sea water is
returning. As a matter of fact, the areas that Aubrys' crew caught fish in, did not produce a fish for me
in my last three trips, so these are very good signs that the rest of the winter season will come back
hard and strong after the bad arctic clippers that roared through a couple of weeks ago. Give me a
call, ands lets get in on the fun! Titelines!!!

January 10,11, 2001- The new year brought a lot of changes to the Delacroix Marsh. The arctic
clipper that roared through on 1/1,2/2002 left us with tides up to 3' below normal and spread river
water over the entire area. There was a stretch from 1/2/02 through 1/8/02 where not one boat
would even catch one fish with water temps in the mid-30's. There was a warming trend starting and
my hopes were that the fish would start biting. Ronnie Pierotich, his buddy Dave, Jim Wetzel, and Tal
Flurry, all from Gulfport, Ms., were waiting in the wings for a call from me in hopes that this warming
trend would allow us to get on some fish. We all knew it was going to be a tough go, but decided to
make the 2 day trip. On Thursday I guided Ronnie and Dave on Ronnies' boat. We started out
wetting our first line at about 8:00 targeting deep water areas and found it extremely tough to even
get a strike. I was determined to find fish and we finally found a few specks by drifting over an area
working our normal presentations of tightlined soft plastics. Ronnie was the first to hit paydirt on a
keeper speck, and Dave also made a good contribution to the ice-chest but to my surprise I
discovered that we had drifted onto a flat, where we found a decent bite by changing over to floats
and fishing water that was 2-3' deep. Water temps were up to 49 degrees, but I would not have
imagined that the specks we would catch for the next 2 days would be in skinny water. This bite was
slow, and after 6-7 specks were in the box and s/w breezes picking up to 15 knots, we turned our
efforts to a new area. This area, on the perimeter of the marsh had much better water and we fished a
lee shoreline that produced another decent bite. By constantly drifting over this area, we were able to
get on a few more fish. With the extremely tough conditions of dirty and low water, scouting most
areas that I would think about would have been next to impossible, so you stick with what works.
(tip of the day for Ronnie...Ha-Ha!) Our efforts for the day produced 22 specks in the 12-16" class.
We made it back in to the dock where Jim and Tal had greeted us upon their arrival to Delacroix
Island, and after cleaning the fish and prepping for the next days trip, Jim would soon have some
certified Black Angus rib eyes (that looked more like rib-roasts) searing on the grill. We all sat down
to an awesome dinner, got a belly full, and enjoyed each others company telling jokes and cutting up.
Knowing that the fishing right now is pretty slow compared to what it normally is this time of year, we
geared ourselfs up for another go at it the following morning. Jim and Tal would fish with me in my
boat and Ronnie and Dave would also head out in their boat. We did get an early start as the winds
were calm and we knew we had a good chance of getting on the fish were we had left off yesterday.
Well this was not going to be the case, as our efforts would be in vain. This area did not even
produce a strike for us. I knew that the fish were here and more than likely were just not feeding. We
would return later. Conditions were starting to improve as some tide was retuning to the marsh, but
still dangerously low, keeping our scouting efforts to restricted areas. We had later that morning come
across a couple of guys stuck high and dry on a mud flat. After our assist to them and finally freeing
the boat from the mud we continued our search for the elusive specks. Finally we had hit some
quality fish on a flat that was adjacent to a deep water hole with good water movement, and
continued to work this area for a few fish but nothing more as the falling tide seemed to have come to
a screeching halt. Here it is late morning and only 9 specks in the box. We returned to the area that
we first found fish at yesterday, as Ronnie hailed us on the VHF. He was on the redfish. They were
mostly throwbacks in the 15" class, but they were able to get quite a few 17" keepers. We shot over
to this area to get in on the redfish fun, but the bite had quelled upon our arrival. We did manage a
couple of more specks while we were in this area. After all of this effort we had put in this morning
and not too much to show for it, a radical manuvere was in order. The winds were still calm and I
shot out to the outside bays in search of a bite. This move proved to be inn vain but it did lead us
back to the perimeter of the marsh where Jim slammed a couple of nice specks and a monster
redfish. Tal also latched onto a nice speck but they left the skipper snake bit at this stop.We worked
this area over pretty good but no other strikes would materialize. Then a short jaunt over where we
found the specks the previous afternoon proved to be the manuvere du'jour. Tals' first cast on his
mirrolure presentation yielded a nice 14" speck, and soon there after all of us were into the fish.
While drifting through this area we were slowly but steadily putting some real nice specks up to 17"
in the box. Persistence pays in a great way, as we ended our trip with 34 specks and one monster
redfish. We returned to the dock and ended the day with an awesome fishfry. Great food, fun and
company made these last couple of days a real treat for me as well as the crew from Gulfport. The
fishing should start a slow comeback as conditions improve around the area. I have 5 trips coming up
in the next week and will report on my findings. Until then, Titelines!!!

DECEMBER 2001

December 29, 2001- Another great day on the water!!! I had given Don Cox a call right after my
last trip on the 26th to inform him of the great action that has really started up on artificial baits. This
phone conversation was not a very long one as Don and his son Chip Cox from Nashville, Tn.
immediately opted in for a trip on Saturday. The winter pattern is ongoing down in the beautiful
Delacroix Island Marsh. Lots of great action on some good sized specks as well as redfish. The
morning was specktacular with a light fog, meaning light winds, a great tidal range and falling all day.
The only problem on this glorious morning, was that our great expectations of getting on the trout
quickly and loading the boat would be shattered by a serious case of speckled trout lock-jaw. We
had visited 4-5 different areas that have been holding fish and were still holding fish, as evidenced by
the fish-finder marking loads of fish in all areas. I've experienced this scenario quite a few times in my
career and just knew the fish would turn on later in the morning. There was an un-obscurred fullmoon
last night which means that the marsh was illuminated which in turn will have fish feeding at some
point during the evening once the moon is overhead. Well the moon did not even set until 5:00 a.m.
and it was apparent that the fish had fed not too long before our excursion. I mean we did not even
get a bump until 8:00. The only other problem was the number of anglers fishing on this holiday
weekend. Every south east Louisiana angler and his Grandma' seemed to be out on the water testing
that new equipment that Santa delivered a few days ago. There are some more remote areas that we
visited to get away from the crowds, but our efforts were in vain. The first bite that we found was in a
deep water bayou and some really decent sized specks in the 13-16" size along with some hungry
redfish up to 3# were accepting our presentations of titelined salt-water assassins in chartreuse rigged
on 1/4 oz. jigheads. The action here was not great, but fairly steady until your local fishin' dummy
passes right through the area where we were on our bite. It's not that he didn't have an entire opposite
half of the bayou to pass, where no one was casting to. It is truly amazing to me how someone can be
that totaly oblivious to the fishing world around themselves. Well after that boneheaded manuvere,
our bite was quelled and it was on to another area. Knowing that the wellknown areas would
certainly be crowded, we eventually had to visit there. Upon our arrival, the floatilla was certainly in
place, but I noticed that everyone there was fishing the channel. Not a boat was to be found along
the shoreline where there is a shelf and good drop- off to an oyster laden bottom. I lowered the
trolling motor and quietly eased our way into position, and our manuvere started paying off in good
order. This area usually will produce nicer sized trout, and it did. Most of the trout were keeper
sized, but we had weeded through and released most of those and kept some 13-15". Finally one
good sized 20" speck fell victim to us. The big fish were around, but they will tend to stay inactive
with a lot of boat traffic and noise in there area. Then wouldn't you know it, another bone-headed
boat operator would come in and jump all over us, once again quelling our bite. With Chip having a
flight back home in a matter of hours, we took evasive action. This would be the last area of the day
and we had to make good. We came across the same scenario as we did in the last area. With all
boats fishing in the channel, we made our move to the shoreline to fish the drop-offs. Immediately we
started hooking up with some good specks, mostly in the 14-15" class, but as the trip went on, some
pretty hefty trout in the 15-18" class would start slamming our baits. I had a sharp eye out for the
week-end warriors as not to have them come in and ruin our bite. Keeping the boat right in the strike
zone with the trolling motor Don, Chip, and myself were really puttin' some serious hurt on some
hard fightin' specks, but we were running against the clock. We would certainly have achieved our
limit of 75 specks but had to call the trip to get Chip back to the dock in time for his flight. We had
kept 41 specks in the 13-20" class, and threw back loads of smaller keeper sized trout, and also
threw back 7 or 8 keeper redfish to fight another day. I could have only imagined what we would
have done in this area on a less crowded weekday. It was great having Don and Chip back onboard
for a great day on the water. Titelines!!!

December 26, 2001- Well it's finally here! The winter pattern is in full swing and the action on
speckled trout on artificial baits is on. Today I had a group of guys from Mississippi and Alabama.
Pete is from Gulfport, Ms., and Bradley and Bubba are from Mobile, Al. We wound up getting a
pretty late start on this frosty morning, as our lines didn't hit the water untill 8:00. There was no live
bait on board this morning and our presentations of titelined saltwater assassins, and shrimp worms
would be the baits of choice. We started off in an area that has traditionaly held speckled trout when
water temps are in the 50's, and with the arctic air of late, I knew the fish would certainly be in the
winter pattern. After a little trouble getting the troll motor going, our baits were falling in the strike
zone and the rewards of our efforts, being the hard fighting but sweet eating specks were soon
stacking up in the ice-chest. The action was pretty good in our first stop but the size of the fish would
direct our efforts to other areas in search of better sized fish. In our search, a couple of nice sized
redfish fell victim to our presentations but the trout would elude us for a while longer.

With the clear mid-morning sun beating down and surface temperatures starting to rise, I tied on a
mirrolure and started to cast into the flats. After a few presentations, a hard strike from a monster
speck nearly pulled the rod from my grasp. I thought this was going to be our paydirt, but after a
short battle, the big speck would manage to shake the bait. This would turn out to be the only strike
in this area. I have a feeling that they are around here, but the big fish just would not have anything
else to do with our baits.

A short jaunt over to the end of the lagoon is a deep water bayou that also traditionaly holds good
specks when they are in winter pattern. The depth to this oyster laden bottom would reach 12-14'.
We also found good water movement here. This really got my confidence soaring, and I had the guys
toss in there baits. I instructed them to let the baits get down to the bottom and ever so slowly start a
short hopping retrieve, and that the bites they would feel would be ever so slight. This was the
ticket!!! This spot would be the last of the day as the specks were really stacked up here, and the
end result of the trip would be 82 speckled trout 12-21" and 2 nice redfish in the 5# class. The salt
water assassin in the chartreuse color would be the best bait of the day. We rigged these up on 1/4
oz. jig heads and got the baits to the bottom. This is the most important step in catching specks while
they are in the winter pattern. The winter pattern is when the water temps drop into the 50's and
below and drive the fish down deep where the water is warmer. They tend to stick hard to the
bottom and get a bit dormant, so in order to get strikes, the presentation of your bait must come in
close proximity to the fish and also be a slow moving target for them. They will not tend to chase, or
strike out hard to feed.

The fishing will only get better now as the cold weather has finally found us here in the Bayou
Country. There will be much better concentrations of trout and reds in the deep water areas
throughout the remainder of the winter just waiting for your baits. Give me a call, and lets get into the
fun. Sorry guys! No pictures for this report. The deckhand forgot the camera at the house. I have a
number of trips coming up in January and I will report on my findings. Titelines!!!

December 19, 2001- Today I decided to scout some new areas. I surely didn't pick the best day.
The weatherman was totaly out of the box, predicting light n/n/e winds. Upon my arrival at the dock
the n/w west winds were blowing pretty good and gusting. This would only get worse as the day
went on. I did not use any live bait at all today, this was going to be a scout with all artificial baits,
and with the water temps still in the 60's, I knew it would be a tough go. I covered areas that I have
not fished this fall, targeting shelfs adjacent to deep water. Bouncing titelined saltwater assassins on a
1/4 oz. jig head, yielded a few trout in the 14-20" class. Changing my presentations with various baits
as well as technique, did not better the outcome. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water, even
though fishing conditions were not conducive to a good bite. I did manage to find a shallow water
lagoon and found a decent number of trout taking a pearl swa rigged on a 1/8 oz. jighead and 18"
under a Cajun Thunder float. Upon arrival to this area I started my attack with a drift. It was not long
before the float dissapeared and a nice 14" speck made it to the ice chest. I immediately put out the
cajun anchor to hold this position. One more trout in the same size attacked the bait and he also was
soon flopping in the chest. I thought this was going to be it. WRONG!! Not a strike thereafter. Being
in this scenario a few times in my carrer, it was just a matter of pulling in the stick and continuing a
drift pattern. This was the ticket. Although it did not put a bunch of fish in the boat, the specks that I
was coming across were nice in size. On perhaps a 100 yard drift line I would manage a few strikes
per drift and also missed alot of strikes due to the high winds putting a lot of slack in my line. Boy,
where is your wind sock when you need it? A wind or drift sock would slow your drift in high winds
up to 50% and make it mush easier to set hooks and get in more fish time per drift. On my final drift
of the day, I had a strike right on the edge of a grass bed, and got a sure fire hook set. My drag
started screaming and my rod was almost doubled over. I thought for sure that this was a redfish, as
the fish did not surface as trout normaly do. To my surprise as the fish came closer into view, I
discovered that the silhouette of the fish was torpedo shaped and I knew immediately that this was a
big speck. Knowing that a 15lb. test leader and a 10lb. test reel line would not do the trick to haul
him in the boat, this fine specimen would need a little landing net assistance. I did manage to get the
23" beauty into the boat, took a quick picture, and released her to fight another day. I ended up my
trip with only 21 specks, but they were all real nice fish. The lagoon area I finished up in would surely
have produced a much better number of fish had I used live bait. I have a bunch of trips lined up right
after xmas and it seems certain that the arctic front will be coming through this Monday. Predictions
are that for the entire xmas week, the high temps would not exceed the 50`s. Finally we should get
into the killer winter pattern as the marsh will drain as well as school up awesome numbers of trout,
redfish, bass, drum, sheepshead,.... you get the picture. This really makes trips as easy as shooting
fish in a barrel. Check out the picture of the big speck I finished up with. She was caught on a pearl
swa with a twist tail rigged 18" below a Cajun Thunder float. Give me a call to talk about setting up a
trip with your buddies or e-mail me any time to answer q's you may have on areas, technique, or just
chat. Merry Christmas to all.....& TITELINES!!!

December 12 & 14, 2001- Wednesday the 12th, I had "Dandy Don" Cox from Covington, La.
onboard. Don is a repeat client who was just waiting for the fish to turn on. We have had such a mild
winter so far this year and the water temps have not even dropped into the low 60s' yet. We had
rescheduled a few trips for Don in the past, and I told him that I would get with him as soon as I
knew we would be able to get on some good speckled trout. Well as it goes we had really picked a
good day to get out into the Delacroix Island Marsh. As soon as our baits hit the water on this
overcast and cool morning, the specks were slamming our presentations of live shrimp rigged under
floats. The trout that we were taking were all in the 13-14" range, but knowing that Don likes to
catch big trout, I had tied on a Top Dog topwater bait, and instantly had a huge blow up and then
a suicide strike by a nice 23" speck. This was repeated a second time, and it wasn't long before I had
Don "hooked up" with a Top Dog, and had him reeling in some pretty hefty specks. Don didn't want
to keep too many fish, and a lot of good keeper trout were returned to the water to fight another day.
Our efforts easily would have made the 50 trout limit, but we called it a day and went to the dock
with 35 beautiful speckled trout. We also had some fun with mixed fish including, bass, redfish, drum,
and sheepshead. Don is great company to have on the boat and really showed his expertise in landing
some real pretty fish on topwater baits which is not always an easy thing to do. He wants more of the
action we had today and told me to give him a call and get back at it reel soon.

On Friday the 14th - Charles Johnson, along with his buddy Crit and his son Clint, all from
Natchitoches, La. were on board to get in on the fun. This day really looked like a it would be a
tough one, as a cold front had just moved through and the northwest winds were howling 18-22
knots and gusting. This 180 degree shift in the wind would make it real hard to fish most of the areas
that I have been having success in, so our effoorts turned into the well protected tree lined areas of
the marsh. I had a real good hunch about an area that I haven't fished in over 10 years. This first stop
proved to be a decent manuvere as some surprisingly nice specks were taking live shrimp under
floats in 7' of water. The bite was slow but staeady for a good while and 15 specks in the 13-16"
range were boxed in this spot. When this action died off we tried doing some drifts and short
repositioning of the boat to no avail. When you have such a radical change in the wind direction, air
temps and barometric pressure starts to rise, it can really put a good case of "lockjaw" on the specks.
This I am most certain was going to be the case on this blustery day. The rest of the day went on as I
had anticipated, some areas producing a decent number of trout and mixed fish, and some areas
producing absolutely nothing. The guys were tough though, hanging in there and working hard with
me. With maybe 30 trout in the box, I tried an area that I thought would produce, and we started
with a drift through a lagoon that was somewhat wind protected. I was tossing a saltwater assassin
under a Cajun Thunder float, and after a few casts, BAM a strike. I immediately set the cajun
anchor, and instructed the guys to get out their live baits and cast to the area where I had the strike.
Soon the floats were dissapearing and we were on the fish again. This final area had produced a
pretty good amount of keeper trout, sheeps head, drum, and redfish. Charles had caught and
released a nice 8# red and also a few other reds were landed and released. The total catch for the
day was 61 specks 13-17", and lots of other mixed fish that were released. I told the guys that this
catch was very surprising to me considering the conditions. The main thing was that a great time was
had by all. I look forward to the time when I can fish with these guys again. They were sure a lot of
fun, cutting up and down onboard today with this crew. Charles, Crit and Clint, I hope the conditions
will be a lot more favorable the next time you come down to Delacroix Island, and we will get on a
serious trout slammaramma. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF MY CLIENTS AND KEEP A
TITELINE!!!

NOVEMBER 2001

November 23, 2001- Now that Turkey Day is behind us, it's back to some great southeastern
Louisiana marsh fishing. This is the time of year that the awesome Delacroix Island Marsh can really
show its potential. Jim Jancik from Atlanta, Ga. was reffered to me from a client, also from Atlanta,
that had fished with me a couple of days this past summer. (Thanks Kevin) Jim along with his son
Bradley Jancik, and joined by Joe Monju a New Oreleans, La. native, now residing in Boston, Mass.
and his son Ryan Monju of Houston, Tx.. This "Fabulous Foursome" showed up at the slip right on
time, and in just a few minutes we were on our way to the grounds. After a 10 minute boat ride, and
baits hitting the water, the speckled trout were slamming our baits at our first stop and finding their
way into the ice-chest, but this action would be short-lived. Then off to another area just a few
minutes away, and the awesome action would quickly resume. It was not long before alll of the guys
were "hooked up" with specks going up to 3 lbs. There were a lot of undersized fish mixed in, but
most of the trout were in the 13-14" class, with lots of trout going 18-22". Their presentations of live
shrimp rigged 2' under floats, would be the ticket for a grand total of 123 speckled trout, and 1 monster sheepshead. After the 200 live baits were gone the action would continue, as I rigged the guys up
with saltwater assassins in the pearl color rigged on 1/8 oz. jigheads under the same floats. We fished
in this fashion for a while longer to put more of the hard hitting and tasty specks into the chest. With a
dead tide, and winds picking up to 15-18 knots, it made achieving our limit of 125 fish a bit hard to
achieve, but I think the guys were pretty much wore out, and we decided to hit the dock. The Fab 4
went to the house with 40 lbs. of sweet eatin' filets, and left with firm hand-shakes and promises to
return. Thanks a lot guys. You were Fabulous!!!

November 13/14, 2001- I had a great group of guys down from Springfield, Mo. to fish with me for
a couple of days. David and Ed Scott along with Doug wre awaiting the skipper on the first day as he
had a bit of a problem getting down at launch time. I was running late and phoned ahead to my pal
Joe Hutzler who owns the camp were the guys were staying, and had him prep the boat and get the
guys gear loaded up, so when I finally arrived, our launch time only ran 30 minutes late. With the
conditions being the same as the day before, I knew we would cover some area to find fish. I started
out where I had found fish late yesterday, and this would pay off pretty good. The fish the guys were
on were very nice sized specks reaching the 21-22" class and going over 3 lbs.(check out photos
below)The numbers were not here, but the quality sure was. We had managed about 15 real pretty
specks here then moved on to find more. As conditions being the same as yesterday, we would stop
and drift different areas and pick up more quality fish, but nothing real consistant. Then to make
matters even more tough the wind really started howling and reached a velocity of 18-22 knots and
gusting. This added feature really made it tough, as the drifting stategy would no longer apply,
especialy with my drift sock out of service. SOoooo! nosing the bow of the boat up to different point
of land and fishing the leeward areas, would be the only tactic left in my arsenal. Dave, Ed, and Doug
were up to the challenge though, toughing it out and putting several fish in the boat on each point. On
the last point we fished on Tuesday, the guys found some pretty decent paydirt. Huge redfish,
sheepshead, and even more specks found their way into the ice-chest. There were lots of juvenille
redfish that were caught and released. Even these undersized redfish can give you a pretty good pull
on light tackle. We ended this day with 49 specks 12-22", 7 redfish up to 8 lbs., and other mixed fish
totaling 60 fish for the day. For the conditions.....pretty dern good!

The next day would be a different story. The easterly winds would howl all throught the night, which
raised the level of the marsh an additional foot, and continued to howl all during the entire trip. We
got a real early start and right at sun-up on the first cast at our first stop, we immediately started
slamming specks but 80% of these fiesty little guys would be returned to fight another day. Juvenille
fish were all over this area. We tried several different tactics and drift lines in order to get on better
fish, but is was just not to be. The wind was only blowing 12-15 knots at this time but it would
steadily build to a very tough 15-20 and gusting. We re-fished the areas that we did well at on the
day before, but the tide had rose an additional foot and moved the fish once again. After a couple of
stops and no fish, I rolled the dice and took a long venture way to the back of the marsh. The water
in the area that we went to is normaly extremely fresh rather than brackish, but with this east wind
howling for the past 24 hours and the tides now 2'+ above normal, we had a good chance of getting
on fish in this tree-lined and protected area. This move turned out to be what seemed to be a big hit
as some gorgeous specks in the 2 lb.class were nailing the guys' presentations of live shrimp rigged
deep under floats. The action would be shortlived as for no apparent reason they just stopped
feeding. This short-lived slammarama of hard fighting specks yielded only 28, but they were very nice
fish. We struggled the remainder of the day picking and pecking at a few more fish, and called the
day with 37 pretty trout. Dave, Ed, and Doug were all very good anglers, and the kind of guys I love
to have on my boat. Thanks guys for toughing it out with me in these adverse weather conditions.

The Delacroix Marsh remains in a transitional state with water temps in the upper 60's and with a
flooded marsh, it makes it even more of a struggle to find fish. There is good news though. Finally, a
cold front for next week which would make for much better fishing conditions. After the passing of
this system it should drop the water temps as well as the tide levels. This will tend to drive the fish
that are now scattered all over the prarie into the more confined lagoons and bayous. Titelines!!!

November 12, 2001- David Mastowski, of Tarpon Springs, Fl. along with his 11 yr. old nephew
Ryan, were fishing with me today. We got a real late start this morning and didn't wet a line until after
8:00. Thendiscovered that the specks at my hot spot near the launch had moved on. We fished it for
quite a while drifting and casting and applying several different techniques, but to no avail, so it's on
the hunt. There was only a .3 tidal range on this day, pressure rising, and the upper 60 degree water
temps are still on a rising trend. This really manages to scatter the fish, and with an above normal
water level in the marsh, it makes scouting a pretty tough job. We managed to find a little activity
though, which got little Ryans' confidence going. He was boating some pretty specks all on his own in
short order. Uncle Dave was in the mix as well puttin' some specks in the box. This activity was to
come to a halt when all of a sudden a huge redfish blew up on Daves' line. The huge fish really moved
a lot of water, but it did not result in a hook-up...even worse, the bite that we finally mustered up
came to an end. It was near noon at this point and with blue bird skies and high pressure, I knew we
had our work cut out for us. With only one more hour to fish, we did pick and peck at a few more
fish, and ended our day with 20 specks in the 12-18" class. The look on Ryans' face as he would get
a strike, and do battle with some fiesty specks was priceless. Even though we got a pretty late start
and didn't do as well as we could have, I know that this trip for Ryan was a reel success. And my hat
is off to Uncle Dave for taking a kid fishing.

November 8, 2001- Just another awesome day on the water in the beautiful Delacroix Island Marsh.
I just want to say how much fun it is to fish, once again, with Matt Glatts' group. If I am not mistaken,
this was the eighth trip that these guys have booked with me, and as usual, lots of cutting up and
"bafoonery" on the boat, along with lots of awesome speckled trout fishing action. Matt, Jim, Eddie,
and Chris immediately started boating and boxing the tasty swimmers in awesome fashion. We
started out at 6:30, and by 9:30 a.m. our count would reach the century mark with no slowdown in
sight. The count would reach our maximum limit of 125 trout by 11:30 a.m. and we made our move
back to the dock. It just doesn't get any better than this..... 12 minutes from the dock, calm winds,
not a cloud in the sky, a well full of live shrimp, 4 great fishermen, and at mornings end, an
overstuffed ice chest of gorgeous speckled trout. One of the most amazing things about this particular
trip was that there was absolutely no water movement the entire time we fished. The trout were all
over the area and it was just a matter of drifting untill you found a hungry school, stick down, and the
trout slammaramma was on. Most of the fish were taken with live shrimp rigged 30" below floats in 3
-4' of water, but a pretty good number of trout were contributed to the take, caught on various soft
plastics. After the fish cleaning session, they were on there way home with a 48 qt. chest packed with
sweet eating filets. When I book trips with great guys like these, whom all turned out to be pretty
good anglers, my job becomes very easy. Thanks guys. You were great!

November 6, 2001- Today was a great day to be out on the water. Jimmy Creekmore, Skip
Copeland, and Joe Mac Donald of Jackson, Ms. were back for more of the great action that the fall/
winter session around the Delacroix Island Marsh has to offer. All of the guys were awesome boating
and boxing 92 speckled trout and 1- 6# redfish fishing just 12 minutes from the launch. Most of the
fish were caught using live shrimp rigged 3' under floats. Quite a few were also caught using bass
assasins as well. We would drift and scout in the shallow water lagoons until striks would come on
the assasins, and then we would stick down and throw the live bait to work on the school of fish.
We started fishing around 7:00 a.m. with a slow start, but from 8:30 to 11:30 we had their three man
limit of 75 specks. But just an awesome weather day with real light winds kept us out to enjoy
catching a few more. They are also leagally allowed to catch and keep the Captains' limit of 25 as
well. But at 1:00 p.m. we had gone through all 200 live shrimp and headed for the dock. There was
a lot of great action with floats dissapearing as soon as they hit the water with a lot of double hook-
ups. There was about a 10% throwback ratio of undersized fish but the ones that made it to the chest
were in the 12-20" range. These are the best eating size. When all was said and done, the guys went
home with 40# of sweet eating speckled trout filets, firm handshakes, and promises to return before
long. By the way, when we informed Skip that you catch a whole lot better when you have a bait on
your line, he also joined in on the fun. Ha! Ha!.

OCTOBER 2001

OCTOBER 27, 2001- Steve Andrews and wife Irena of Slidell, La., along with Norman and
Brenda Fakier of Lafayette, La. were onboard on this cool windy day out to do some fishing for
specks and reds. The morning started out fairly calm, and we found the fish before the wind picked
up too strong. Stormin' Norman really hads the hot hand this day, as he was really puttin' a hurt on
some real nice specks. Brenda, Irena, and Steve also made their contributions to this trout slam. It
wasn't long after we found these hungry specks and reds that the North wind had really picked up to
15-25kts. and gusting. After this bite had quelled, it was on to more protected areas to be able to
enjoy the rest of our trip out in the beautiful Delacroix Island Marsh. We made a couple of stops
before calling the trip and added a good number of additional specks, and sheepshead. The total for
the day was 44 speckled trout 12-18", 3 redfish 17-20", and 6 nice sheepshead. This total, in my
opinion, was a very good one in the conditions we had to fish in. Steve, Irena, Norman, and Brenda,
were a real pleasure to have onboard. There was lots of cuttin' up and joke telling goin on and a
great time was had by all. Most of the fish were caught with live shrimp rigged under floats. But there
were a few fish that did fall victim to some artificial presentations. The winter pattern is just around
the corner. This is when great numbers of speckled trout and redfish congregate in the deep holes in
the marsh and will aggressively jump on titelined jigs rigged with various soft plastics. This is my
favorite time of the year to fish and I am just chomping at the bit to get in on the fun.

October 20, 2001-What a difference a day makes!! After a real struggle to get on numbers of fish
yesterday, I worked different areas with a group made up different states. Colorado, Mississippi,
and Louisiana. Jim, Texie, Cristin, Micheal Dendy and his wife Cheryl and Scott were fishing today.
The guys were on Capt. Daves' boat, and the girls would fish on my boat. The girls wound up
outfishing the guys today, as they put 34 specks from 13-26", 3 redfish 3-5lbs. and black drum.
These girls had never fished before at all, so spin cast 101 would be in order. They all listened and
learned and followed all of my instruction to a tee. The first trout on board was a very nice 20 inch
specimen, and right after that Texie would hook, fight and land a very impressive 26 inch monster of
a speckled trout that would have tipped the scales at very near 5 lbs.. After a lot of high 5s' and a
short photo shoot, lines were back in the water to land a few more very nice mule sized trout in the
19-21inch class. These trout were really ripping and spooling line off of the reels as if they were big
redfish. By mid-morning the action had slowed, and we were on the hunt. We managed to pick up
2-4 fish per stop, to add to the tally. But then we went on to target redfish. They would prove to be
a little slow by this time of day, however, the girls managed to boat 3 very nice redfish in the 3-5 lb.
class. I must say, that for complete novices, these gals really put a decent hurt on the fish today. The
guys on the second boat were not quite as fortunate. But I do belive that a great time was had by all.
You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to be out enjoying the great outdoors.

October 19, 2001- Today would prove to be a real tough one as High pressure dominates our area.
That, along with beautiful blue-bird skies, made our trip a real challenge. Don Cox from Covington,
La. along with son Chip and his buddy Louis worked very hard to put fish in the boat. We really
covered a lot of area with strikes and a couple of fish upon arival at each spot only to have the bite
come to a screeching halt each time. On days like these, the only way to put good numbers of fish in
the box is to fish very late in the afternoon. A total of 10 speckled trout, 5 redfish, along with lots of
juvenille fish and sheepshead were caught, but the trout just would not cooperate. Some days can be
real tough.

October 13, 2001- Today I had the pleasure of having a great family group from Atlanta, Ga. Kim
Hornback, her husband Mike, and two kids David and Kalen were onboard. We had some
extremely tough conditions to fish in on this day with 25-30 knot winds and gusting. After a few stops
with one or two fish per area we changed our plan and went way back close to the Mississippi River
to look for redfish. There were coastal flooding conditions with tides running 2-3' above normal/. This
really puts a scattering on the fish, but the area I had a hunch about and we fished in next was Oak
River. And we found the big reds stacked up in this area. The wind still made it hard to fish but we
succeded in putting some real nice bronze beauties in the box. My other groups from Colorado,
Vicki and Clint Nygaard, and Karon and Troy Thackston from Virginia were onboard Capt. Dave's
boat along with my buddy Butch Pujol and they fished the same area along side of us. Lots of big
redfish, Largemouth bass, speckled trout, sheepshead, and drum were caught on this extremely tough
day. After my boat lost its anchored position, and we drifted in on top of the fish due to a crabtrap
snagging our anchor, myself and the Hornbacks were forced to try another area in order to let the
hot spot settle out again. Our efforts only produced one more bass. After some time, we returned to
our hot spot next to Capt. Dave, and we hooked up with a couple of fish that were lost. If hind-sight
were foresight, I would have stayed in this area and waited out the slow bite. We elected to go on the
hunt. This was not the right move on this particularly tough day as our efforts only produced a few
more redfish. Capt Daves' boat had much better results as they remained in the hot spot and loaded
the boat with a mixed bag of nice fish. Combined total on both boats for the day was 29 redfish 18-
27", 12 bass 13-15", 13 speckled trout 13-16", and lots of other mixed fish including sheepshead
and even gar. Little 11 and 12 year old David and Kalens' facial expressions while hooking up with
these monster redfish were priceless and make a fishing trip like this a real treat. Their rods were
doubled over and their drags were screaming as they battled these bronze beauties of the marsh. The
Hornbacks' left with promises to return in November to fish with me again, and hopefully in much
better conditions. Titelines!!

October 5, 2001- Today I had a great group of folks on the marsh. Annie Becnel from Bay St.
Louis, Ms.and her buddies from New Jersey, Sid and Marilyn. Conditions seemed to be perfect
after a long stretch of high barometric pressure as a front was approaching and pressure was
dropping. There were overcast skies and a bit of rain around but it still looked like a day that the fish
would bite well. Once the bit of rain had passed we ventured to the area where I scouted last
Wednesday and found fish. But this day wouold turn out to be a tough one as only a few fish were
caught in each area we visited. But these guys were troopers as they stayed on the hunt with me
covering lots of area looking for a good bite. A real good bite just would not materialize on this
particular day as transitional conditions in the Delacroix area persist. But we all had a great time
catching a total of 38 mixed fish including speckled trout, redfish, drum, sheepshead, and a near hook
-up with a 20# class jack. It was a real pleasure having Annie, Sid, and Marilyn onboard. And I
hope to be fishing with Annie and her buddies real soon. Once the water temps fall into the low 60's
and upper 50's look for the transition to come to a screeching halt as all of the trout and redfish come
into the marsh for the awesome late fall and winter sessions.