# First Time LA Trip....



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

My buddy and I dragged my Maverick from Victoria, Texas to Delacroix last Sunday and fished Monday and Tuesday. Water was stained and way too fresh even 40 miles from the ramp. We were catching largemouth bass along with rat reds and only saw one upper slot red mixed in the coontail drifting across Lake Cuatro Caballo. Super high pressure and 20+ mph north winds plagued us so we made the decision to pull out and head to Empire and see if we could find some salt and lower tides. Tuesday afternoon we arrived and ate at Black Velvet Restaurant and it was amazing. Wednesday morning we ran out of the closest marina blind and found some decent looking marsh ponds north of the bay...the first one we got into after running a narrow drain and I knew it was going to pay off. I crawled on the platform and poled ten feet...5 reds showed color and my buddy nailed the third in the line. We poled around several lakes and did some exploring to find more areas for next year. We ended up with about a dozen released slot reds and pulled out by 4pm to head south to fish with some local guides out of Venice. The Venice area was beautiful and we caught 12 bull reds, 33 trout averaging 3# and 8 slot reds on the last day. 

Venice 


























Empire in my skiff running the ditches


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

My first LA red...DINK!!!









The bass were grass green and plentiful!


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Awesome!! Also, cut that hair hippie


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

yobata said:


> Awesome!! Also, cut that hair hippie


Thanks bro! 
My girlfriend won’t let me, she likes to pull it!


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

Quit giving away the secret spots! J/K looks like a great trip.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

A drag smoker woke my buddy up and tested the custom rod I built for him. 








Open water bulls- 7 on the first day, 12 the second all caught on Down South Lures plastics. 








Better than a cup of coffee! 








One of three doubles on the second day...mine was 4” longer so I let Chris stand in front to make his red look the same size.








FishHide Sportswear keeping the sun off my mug!


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## fishicaltherapist (Mar 9, 2013)

LOVE those La. REDS !!! Nice trip.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

CurtisWright said:


> Quit giving away the secret spots! J/K looks like a great trip.


If anyone can figure out where I’m fishing from those photos they already know exactly where I was and must have been there hundreds of times. 
The guide chatter on the radio was hilarious. One of the guides on another boat from the outfit we used was playing some funny songs. One was “My Buddy” from the childhood doll commercial. “Anywhere I go, he goes!”
Calling all potlickers!


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Those camo pants! Are those the thin zip offs? My dad where's those things everytime he fishes with me. He got em on sale out in a bow shop in Montana.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

DeepSouthFly said:


> Those camo pants! Are those the thin zip offs? My dad where's those things everytime he fishes with me. He got em on sale out in a bow shop in Montana.


I don’t know, that’s my buddy Chris, I’m the hippie hooked on fishing.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

That's great! Where did you end up staying?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

jmrodandgun said:


> That's great! Where did you end up staying?


 In Delacroix we stayed in the cabins across the road from the water, I can’t remember what the name was but they were cozy, clean, had bunk beds that sleep 8 and only $75 a night. The ONLY place to get ice, beer and food is The Last Stop right off the road before you head towards Delacroix on 48 I think. I also learned that all the Louisiana folks I talked to have absolutely no concept of distance or direction...makes me wonder how they navigate all those channels even with a GPS...
In Empire we stayed at cabins at Empire Inn which were tiny but OK for one night.
In Venice we stayed at the Reel Tite Lodge and had first class food, amenities and an overall great time. Boolah is a cool cat that runs a nice operation and can fish to boot. He took Troy Landry shark fishing at night to film for upcoming Swamp People eplsodes. Troy is a lot smaller in person than I imagined.
I ended up dragging my skiff over 1300 miles in 6 days. I left last Monday at 3am, picked my buddy Chris up at 5:30am, got to Delacroix at 11:30am, fished that evening and the next morning then left Delacroix at about noon and got my buddy a new phone in New Orleans since he dropped his in the water at the Sweetwater Marina...got to Empire around 5:30pm Tuesday, fished the next day on my skiff then drove to Venice that evening and fished the next two days then drove to New Orleans Friday evening, had a Pat O’Brien Hurricane, two Hand Grenades, a couple of Abita Ambers somewhere on Bourbon Street then crashed at 1am, got up at 7, had Café Dumond Chicory coffee with three world famous pastries, grabbed one and a half mouflattas from Central Market, picked up my skiff from the boat yard, headed to League City at 11am, dropped my buddy off at 5:45pm in League City then drove home to Victoria and arrived at 9pm WHOOPED! Dropped the boat off at home, went by and tucked my son in at the exes house, drove to my girlfriend’s, ate and I don’t think I ever slept as hard as I did that night. 
There’s the world’s longest run-on sentence and my overview of the trip.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Troy is a lot smaller in person than I imagined.


What he lacks in stature he makes up by being a gigantic asshole. This applies to more than Mr Chootem. His kiddo has been known to fire a warning shot or two across the bow of passing boats


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

Yep, ben-YAYS and chic coffee bright and early in NOLA. Good stuff right there. Happy the ********* let you go home unperforated..


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

jmrodandgun said:


> What he lacks in stature he makes up by being a gigantic asshole. This applies to more than Mr Chootem. His kiddo has been known to fire a warning shot or two across the bow of passing boats


All the guys that had just met him said he was the nicest guy they had ever met and even asked them all not to cuss around him. Is all your experience hearsay or first hand? I have hear some people spin some nice yarns about me being a gigantic asshole and the only time I’m like that is when people deserve it!


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## perrymcfly (Jan 19, 2017)

Nice to see the report! Im heading down to Delacroix mid November so I'm happy to see some good fish down there.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

perrymcfly said:


> Nice to see the report! Im heading down to Delacroix mid November so I'm happy to see some good fish down there.


We caught bass in Delacroix, it was way too fresh. The fish we caught were in Empire and Venice where there’s some salt!


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## perrymcfly (Jan 19, 2017)

Well hopefully it'll produce mid November!


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## jboriol (Jan 2, 2010)

Good report, those days will spoil you for sure. I'll be there in Dec. visiting my folks, skiff in tow.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

jboriol said:


> Good report, those days will spoil you for sure. I'll be there in Dec. visiting my folks, skiff in tow.


To be honest, fishing here in my home waters is a lot better from what I experienced, even with the guides the last two days. I’m not complaining, just being honest!


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

LA is not what it once was.... but what is. Today is your good ole days youngins..that's the lesson.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

EdK13 said:


> LA is not what it once was.... but what is. Today is your good ole days youngins..that's the lesson.


Easy there Yoda...many beers tonight you have had!


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Easy there Yoda...many beers tonight you have had!


Always projecting your ills upon an unsuspecting ... nah. So how about that fly rod? Was it lit?


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## E-money (Jul 7, 2016)

perrymcfly said:


> Well hopefully it'll produce mid November!


Oh it will be, I hope I am back from my trip to meet up with you guys to say hello! Glad ya'll had a good time Smack. Sounds like you checked most of the boxes!


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Best fishing report I’ve seen on here in a long time. Nice work, smack.


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

Where did you launch in Empire?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

brianBFD said:


> Where did you launch in Empire?


You trying to potlick me boy? Bwahaha! 
Joshua’s Marina


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

No way. I was checking to see if you were all over *MY* spots. Based on where you launched you may have been.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

brianBFD said:


> No way. I was checking to see if you were all over *MY* spots. Based on where you launched you may have been.


Those fish acted like they had never been caught...maybe you need to try some GULP! Bwahaha!
The bay in front of the marina would probably scare the hell out of most virgin to the area. I have never seen so many white PVC poles marking shell in my life! Glad I found out a better way to the ramp on the way back.


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

If you plan to make another trip over let me know. I can point out a few places close to the ramp.


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