Yea I think I understand what we're going for here. Once my jigs show up I'll give em the ole swimming pool test and see if anything seems to be acting right. It seems pretty simple. I think between the jigging rod I have, the one I have coming, and a few of the inshore rods I have I'll at least be able to give it a good try.

Next time I go out I'm going to try 100% artificial stuff and have the other guys running bait so we'll have a live action comparison of everything on the same day in the same water right next to each other. I'll try to take detailed notes.

Fair warning to everyone though if I figure out the magical secret nuclear catch everything bait I'm going buy all of them the next day.

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Posted by YOURADHERE

Member since Dec 2006

8542 posts

Posted on 7/29/26 at 10:59 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt

I'm starting to think our problem is we have enough boat to have a significant range, and we probably end up driving past the fish

Red Snapper are great but they don't excite me, and we've struggled to find consistent numbers, and size for those. And I always say we'll stop for mangroves but by the time we've dicked around picking through 16" red snapper it's time to head in.

I really want to figure out grouper fishing down there, and swordfishing, and I desperately want to put a tuna over the rails of this bastard soon. We made a run to MC the weekend of the 4th to try for grouper, I got hyped when I caught 2 long tailed seabass on drop #1 of the day, then ended up with nothing else afterwards. We'll figure it one day, it just may take alot of gas to get there.

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Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt

Here

Member since Jan 2011

72632 posts

Posted on 7/29/26 at 11:31 am to YOURADHERE

quote:
driving past the fish

That was my problem for a while but its not that simple. Everything close gets fished hard, and I mean EVERYTHING. If you stop to fish some bottom structure on a weekend you can bet your arse at least 2 boats will pass close and mark you, every single time. Next weekend, there will be at least 2 boats on your spot in the middle of nowhere. Rigs? Fugettaboutit.

Its so exceptionally frustrating to work so hard to find productive non-oil-rig-or-public-reef spots and get pot licked to death instantly every time. Its so bad that we dont fish some really good spots sometimes just because we dont want to give them away to every swinging dick with a radar or zero shame within 10 miles. If youre bobbing around fishing in the middle of nowhere in snapper season inside of 15 miles, everyone knows exactly what you are up to and are all so tired of digging through 15" Red snapper and burning gas that they will practically drive over you to get those coordinates. Let them see you pull up a 15 pound red in 50 feet of water and you can write that spot off forever.

Its so, so frustrating

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Posted by CHEDBALLZ

South Central LA

Member since Dec 2009

23329 posts

Posted on 7/29/26 at 7:05 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt

I've been with Southern Pride a few times. People ride up to the boat a couple hundred feet away, a make a big circle then head off. You know they marking his spots. He doesnt care though he has hundreds of spots marked.

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Posted by Antib551

Houma, LA

Member since Dec 2018

1419 posts

Posted on 7/30/26 at 10:32 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt

Came across a Facebook video today of a guy catching a few on the Nomad shrimp. Looks promising. Especially if you still have guys churning and fishing with meat

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Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt

Here

Member since Jan 2011

72632 posts

Posted on 7/30/26 at 10:49 pm to CHEDBALLZ

I try not to get pissed off about it because our best spots usually dont produce in traditional ways, so I tell myself they wont get fished out. It has happened at a few spots though.

Looks like a blow out this weekend for me so I guess I get to test out baits in the swimming pool