11-27-2005, 01:17 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Hey Z...and Mike...please be assured that I included the pics of the "wildlife" strictly for sensationism. None of those are MY pics. I have seen all of those critters up close and personal, but never from a donut dinghy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was sent down there, on a temporary work assignment, by the company I was working for. They had an office in Metairie, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. I arrived the first of October 1989, and left in April 1990. I just happened to be there during the cooler months of the year, so the "cold blooded" reptilians were mostly inactive. But, there were warming periods when both the snakes and the skeeters came out to soak up some sun. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those big marsh mosquitoes are the state bird down there. Nasty. Even worse were the "no-see-ums"...pinhead sized gnats that would land on you unseen and then bite out a chunk of flesh the size of a golfball. At least it felt like it. Burned like fire. The best remedy for them was not DEET but Avon Skin So Soft. It was a hoot going into a bait shop in the early morning and having all those burly Cajun dudes smelling like they had just been to another kind of "house".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The really good news is that my visit was timed perfectly for some of the best "inside" fishing. During the warmer months, the reds and specks stay in the deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In the cooling waters of fall, many of them move into the canals, channels and inland waterways (shipping channels). That makes them easy targets for bank tanglers and small boaters, with light tackle. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I strongly suspect that I was the first and only ever float tuber to fish many of the spots I hit down there. I saw very few shore fishermen and probably only a handful of boats during the months I explored the backroads along those canals. I gotta tell ya I got some wierd looks and heard a lot of laughter. Of course everybody who saw me out there had to warn me "Bout dem snakes 'n gators".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were some serious fishermen in the office I worked in. Some of them helped me by suggesting good spots, and others took me on their boats to help teach me how to fish for the local species. Strange, I usually whomped 'em with my own jigs and tackle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I only found one other coworker who was brave/stupid enough to go out in a tube with me. And, he was the company computer geek...a tremendous guy who actually designed the company's complete computer and software system.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]![[Image: gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=13214;]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=13214;)
[#0000ff]This is Mike, with part of the catch from his first day in a tube. He admitted that he had never caught more fish or had more fun than on that day. I think we both caught over 50 "reds" that day, to keep a limit of 5 each.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hey Z, you are probably right about the "eye" on the tail. Quite a few species have a similar color pattern, with apparently the same function...to distract predators. And, if you ever get a chance to fling feathers for those reds, in shallow water, you will never be the same. They hammer the fly and then put the line over their shoulder and boogie. Probably one of the greatest fish ever to fish with a fairy wand.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those tubes were many generations ago. The green one was one of the first Caddis tubes I bought. The brown/orange one I believe was a Bucks Bags craft. In those days I usually had about a half dozen different models in my garage. That was several years before Outcast came on the scene. Donuts only.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I was sent down there, on a temporary work assignment, by the company I was working for. They had an office in Metairie, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. I arrived the first of October 1989, and left in April 1990. I just happened to be there during the cooler months of the year, so the "cold blooded" reptilians were mostly inactive. But, there were warming periods when both the snakes and the skeeters came out to soak up some sun. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Those big marsh mosquitoes are the state bird down there. Nasty. Even worse were the "no-see-ums"...pinhead sized gnats that would land on you unseen and then bite out a chunk of flesh the size of a golfball. At least it felt like it. Burned like fire. The best remedy for them was not DEET but Avon Skin So Soft. It was a hoot going into a bait shop in the early morning and having all those burly Cajun dudes smelling like they had just been to another kind of "house".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The really good news is that my visit was timed perfectly for some of the best "inside" fishing. During the warmer months, the reds and specks stay in the deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In the cooling waters of fall, many of them move into the canals, channels and inland waterways (shipping channels). That makes them easy targets for bank tanglers and small boaters, with light tackle. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I strongly suspect that I was the first and only ever float tuber to fish many of the spots I hit down there. I saw very few shore fishermen and probably only a handful of boats during the months I explored the backroads along those canals. I gotta tell ya I got some wierd looks and heard a lot of laughter. Of course everybody who saw me out there had to warn me "Bout dem snakes 'n gators".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There were some serious fishermen in the office I worked in. Some of them helped me by suggesting good spots, and others took me on their boats to help teach me how to fish for the local species. Strange, I usually whomped 'em with my own jigs and tackle.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I only found one other coworker who was brave/stupid enough to go out in a tube with me. And, he was the company computer geek...a tremendous guy who actually designed the company's complete computer and software system.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]This is Mike, with part of the catch from his first day in a tube. He admitted that he had never caught more fish or had more fun than on that day. I think we both caught over 50 "reds" that day, to keep a limit of 5 each.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Hey Z, you are probably right about the "eye" on the tail. Quite a few species have a similar color pattern, with apparently the same function...to distract predators. And, if you ever get a chance to fling feathers for those reds, in shallow water, you will never be the same. They hammer the fly and then put the line over their shoulder and boogie. Probably one of the greatest fish ever to fish with a fairy wand.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Those tubes were many generations ago. The green one was one of the first Caddis tubes I bought. The brown/orange one I believe was a Bucks Bags craft. In those days I usually had about a half dozen different models in my garage. That was several years before Outcast came on the scene. Donuts only.[/#0000ff]
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