Fishing like there is no tomorrow, there might NOT be!!

[Specknreds]

We have had some great fishing despite being surrounded by oil. The area I'm fishing is still open to recreational and commercial fishing. It is extremely difficult keeping up with what areas are open. It changes daily depending on which way the wind blows. I've been stopped by the Coast Guard twice saying I was fishing an closed area. One time I checked the closures the night before and come to find out they closed the area at midnight. They made us dump our fish :evil: . The other time I tried to argue with them knowing I'm right. They were from the East Coast and didn't know how to read a chart, but I argued as far as I thought I could get away without going to jail. I along with a bunch of other guys filed complaints with the CG.

I have fished every day that I've had off for the last 4 weeks because we just don't know when it will be our last. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to fish Venice and Grand Isle again in my lifetime because they are covered in so much oil. I believe the oil is pushing the fish into the areas that do not have any oil yet. We have caught several hundred Specks each day. We only kept around 10 each day. I went through 3 packs of plastics last Sunday. It has been insane. I can't even turn on the news anymore due to the fear of this might end any moment.

This is an Gafftop Catfish.

Nice box shot of a few Specks and Reds we kept.

There is some really weird stuff going on. I caught this freshwater Blue Cat miles from the nearest freshwater.

A cool shot of a little cut dumping into the Gulf.

The boat ramp.

Some pictures of the oil clean up boats and efforts.

Oyster boat being paid by BP to deploy the yellow oil boom.

Boat decontamination area.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I was just thinking today about all your rec. guys and what you are doing - half of me says harvest anything and everything cause it will likely die and the other half says "no keeping fish" because there is a small chance that you will need a good biomass to replace all that is lost

I will say a prayer for you and also keep pushing our government to force BP to take even more action. Anyone who has not done so take a moment to write or call your congressmen and let him or her know this is unacceptable. Ask what they are doing to fix this and demand an answer

 

[FishingCop]

Hey Lawson,

Great post and pics. Glad to hear you're getting some good fishing time on the water in your area. Hope that it continues for you. Sad, sad, situation for you folks down there - don't know what ultimately will come of it all - environmentally, legally, or personally for you and all the other sports and business fishermen in the gulf - who can predict, but it certainly doesn't look good for the future. Hopes and prayers for a brighter and better future than what's anticipated now........

 

[Specknreds]

Capt. and Fishing cop

Thanks as always and I look foward to meeting you two in person one day. I appreciate the prayers and encouragement. You two will laugh at this. The only reason I'm not fishing today is my wife said that she hasn't seen me in 4 weeks and I might want to take it easy on the pocket book. This fishing 2-3 times a week is starting to cost a lot. In my defence, I have been working 12 hours a day at work and I never know when they will shut down the fishing. She is super for putting up with me. I was kind of caught up in all the events. So I'm spending this weekend with her and then I'll be back on the water.

We debate the fishing daily and I agree with both sides. As you have seen in the past few years, I keep very few fish anyway. I personally have choose not to eat anymore fish from this area. The guys fishing with me are eating them. I do not trust the USDA or Wildlife and Fisheries that say that the fish are safe to eat. The dispersants worry me to death. What the news isn't showing you is what the dispersants are doing. I accidently found out first hand. It disperses the oil in the water. It turns it into suspended particles. It really looks like muddy water with a red tent. They are claiming that a lot of areas have no oil that do. Just because you can't see a sheen or oil on the surface doesn't mean it's not there. I was running a buddies boat way before daylight in a place we just fished the weekend before. It was still dark so I stopped at a small island to wait for daylight. I realized that something wasn't right. There were no birds or no sounds from mullet jumping. It was dead quiet. Once daylight came, we realized we were sitting in suspended oil :shock: . It took us about 4 hours to steam wash his boat and it still stained his boat. We never once saw a sheen or blobs of oil.

I wish we knew the final outcome of this. This is making Katrina look like a mild inconvenience. I was talking to the owner of a marina and they said that Katrina took their buildings but two days later they had the boat ramp open for business. Who knows if they can hang on till the fishing opens back up. I didn't realize the effect this would have on the entire area. Starts with jobs working on the water, then their suppliers (bait shops, marinas, gas stations, etc), then to tourism (hotels, restaurants, gift shops, etc). It is affecting the entire economy.

 

[Captain Ahab]

****, that makes me want to cry - I fished out of Barataria and it was so **** nice. Was planning to go back this spring, but now, who knows.

Let us know if you need anything please

 

[FishingCop]

I wish now that I would have made more time so we could have gotten out one day when I was in New Orleans ----- who knows now if I'll ever get a chance again

 

[bassboy1]

Good grief that sucks. I really feel for you there. Even being landlocked up here in Georgia, there isn't anything I enjoy more than a good redfish bite (okay, a good flounder bite is close), and I hate to see this happen to y'all down there.

Do keep us updated. Up here, we don't hear of what's going on, and the news won't tell us $#!%.

 

[wasilvers]

Good catching, reminds me of good times - except for this oil business.

Hope your fishing lasts all summer!