Well guys, it almost snuck up on us, but it's here. Had a great dinner tonight accompanied by some trout fishing under the lights this eve. Finishing up rigging gear now. Getting an early start in the morning and hopefully the tuna cooperate. Wish us luck and I'll try to update tomorrow.
Go get'em Jeremy. If you guys put this trip up next year, I will have a bit of time to plan for it along with my sons who know what you've offered.
Be safe and good luck!
I'm jeleous !!
Can't wait for stories and pics.
:coffee: :jumper: :jumper: :jumper: :jumper:
Had a pretty good day today. Between the 2 boats we had 2 mahi, 6 black fin, and 1 100+ lb yellow fin. Right now we're having a few beverages, watching football, and snacking on a variety of pork sausage, deer sausage, softshell crab, dove breast with jalepeno/cheese wrapped in bacon while we wait on the jambalaya to cook. Its rough out here!
I'm just glad ya'll got rid of the canes..... :readit:
That's some good eating there. Too bad the football game was a let down. BTW, we need pics!
Need some pics fellas .... be safe ! :campfire:
Gregg has a ton as well as Jay. Hopefully they post some up soon.
Didn't do as well on Day 2, but we still managed another black fin in our boat and I think a mahi and a couple other fish in the other. Regardless the weekend was a blast!
I don't have any pics, so I'll have to defer to Gregg for that, Besides, since Photobucket did their thing I can't post photos here anymore anyway!!!! :mad: :banghead: :banghead: :mad:
BUT
This weekend was probably the coolest fishing experience I have ever had!!!! These guys worked their tails off to put us on some fish, then fed us like kings and put us up in some super awesome accommodations.
I can't thank Jody, Bobby, Josh, Jay, Travis, and Jeremy enough for putting this together for us to experience!!!!!
Bisch
If someone wants to upload pictures directly to tradgang 4 This Thread for a file uploader to the tradgang server let us know if you'd be willing to post photos on the server please post
I'll have Rob set up a St Judes fishing thread forum file or something... we got to have pictures
Just post here the folks that want to have the pictures uploaded to the file uploader or designate everyone send the photos to one person and that person can have access to the file uploader
Hey guys! What a great trip! It looks like I'm the designated picture dude so I'll try to figure out access tonight. This was a heck of a trip! Stay tuned for Tuna!
OK, Ive got pics ready to upload to a file server. If Rob can help me out that would be great. There are a pile of them.
So Jeremy and Jay who post here offered this trip up for St Jude's and I jumped on it. I had hunted with those boys last January and met Travis and Jody then. I knew a fishing trip would be a blast and I was right.
Hurricane Irma tried to thwart our plans and nearly did so. When I left home there wasn't any power in Weirsdale, Fl and I felt a bit guilty about it. By the time Reed and I got to Mobile, Al my wife called to say that she had power and the congregation said Amen.
Reed and I met up with Pete McMiller and his sons, Adam and Mark in New Orleans. We stayed on bourbon street and did bourbon street things. Excitement was building for the trip by the minute.
I echo every thing Bisch and Gregg have said so far. Over and above my expectations. A fantastic group all around - I'd do this again in a heartbeat. My boys have said that if we don't get this trip again next year they will be really p3$$3d. So anybody interested in doing this trip next year better start saving your pennies cause we will be "all in".
(https://i.imgur.com/v7uWDRml.jpg)
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Well heck... I figured it out.
So we roll in to grand isle on Friday about noon thirty. We stopped at a bait shop to kill some time. I told Reed it was an omen when we found this lure:
(https://i.imgur.com/XiRmxXNl.jpg)
We met up with one of our hosts, Bobby, and he took us to "camp". My interpretation of the word was stretched through the weekend. These boys have it SET UP.
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We would be fishing on two boats, the Four Play and the Dark Horse. Both of them are 38 foot Gaudets. Soon after we got there we all took a ride on The Dark Horse.
(https://i.imgur.com/cHvrxoWl.jpg)
Our hosts made us some Ridiculously good Louisiana grub and we fished for trout under the dock lights. I didn't know it at the time, but my small fish streak was just beginning.
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Saturday morning we were up early to start our adventure.
This is The Dark Horse group:
(https://i.imgur.com/e8W5Eoql.jpg)
Left to right--Jeremy Lemieux, Gregg Dudley, Jody LeBlanc, Bisch, Reed Dudley, Josh LeBlanc
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That part of the gulf is abundant with oil wells, drilling platforms, etc. It was cool to have Jeremy along because he is very knowledgeable about the oil industry and really gave us an education about it that added to the experience.
We started out catching bait along one of the unmanned oil platforms.
(https://i.imgur.com/fX6jBXYl.jpg)
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Then we were off to catch fish. Strategy #1 was to slip in behind (or sometimes in front of) the shrimp boats and fish with live bait, The trick was to see where the game fish were feeding, slide in, let out line, and slip it into neutral There is an art to the process. This sequence shows the Four Play sliding into the pocket in the last picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/Z7HwBYAl.jpg)
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The first couple of fish that we caught were bonita.
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This was the only fish that I put in the boat all weekend! Everything else was a shark that we released at boat side.
This one was about seven feet long
(https://i.imgur.com/iDDyq1Al.jpg)
My partners were on!
Blackfin:
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Strategy #2 was to "chunk" bait with a drifting current on oil structures and that's when my bog boy caught his big fish. Lean in close and I will tell you where we were... NOT ON YOUR LIFE!
Reed's 100 plus Yellow Fin!
(https://i.imgur.com/3O7JnZDl.jpg)
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On the way back in we tried strategy # 3, trolling floating grass lines. For those that don't know, the currents push floating vegetation into lines of debris that provide shade and cover for bait fish and are patrolled by game fish.
This strategy paid off with a dolphin for Bisch.
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Looks like an awesome time!!! Congrats guys!!
The Four Play guys were having fun of their own...
I should stop there.
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When we got back to camp there were stories to be told, food to be eaten, and fish to be cleaned. Jody, Josh, and Travis cleaned the fish for us and Jay, Bobby, Jody, and Clint Goudet fixed the dinner.
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Temple meat; the start of Clint's jambalaya:
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Bobby's soft shell crabs:
(https://i.imgur.com/ahySFdPl.jpg)
Jody's dove breasts with jalapeños and cream cheese wrapped in bacon:
(https://i.imgur.com/AziBcuKl.jpg)
Jay's burritos and venison sausage, and about three other varieties of sausage.
(https://i.imgur.com/udmJVRCl.jpg)
Sunday was a lot tougher fishing. I still managed to catch another shark, my fourth. Bisch caught a blacken, and Reed caught a couple bonita.
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I know that I am ending this suddenly, like a bad novel, but i'm wiped out. I can not thank Jody, Josh, Jeremy, Jay, Travis, and Bobby enough for putting this trip together for the St Jude's auction. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and it exceeded my expectations on every level. This boys are first class and they busted their tails to show us a good time. if you ever get a chance to go outdoors in The Sportsman's Paradise with them, don't think twice.
It was a pleasure! We had a blast.
I have a lot of respect for those guys being able to do that for 72 hrs straight when fishing tournaments.
If you look close at one of the pictures, I'm holding Bisch's belt to keep him in the boat. I don't think he would have went over, but it gave him a few good jerks when he first hooked up. One of those timed right with the roll of the boat could get interesting.
Another great St Judes adventure and as always Gregg your pics are awesome. Looks like a wild and fun time. Congrats to Reed on that WHOPPER of a fish and thanks for sharing !
THIS IS SO KICK A$$!!!!!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by gregg dudley:
[QB] (https://i.imgur.com/g8eqG6ql.jpg)
Can someone please for God's sakes send me this picture i. its original format as big as possible thank you so much
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
This LED lights are cool on that white deck for sure. Picture sent.
That's what I love about having grown up in South Louisiana. The fishing, the food, the people....
Looks like a great time, but then again I never doubted it for a second. JL and Jay are top notch and so is anyone they hang with. We truly do live in a remarkable place and know how to play. I mean, come on Bourbon Street, $1 Mil+ of man cave and jon boats, millions of acres of blue water and cooking to die for, you can't help but have a time. BTW, seeing those soft shell crabs I know where I'm eating lunch today! Y'all just made me VERY hungry.
Oh, did y'all get to drive those boats and feel what 1200 HP feels like?
QuoteOriginally posted by gregg dudley:
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SEXY aluminum and performance to match. Can't beat a well made aluminum boat when you play hard
Wow that looks like fun!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Awesome...
"SEXY aluminum and performance to match. Can't beat a well made aluminum boat when you play hard"
You got that right abowman. I loved the lines of these boats but especially the performance. A very dry boat due to the stepped chines. Clint Gaudet makes a great boat.
Going to put this back at the top one more time. This truly was an outstanding trip and a tremendous donation to support tradgang's St Jude's Charity efforts. This auction item went for $3000, which was $500 per person and included two nights accommodations at a fantastic "camp", five meals, and two full days of primo fishing.
Now is the time to think about next year's auction and consider what you might have to offer or what you might be able to contribute as a bidder. Start your change jar going today.
Awesome! Love it down there, congrats to all on a great trip for a great cause.