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Posted

Sorry to make you guys jealous, but I got out today. Worked a 42 hour shift from Saturday evening to Monday morning, so they gave me Tuesday off. Shoulda rested but with the wife & kids in MN for Thanksgiving, I had to get out & try some coastal duck hunting & fishing. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little proud of the results. I had no idea what I was doing, was by myself & just applied what I've learned about duck hunting over the years & it paid off. Was hoping to get some divers & maybe see a pintail or 2.

Started off at 0300. Left Jourdanton Tx on my way to Corpus Christi. After studying my Navionics maps I settled on a spot. It was an island in a series of 4 islands, about a mile from shore.

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It was thigh deep water but with a nice, solid sand bottom the whole way with lots of grass. Took me 2 trips with my decoys and a bag of dekes I borrowed from a buddy. Got to the spot & turns out there was a blind there. Perfect, since there was almost no cover. Got my dekes set up just as legal light showed up. Waited for 15 minutes without seeing a bird & then the bay erupted about 3 miles out. I watched for 3 hours as flock after flock of 100-several thousand divers moved from the main bay up the Intercoastal Canal, headed north. I can't guess how many ducks there were but it was quite the sight!! Kind of a bad pic but you can see the dark cloud of birds

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About 20 mins later had my first flock come in, about 15 redheads. Whiffed. Next was a nice flock of pintails. Whiffed. Next was a pair of pins. Shooting for the drake, missed him & hit the hen right in front of him. Went for a follow-up but my Beretta jammed for the 2nd time in its life. Went to get the hen & a flock of 50 whistlers came in between me & the blind. That was in the first 2 hours. Waited til about 1000 with nothing coming in & decided to pull the dekes & do some fishing. Just as I was sitting up saw 3 bills coming in from left to right, behind me. Dropped the closest one, a hen. Went to find her in the shin-high grass & as I was walking around a pair of bills buzzed the blind, directly followed by a group of 20 pins that decided to land in my decoys while I was standing there with my "ahem" in my hands. Oops. Decided to sit it out for a while longer & dropped a single drake bill that decided to land in the dekes. At about 1300 I decided it was time to hydrate (it was 70 & sunny by now & I didn't bring any water) & take a little nap. Slept for 2 hours in my car then headed back out. 20 mins after I went back to the blind a beautiful flock of about 150 pins came in at 45 yards, just on the edge of my happy zone. Let em circle around, thankfully they did & on the 2nd pass they all dropped in at 15 yards. Took a nice drake & my pintail limit was full. Didn't see any more divers in range but I did get to witness another 500+ pins land on my nose in the last hour of legal light! Here was my take for the day. All in all it was one of my worst days shooting but a great day duck hunting. I've had more birds come in before but pins are my favorite & I had more decoy yesterday than I've had n my entire life combined!! Here the total take

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A buddy had called earlier. He was out fishing nearby & asked me if I wanted to go gigging (spearing) black drum at night. I followed with a heck yes!! Think sucker spearing on steroids, at night, in the ocean. Picked up my dekes & met him at my car. We went out right where I was duck hunting & only stuck a few but it was a ball. I got 1 & had another shake off my spear. Between his fishing & both of us gigging, this was our take for the day.

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Posted

Thanks for the story fish. It's really a lot of fun to hear how it's done in other parts of the country/world!

Those Black Drum, we call em' Sheepshead up here, and to my knowledge they've always been categorized and treated like a rough fish, but I've also always known they are a very popular "table fair" down south.

What did you think of the taste of the Drum?

Posted

I believe the black drum is an ocean fish but closely related to freshwater sheepshead. Saltwater sheepshead is zebra striped

Posted

Minrod is right on. These are saltwater fish. Still related to our MN sheepshead though. I've heard things are amazingly hard fighters & can't wait to catch one. They get HUGE!! Haven't tried em yet but I hear they're good

Posted

Beautiful looking pintail! You will get some birds with fantastic plumage down there! Keep us up dated on your hunts.

Kettle

Posted

Nice job considering you have never hunted like that before. Shooting divers in 70 degree weather just seems very, very odd. Keep the stories and pics coming.

Posted

Thanks a lot guys. I know I had fun. A few buds back home are already tired of the cold & are setting up trips down here. I think I need to start a guide service. BTW, if you didn't notice, the top 3 are sheepshead

Posted

wish I was there

Posted

Is that a sea trout below 3 black drum?

Posted

Yessir

Posted

Very interesting fishuhalik.

Posted

Looks and sounds like there's a lot of fun to be had down there!

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • monstermoose78
      Ok the ice was 15-16 inches and less than 2 inches of snow. It’s was -15 this morning and the weekend looks to be cold again. The fish were there but not biting with change in weather. 
    • Dash 1
      I guess the vikings are a lot like fishing.  Very entertaining but frustrating at times. I've probably been cheering the vikings for 50 plus years  that i can remember and once again it's all about (there's always next year).  
    • Dash 1
      I remember Jeno's boxed pizza years ago.  Mom made it every Saturday night while dad and I watched All Star Wrestling.  
    • smurfy
      Chef boyardee box pizza. Good stuff 
    • smurfy
    • leech~~
      Smurf, still trying to get his lure jigging down when using the camera!  🤭   https://www.facebook.com/reel/517510734635573
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore... Ice fishing is going great on the south shore of Lake of the Woods, with resorts and outfitters reporting thickening ice conditions with two feet of ice in some areas.  Many ice roads are now open to 1 ton vehicles pulling a wheelhouse.  Every road has different weight limits, check with each resort for details before traveling up and out on the ice.      Some good fishing this past week.  As a rule, fishing activity is happening in 28 - 32 feet of water.  Resorts do just about everything they can to get customers on fish and this past week, some resorts made some long runs, resetting fish houses in new areas miles off shore.  Most are reporting good fishing as a rule.     It is common to sort through some small walleyes and saugers to get your keepers on LOW.  Naturally, some big fish are showing up, especially in deeper water.  In addition, this has been a very good year for jumbo perch with good numbers being caught.  Other fish in the mix are eelpout (burbot), pike, tullibees and an occasional sturgeon.      Anglers are using the one-two punch of jigging in one hole and deadsticking the second hole. In the jigging hole, a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head or tail in gold / pink, gold / glow red, glow white / pink, or Wonder Bread have worked well.     Especially in the deeper water, some anglers are finding success on rippin raps or using jigging spoons with a rattle as well.     On the deadstick, a small jig with a live minnow hooked behind the dorsal fin set 6 inches - a foot off of the bottom is working well.  One day the jigging line catches most of the fish, the other day a deadstick is hot.     Electronics are very helpful to see suspended fish, know when fish are coming through and adjust your presentation to the mood of each fish.  Most resorts, outfitters and bait shops in the area rent electronics by the day.   On the Rainy River... The Rainy River is still producing some nice walleyes and saugers, primarily in the mornings and evenings.  A jig and minnow working well.   Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing continues to be good for those targeting them.  An oversized hole, or three holes drilled together, with nightcrawlers or frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig fished on the bottom are what anglers are using.     Ice conditions on the river can vary significantly due to the current. To stay safe and maximize success, always work with a local resort or outfitter familiar with river conditions.    Up at the NW Angle... Ice fishing continues to be very good up at the Northwest Angle. Resorts have fish houses set up on various pieces of structure as well as adjacent to structure in deep mud.  A consistent mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike and tullibees in the mix.     Shallow structure is best right away in the morning and as the sun starts going down in the late afternoon.  Mud is more of a slower bite but all day.   The ice road from Jerry's on the mainland (Angle Inlet, MN) to island resorts (as of this past week) was open to 1 ton vehicles.  Guests drive right to their island resort after picking up a road pass at Jerry's or Point North Services.  Venmo is also available at all resorts.  Work through your resort for specifics.   Ice fishing is in full swing across Lake of the Woods and there are openings for lodging, fish house rentals, sleeper fish house rentals and meal plans across the area.  Ice fishing is extended on LOW with fish houses allowed on the ice through March 31st, walleye / sauger season open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes.  
    • Brianf.
      From your fingertips to God's ears...  Finally got some snow!   Several inches of new snow fell before and during the weekend.  Sunday eve when we left, the high winds had already begun to create some drifting on the lake.  It was fun riding for sure.  Lots of folks on the lake this past weekend too.  We fueled up the sleds at Shamrock and saw as many people fishing in that area as I've ever seen in the Winter on Lake Vermilion.     Our weekend results were decent.  Jeff and I and a buddy caught probably 50 walleyes between the three of us, mostly fishing a jig/plastics with our three biggest being 24", 25", and 25.5".  We also got one large pike of unknown length.  During the midday on Sunday, we targeted whitefish and Jeff managed one big one.  We released all of our fish, except for three small walleyes that our buddy wanted to bring home for a meal.  Definitely a fun weekend on Lake V!   
    • leech~~
      The Vikings are the Vikings so it's nothing new.  It is kind of sad that Darnold's off season stock is now going to drop like a rock after these last two games. It kind of shows he's not a big game guy.  🤔
    • smurfy
      I'm blaming leech... his food selection has been lacking game days recently  🤣
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