Friday
Rolled out with hot coffee early. Made my usual stop at Cash Magic(ly dissapears) for pit stop, coffee refill and Slo Melt. Talked to several members while driving down and cruised right past the Minamalist Zone. I really didn’t want anyone to know where I was fishing for the tournament, as I’d been scouting for weeks. Combat launched on LA1 and was joined by Josh Redd and Jonathan Aucoin. We didn’t go far and got on some trout action for a little while. Water was crystal clear to 4 feet which made the trout very spooky.
The bite slowed just as Wade Barbay and Tiffany Marcello showed up. Some pesky boat fishermen appeared and ran off all the fish. Josh and Jonathan rolled north to scout. Low and behold, Tiffany found a pattern and all three of us wailed on trout till our limits were fulfilled. I loaded up and rolled to the Luxurious Galliano Inn, where many participants were being lodged, to clean fish. There I was greeted by an older than me gentleman who asked if I’d had any luck. I replied that it wasn’t luck as I opened my box. He smiled as I said, if you want to see something funny, watch for a minute, gesturing towards Sean Rastanis who was walking towards us. Sean came over, looked in my box and reported poor results scouting. Of course I lied and reported I’d caught the fish in the tournament area, a common tournament ploy.
After bagging my catch, I checked in and started unloading my gear into a newly remodeled room, much nicer than previous accommodations, except for the lack of a coffee pot. My bunkmate for the weekend was Justin Lang, who showed up shortly after. We hung out and socialized as Bayou Coast filled the hotel to capacity, for the first time since Hurricane Ida. I hooked up with the board and we bagged the secret baits for the tournament and a little after 5 headed over to MeMaws. Justin rode with me and we seated ourselves at the largest available table, for 9. A couple minutes later, the waitress came over and I told her not to worry, in a few minutes, my table would be full, as well as the rest of the restaurant, and motioned towards the entrance, filled with Bayou Coast members. I had the fried pork chops, baked potato and a salad, which was fabulous, and most enjoyed their meals, but we absolutely owned the joint that evening.
We returned to the hotel and socialized a little more until I retired to rig rods and enjoy a Little Debbie Nutty Bar along with some milk for desert. Fabulous! I was in bed before 9 but took a while to pass out with all the partying outside.
Saturday
Up at 3 for coffee and mandatory bathroom visit. At the Leeville Public Launch around 4 and put my boat on the ground next to the launch, then parked a couple spots down from the club tent.
Checked and gave out baits till about 10 minutes before shotgun launch to get in the water. It was great seeing all the competitors as they viewed the baits for the first time. When the start went off, I turned north and started pedaling hard. Only one kayak was ahead of me by a couple hundred yards, his light betraying his position. It was about a twenty minute pedal to the turn and the person ahead of me was a quarter of a mile ahead at the turn, but noone was behind me. About 15 minutes later, I pulled out into open water, and the other boat was parked exactly where I was going. Lovely. I went to my nearby secondary location and right after I anchored, an aluminum flat with two guys pulls up 50′ from me, right on top of the fish, and threw their anchor overboard, after dropping it on the deck, of course. The water was gin clear and I only caught 1 trout in the area in an hour. I went over towards my primary location to see who was still lingering there and say hello to Breck Hotard. He’d arrived first and I couldn’t impose on his real estate, so I made a huge loop around what is normally full of fish, catching 2 dink trout and a bull red. When I returned, Breck had disappeared, presumably to get his reds. I managed a few trout but no size, then planned a route back through areas where I’d easily caught reds, to no avail, into a blasting wind and current. When I got near the launch Doug Menafee and Graves Bayard were taking turns casting into crystal clear water, surrounded by dirty water, catching redfish and drum on every cast. Amazing! I got out the water about 230 and someone grabbed a handle on my ice chest, helping me carry it to the weigh in line. I grabbed my truck, loaded my PA14 and parked. Richoux’s Pizza had set up next to weigh in and were putting out some excellent pies. I weighed 4 trout that totaled less than 3 pounds. Pitiful, but I didn’t skunk. Current and former Hobie Fishing Team members dominated the top 6 paid places and Breck got 2nd.
We had 99 entries and 45 people weighed a fish. No, I didn’t make top 20 but had a great time with friends and foes! I rolled back to Galliano Inn and showered. When my crew had readied themselves, we rolled to CherAmie’s, the best restaurant I know of in the area. I had a blue cheese wedge, hamburger steak and fries, with onions and mushrooms, covered in gravy. Ahhhhhhh.
We rolled back to the hotel and hung out a while. Most had gone so it was quiet and I slept like a baby.
Sunday
Justin rolled south with me after Cafe Bustello and we launched at daybreak. We fished for an hour and a half without a bite. He lost his final Minamalist bait and called it a day. I went into the marsh where the 15 plus breeze was blowing the water against the tide and caught a trout on the first cast with a 1/4 ounce jighead. They would only hit if the bait was cast into the wind and current, so I spent the next couple hours pedaling into the wind and current, up and down a 200 yard cut, catching trout. At one point, I hooked a bull red just as the wind and current caught my boat. Boat in one direction, bull red in the other, rod snapped in between. Lovely. They stopped when I got to 23, so back to Galliano Inn to process and bag. Man, I slept like a baby that night.
Minimalist Challenge was awesome. Thanks to Tail Chaser, Captain Lane/Deathgrip, Cajun, Overcast and Bill Lewis for the mostly local outstanding baits. Thanks to Richoux’s Pizza for coming to the launch and feeding us. Thanks to Galliano Inn, MeMaws and CherAmi’s for putting up with us. Congratulations to the winners and top 20 qualifiers for the Championship Series. As always, I can’t wait till next trip!
Sounded like fun.