We Caught MONSTER Trout, Our Biggest in Years!

[@Wormdirt7180]

The ending comments from C Mac are spot on. Also needs to push for the pogie boats to go elsewhere. Thats a big part of the redfish dilemma.

[@MarshManMasson]

There's nobody in the state working harder for common-sense restrictions on pogie boats than C-Mac.

[@TheBiggestb66]

I think the bow fishing industry has had a big impact on our redfish population also. I think bow fishing should have a separate license to harvest and proceeds go to help rebuilding the marsh.

[@williewideback]

Speckled Trout! one of the best eating fish

[@seanmccoy6967]

Topwater + CMAC + Picture worthy Trout and Redfish = Priceless. I am also loving hearing CMAC dispel some myths surrounding freshwater influence on the fisheries. Please keep videos like this coming!

[@waderogers6269]

Man that's some beautiful trout tks for that awesome video beautiful fish tks for all the info really great fishing, I saw your video when you handed out gifts at Blackie Campos dock that was very kind of you to see all the smile on the kids and people faces tks for your great videos over the year really enjoyed them may god bless you and family, I'd like to wish you and family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year y'all take care.

[@jameslipscomb6916]

Has C-Mac ever been on any podcast? Seems like he has an abundance of information on the Louisiana fishery and I’d like to hear more.

[@jsco773]

REALLY a great video. What a trout. Have CMACK back more often, he is a favorite. I heard that big red hit, wow. MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!

[@rhondasibley7679]

Way to bring em' to the boat, Congratulations!!!

[@alldaveallnight4581]

Wow! That was an absolute pig of a speckled trout! Looks like most of them were good fish. It also looks like C-Mac has lost some weight! Good on ya, Chris!

[@devindedeaux9510]

Awesome video Todd! Top water is also my favorite way to catch fish! Congratulations, a beautiful trout!

[@RickyVargasIII]

Wow, good good number of nice trout! That ONE What a trout man!! Wish we could have seen that one C Mac had, I missed about a 4-5 pounder the other day, broke my heart! 😅 Always so good to see you guys fishing together, what’s up C Mac!?

[@JamesBrown-uz3sf]

Rapala X Rap, for you guys who fish the x rap, what is your favorite size and color?? Awesome top water video Todd!

[@doublethefunoutdoors]

All your videos are great but the ones with Chris seem to be a bit better. Keep them coming!

[@timwhite3653]

What kind of tags are you using and where do you buy them and the tool? I have a friends 4 acre lake that I haven't caught a bass less than 5 lbs in up to 8lb. I'm curious if I'm catching the same fish or what.

[@bayouburner281]

Yeah Buddy-Love those Sowbelly Trout!

[@mserio3]

Great educational video as always!!

[@fishinwithferg6048]

As always, very educational! And fantastic fishing.

[@dd214fishing]

Do you think LA should lower there limit and keeper size

[@markchambers2812]

Thanks Todd , wow Merry Christmas. Mark in BR

[@speckledtruth4577]

What a hammer!! Awesome fish Todd

[@greauxdevil9270]

Fish may appear 10x bigger than they actually are 🤣😂👍🏻

[@GrippingLipsFishing]

Hey man, after Christmas, it's time to sight fish again.

[@MarshManMasson]

Can't wait!

[@johnewen1911]

Congrats! Nice speck! I would have been shaking!

[@terryesteve8006]

Couldn’t agree with C-Mac more! Before Katrina hit every trout we caught in empire was 18”-22” there were hardly any 12”-13” trout to be found, reds were insane and you struggled to keep a few 20” fish. All those broken up islands washed away, the oil spill killed more grass and now you struggle to catch a limit of anything. Myrtle Grove doesn’t produce like it did 10 years ago because it’s eroding away. Big diversion planned there and the oyster fisherman are up in arms, there might be 2 oyster reefs in Myrtle Grove, maybe. There needs to be diversions every 3 miles from Jesuit Bend to Venice. Catch bass in the spring and summer and trout and reds in the fall and winter and have a healthy marsh to go along with it.

[@my31and37]

Love those big yellow mouths! Unfortunately I lost two 25+ inch specks back to back a few days ago kayak fishing, I'm still crying about it. The Rapala X-rap has been productive for me here in MS.

[@MarshManMasson]

It's the ones you lose that keep you hungry and dreaming about getting back out there, but it always sucks in the moment.

[@JamesBrown-uz3sf]

What is your favorite size and color of x rap?

[@Timond63]

Topwater is your big trout lure lucky I wish I could catch big trout on top

[@ifishforfoodnottrophys7483]

Didn’t know you had a net Todd

[@mikemiller724]

Great video and Great Trout! When C'Mac talks about the good of low salinity for redfish, how low. And, how stable does that salinity need to be to support the system, redfish, and trout? Merry Christmas!

[@MarshManMasson]

"Stable" salinity has never been a thing here, since we live at the mouth of the largest river in North America. In the spring, when the river's up, salinities are lower, and in the autumn, when the river's a relative trickle, salinities are much higher.

[@kentsaxon4684]

Great video Todd! It seems like each time you fish with C-Mac you guys take that opportunity to tell us how great the freshwater introduction to the marshes is. As you know, we've talked several times about how much I couldn't disagree more. But it seems no one is pointing out that dissenting point of view so I just had to ask. Can C-Mac possibly speak to the reason why the decline in specks and reds has been catastrophic in the delacroix / point a la hasche area despite it having Mardi Gras pass dump fresh water directly into it? Let me preface with some things before we get into it. I've fished this area my whole adult life. EVERY winter...not some winters...EVERY winter boats would line Oak river and catch limits of trout and reds for miles. Places like Bakers Bay, Skippys, Point Fienne, Bay Shallow, Grand Lake, even Spanish Lake way up Oak river, and COUNTLESS more bayous and ponds between these areas were FULL of trout and reds. I don't mean for 2 weeks then gone. And I don't mean some years. EVERY year. EVERY place I just mentioned. It was the closest thing to a guarantee you could get. Then what happened? around 2014 the MS river gave us 3 or 4 years of record high levels. This BLEW OUT Mardi Gras pass and took it from a small inlet to the 60ft deep 100 yard wide Haulover Inlet it is today. You want fresh water? You got it! Since that time, the specks are all but gone completely. About 2 years ago...the majority of reds left with them. You can still catch partial limits of trout in 4 horse, Campo, Bay Lafourche (Barely) and Bay Gardene......sometimes! For short periods when the salinity levels creep up based on wind and river levels. But if you've ever fished here for very long.....IM DARING you to tell me it's still the same as it was in 2014. No one can honestly say that. So we aren't talking about lost habitat and 15-20 years of time. We are talking about a DIRECT correllation to freshwater inundating an area with a HORRIBLE and NEGATIVE effect. Oysters, gone. Shrimp, forget it. Specks, history. Reds...see ya. Ducks, gone. All these things are undeniably accurate. I recreate there. I have a camp there. I've been fishing there 25 years. I KNOW what I'm saying to be true. So a more fair assessment of freshwater introduction into the marsh, in my opinion, is that it depends greatly on WHERE it's introduced and how much. But to give it this carte blanche pat on the back I think is not exactly accurate. Is this a necessary evil to build back the marsh? MAYBE? Are some of these side effects ineviateble and theres no way around them? Maybe so. But I think it's important to speak to both sides of this controversy because in the minds and hearts of many, it's certainly not a settled science. Rant over. Love you and your show and grateful to C-Mac for all his insight. Merry Christmas!

[@MarshManMasson]

Hey Kent, great to hear from you. As a lifelong Delacroix fisherman, I know well what you're talking about. Fishing has changed dramatically throughout that entire region, and Mardi Gras Pass has certainly played a role, just as every input does in a dynamic system. But that doesn't discount the positive effects of fresh water to the overall region. If you point to a dot on a map, and say, "I used to catch speckled trout right here, and now that's it's inundated by fresh, sediment-laden water for six months every year, I no longer do," that's not necessarily an indication that fresh water is bad and doesn't benefit the ecosystem as a whole. It's like owning a house in a neighborhood you love in 1950. If someone from the government knocks on your door and says, "Here's a check for the fair-market value of your house. You have 30 days to move out. We're putting an interstate right here," you're probably going to be extremely ticked, and understandably so. To you, that interstate is the worst thing that's ever happened. It's the curse of your life. But does that mean it wasn't for the overall good? Certainly not. Yes, diversions and crevasses alter fishing destinations dramatically -- in the immediate outfall area, some improve, some decline. But the land creation is essential for our future, so you have to take the bad with the good -- at least in my view. Not only that, but fresh water plays a vital role in IMPROVING fisheries that are a bit farther from the immediate outfall area. I've traveled the coast throughout my entire career, and I've repeatedly seen the truth of this. Take a look at the Barataria Basin and the epic fisheries decline in that area. There's no diversion to blame it on. It's simply caused by subsidence (land sinking) and erosion (land washing away). There simply are no more nursery grounds for the juvenile fish to grow up in. The same is true to only a slightly lesser extent in the Timbalier and Terrebonne basins. What diversions are at fault for those fishery declines? The healthiest fishery in the Terrebonne Basin is in western Terrebonne Parish, which abuts the Atchafalaya River. Why hasn't the fresh water destroyed THAT fishery? We live at the mouth of the largest river on the North American continent. It should be expected for us to have some years with really high rivers that displace fish for months at a time. That fresh water infuses the system with life, and when it retreats, fisheries explode, just as we've seen this autumn across the coast. That's the natural cycle of this place. What's unnatural is a walled river that spills its life and sediment off the continental shelf, where it benefits no one.

[@billmoss5624]

Merry Christmas Todd from Sabine Marsh in Texas!

[@MarshManMasson]

Same to you and yours!

[@jeanbertrand1364]

Can we get a mic for c-mac?

[@mlm0039]

Now you know it is going to be a good fish when that "its a good trout bra" comes out. Every one in southeast LA knows when "bra" comes out it is serious now

[@MarshManMasson]

🤣🤣🤣

[@frankcampo1255]

Awesome message at the end by Mr. C. Mac, wish everyone in south La could hear that and understand how truthful it is.

[@johnfontenot7861]

Cmac is back!

[@MarshManMasson]

You can't shed him without antibiotics.

[@johnfontenot7861]

@@MarshManMasson 😆💉

[@brisketwizard8004]

Great video of some quality trout. You tag so many fish. Do you ever get contacted by someone that caught one you tagged?

[@MarshManMasson]

Yes, program-wide, about 6% of redfish and 3% of speckled trout get recaptured and reported.

[@dfl6852]

What ever happened to green-bone-chrome. That used to be your go to top water but I haven’t seen it in a while.

[@askip7]

Where y’all fishing?

[@JohnDoe-ih3xi]

Is that big lake?

[@chrismarcantel]

Nice!

[@blakelowe7165]

Is there a specific reason your using a baitcaster instead of spinning tackle? I’m sorry if this is a dumb question people don’t freak out on me to much please lol

[@MarshManMasson]

Just personal preference. It feels more natural to me to work a topwater with a baitcaster. Plus I prefer the drag system.

[@ncoutdooradventures6148]

Very good commentary by CMac at the end of a great video! But I'm a littl confused about something,, he said the reds go out deep to spawn,, I thought they came in shallow to spawn and grow up to the juvenile/young adult stage, then went out to deeper water to feed up. I honestly haven't studied the life cycle of the red drum as I should, but just consider them to act as a bass,, after all, another name for red drum is channel bass. And I know you can catch them on anything you would catch a bass on! So please enlighten me!

[@chrismacaluso5658]

They spawn in large aggregates near passes off barrier islands, higher salinity waters, usually in the Gulf itself or the larger bays and sounds. Before they reach spawning size/age they live in a variety of habitats ranging from low salinity, brackish, lakes etc to oyster reefs, grass beds. Highly adaptable to a wide range of salinities and will eat just about anything including crawfish, bluegills, crabs, shrimp etc…

[@Dawson184]

They go offshore and spawn in large groups in the winter.

[@bigjspec]

They spawn on full moon in gulf then high tide brings eggs inside marsh to hatch and grow. U need the perfect mix of saltwater and fresh for eggs. The high river was not good.

[@looneylonzo28]

i’m calling hogwashing. I’ve been fishing redfish for 30 years and I catch just as many today as I did 25 and 30 years ago. other than that great video you too caught some nice specks

[@MarshManMasson]

If that's the case, you're in the stark minority. Redfish numbers statewide are absolutely abysmal, as indicated by LA Creel data and the report LDWF made to the commission this month.

[@wayfararout6258]

The camera angle was not the best on this one I was trying to lean forward through the whole video lol like I was gunna see better or something

[@wesleyford8389]

Red fish are armadillo trash fish compared to trout fishing😂

[@topwater7502]

STOP bouncing them on the deck , that's not a tennis ball !!

[@shutupmanful]

It still cracks me up that you bring your entire house on the boat with you still. Just silly.