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Started By
Message
Crossing the River(at Venice) in a Bay boat
Posted on 6/27/24 at 9:52 am
Posted on 6/27/24 at 9:52 am
I see the river gauge is projected to be below 6 feet this weekend and planning on fishing Venice. Any advice for crossing the river in a 20 ft bay boat? Most likely crossing from cypress cove marina to Baptiste Collette
15
Posted on 6/27/24 at 9:59 am to 11duke7
aim upriver
go faster than the current
have a spotter
do not race to cross another boat, yield. if you have to drop back, drop back.
do not attempt to ramp a crew boat wake
ease into the pass and make sure you are where you are supposed to be before you get up on a plane again
go faster than the current
have a spotter
do not race to cross another boat, yield. if you have to drop back, drop back.
do not attempt to ramp a crew boat wake
ease into the pass and make sure you are where you are supposed to be before you get up on a plane again
Posted on 6/27/24 at 9:59 am to 11duke7
quote:It's only deep enough for a gondola.
Crossing the River(at Venice) in a Bay boat
Posted on 6/27/24 at 10:49 am to 11duke7
If you are fishing Baptiste be mindful of the crew boats coming through there. They can throw a massive wake and they rarely slow down for fishing boats.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 12:24 pm to 11duke7
Sounds like you haven't been down there a bunch based on your post.
The river is required for shipping to be kept at least 39' in the shipping channels so don't let the gauge fool you there will be plenty of water at 6' even 2' that doesn't mean the depth of the water just the depth of water compared a standard at the Carrolton gauge.
Now just because you have deep water in the channel there are sandbars all over the place, make sure you know where you are going and that it's passable many places that look good on a satellite image are problems. If headed out of Baptiste DO NOT leave the channel until you clear the last channel marker.
Good luck be careful
The river is required for shipping to be kept at least 39' in the shipping channels so don't let the gauge fool you there will be plenty of water at 6' even 2' that doesn't mean the depth of the water just the depth of water compared a standard at the Carrolton gauge.
Now just because you have deep water in the channel there are sandbars all over the place, make sure you know where you are going and that it's passable many places that look good on a satellite image are problems. If headed out of Baptiste DO NOT leave the channel until you clear the last channel marker.
Good luck be careful
Posted on 6/27/24 at 2:10 pm to 11duke7
Don't cut too tight a turn coming into Baptiste from the river. Rocks come out much further than you think. My dad who's been fishing down there 30 years cut the corner too tight this December and destroyed our lower unit.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 3:27 pm to 11duke7
Are you going after bass? I’ve been wanting to make a trip down there to bass fish but never have. Is the 6ft mark when they start catching them good down there?
Posted on 6/27/24 at 3:40 pm to 11duke7
You’ll be fine in a bay boat. If you wanna really have some fun run it in the dark during duck season in a mud boat. It’ll put hair on your chest real damn quick when you have two crew boats running along side you throwing 6+ foot rollers in an 18ft mud boat.
This post was edited on 6/27/24 at 3:44 pm
Posted on 6/27/24 at 3:59 pm to cgrand
quote:
do not attempt to ramp a crew boat wake
quote:
If you are fishing Baptiste be mindful of the crew boats coming through there. They can throw a massive wake and they rarely slow down for fishing boats.
THIS X 1000.
Takes me back to 1979-80 when I was around 15 yrs. old. We had a tri-hull bowrider, about 17 ft. long. I used to always ride up in the bow.
My (former) step-dad, who was a real jerk and full of himself (glad my mom divorced him a few years later) -- was behind the wheel, and we also had one or two of his buds on the fishing trip with us. We were in one of those passes off the river (east bank, I think) and come up on a crew boat from behind; he didn't even think to wait or slow down and went to pass it maintaining his cruising speed.
I'm sitting in my usual spot in the bow, and when we crest the wake wave I look down and see that I am about 6 feet up in the air. I swear the boat went completely airborne for a second before we dropped, and I felt like I myself had a delayed fall a second or two later like the coyote in one of the roadrunner cartoons. Scared the shite out of me and the other buds with him-- they insisted he had cracked the hull and made him head back to Venice right away.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 6:31 pm to 11duke7
Stop at the markers on the east bank, just south of the pass on the other side of the river.
I’ve always found that there are tons of reds along that bank.
Not awesome size, but constant action and Great for kids and new fishermen.
I’ve always found that there are tons of reds along that bank.
Not awesome size, but constant action and Great for kids and new fishermen.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 9:58 pm to 11duke7
Only did it once in a bay boat, will never go that way again. Plenty of places to fish without that damn river traffic.
Posted on 6/28/24 at 8:59 am to 11duke7
Not sure if you're planning to run out of baptiste (toward the islands/holy cross/central), but you need to follow the navigation channel out for a good ways once Baptiste ends.
Once you get to the end of the rocks you may think you're fine, but once you leave that channel its shallow water with sand that will leave you high and dry.
If you plan to fish along baptiste, just be careful on many of the old pipe canals. on the map they look passable and the "shortest route," but 9 times out of ten they are silted in/are starting to silt in.
Once you get to the end of the rocks you may think you're fine, but once you leave that channel its shallow water with sand that will leave you high and dry.
If you plan to fish along baptiste, just be careful on many of the old pipe canals. on the map they look passable and the "shortest route," but 9 times out of ten they are silted in/are starting to silt in.
Posted on 6/28/24 at 7:14 pm to 11duke7
No big deal crossing the river just keep looking out in all directions for crewboats and other traffic. We made many trips down Southwest pass in my 17 foot trihull.
Posted on 6/30/24 at 7:50 pm to 11duke7
If you think it's too rough, plenty of places to fish on the west side.
Posted on 6/30/24 at 8:37 pm to 11duke7
In my younger and much dumber days, my buddy and I took my 15’ Duracraft with a 50 HP Mercury down to the second spillway one Fall. No radio, no cellphones back then, only electronics was a Hummingbird depth finder.
By all the odds, I should have died several times in the Great Outdoors for “hold my beer” moments and chances I took.
I think you’ll be ok with your bay boat, but will echo the suggestion that everyone wear life jackets while running the river
By all the odds, I should have died several times in the Great Outdoors for “hold my beer” moments and chances I took.
I think you’ll be ok with your bay boat, but will echo the suggestion that everyone wear life jackets while running the river
Posted on 6/30/24 at 9:21 pm to 11duke7
quote:
aim upriver go faster than the current have a spotter do not race to cross another boat, yield. if you have to drop back, drop back. do not attempt to ramp a crew boat wake ease into the pass and make sure you are where you are supposed to be before you get up on a plane again
This is spot on. I did it in a 20’ bay boat. My a-hole was puckered the whole time. Probably won’t do it again.
Posted on 7/1/24 at 7:25 pm to 11duke7
quote:
Any advice for crossing the river in a 20 ft bay boat?
I did it several times in a cheap 18.5 bay boat in the 1990's. Not difficult at all if you pay attention and the winds aren't up. It's a bit freaky to look at the depth finder and realize what you are doing. But in reality it's not a problem.
If the winds pick up - then you could have an actual problem. We once went down to head of passes, fished a bit, and then grounded in mid channel. The fishing wasn't too good and when we headed up the winds came up out of the NW, in exactly the wrong direction to make the run up the river. That was a VERY rough run, and inside the Mississippi banks. It took forever and we were soaked.
We had a GREAT trip to The Jump, many moons ago. The river was very low and the trout were killing it in one spot, and the reds were just down river. Easy limit on both. The problem was commercial boats HATED us to be fishing there since they thought they owned it. And they did their best to scare us into leaving in the middle of great fishing. Screw them, they could easily have taken a slightly different course rather than being dicks.
But anyway - watch out for commercial boats with an axe to grind.
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