we left Monday evening 4/16 around 4:30 and arrived around 11:45pm. stopped at the Spanish fort Bass Pro where we bought some last minute unnecessary tackle and ate dinner in the restaurant. woke up the next morning to pretty much perfect weather. water was nearly glass in the Batola Lake (one of the many lakes we fished) that morning so of course I threw top water and it wasn't long before a heart stopping blow up broke the surface! it seemed like the fish would bite anything over the next few days, we caught them on top water, swim baits, jigs, plugs, chatter baits, spinner baits, popping corks, spoons etc.
the best part of this trip is the freedom to fish wherever you want and it doesn't take long to gain confidence in the spot you choose, this made my 7th year In a row going and God willing I'll be going every year for the rest of my life. we've never used a guide and never had to. the fishery there is unreal. we kept very few fish this year but I would say over the 6 day period that we where there we caught (being conservative) 250 plus fish. Reds, trout, sheepshead, bass, and flounder. I even caught a alligator Gar lol.
if you ever get a chance to make this trip, don't turn it down. there where about 7 guys including myself and there's normally around 9 of us but, this entire trip didn't cost me more than 600 bucks.. that's with everything. lodging, food, gas, being reckless and unsupervised in bass pro. I don't think you can take a trip like anywhere else for this amount of money. 80% of the guys are employed by plantations so we typically only go during this time of the year due to hunting seasons and burning.
I recommend this trip to anyone! It's a very family oriented and friendly fishing town with so much culture and history. Enjoy!

* all fish pictured above where caught on Southern Custom Rods
