# Hopedale Action with Capt. Gene Dugas



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

*mdrobe2's Charter with Captain Gene Dugas *
I finally got to take a charter with Captain Gene Dugas from Rather Be Fishing Adventures. I was familiar with his exploits from the Pensacola Fishing Forum. He always posted huge stringers of specks and reds so I knew he could catch the fish, and catch them we did. We caught a limit of 75 specks in two hours. This was on Veteran's Day (last Thursday). We didn't run 5 minutes before the captain spotted some birds working and headed for them. We tossed popping corks with jig/plastic shrimp combos and it was on. We threw some live bait too when the specks got picky. Biggest speck of the day was 20 inches. We managed two reds as well. The captain is knowledgable and friendly, and he cleaned that mess of fish PDQ- I helped by removing the rib cages from the fillets. The boat is a custom bay boat of about 25 feet in length that was dry and fast. Trip rate for 2 people was 450, and I opted to include a tip, which is customary. I highly recommend this guide- it was only about 45 minutes from my hotel in downtown New Orleans to the guide's camp- you just park and get in the boat and 5 minutes later you are fishing.

http://www.ratherbe-fishing.com/index.htm




































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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

That's quite a pile of fish.


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## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

Thank you. The fishing in Louisiana is ridiculous- I literally could not believe it. The specks there are almost like trash fish they are so easy to catch. We caught our fish chasing birds as well as at choke points like narrow cuts with good tidal flow. Specks in LA are legal at 12 inches and that is kind of small for my taste but they fillet up nice and I don't like to throw specks back since they are so prone to dying anyway. A ton of boats were out since it was a holiday, and all of them were catching fish- many of them followed my guide- he says that is typical and not that much of a pain in the arse. Thank you for commenting on my post.


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## fisheye48 (Sep 28, 2007)

Gene is a great Capt. and a even better person...Congrats on the trip...cant wait to get back over there and mash the trout and reds


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## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

He actually mentioned that he had fished with you fisheye...he would like to get more trips out of our area- it's not far at all, as you know.


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## CAPT. GENE DUGAS (Oct 6, 2007)

*Finally*

Aftera whole year finally got mike in the boat and got a chance to put him on some fish. He could not get enough like a kid in the cookie jar. Great guy and a lot of fun. His girl firend Angela said she was going just for the ride and did not want to fish well I fixed that just little coaching and she had Mike worried for awhile she was flipping trout in the boat one after another Way to go Angela! She said her hands were stating to hurt so I figured my mission was accomplished. Great girl and darn good fisherwoman too. Check out the picture Table full for dinner!


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## bamasam (Sep 27, 2007)

Its about time you got down there Mike. I told you Gene was a heck of a Captain, cant wait to get back down and go with him again. I wont even hold the LSU/Alabama game against him.......too much


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## Ultralite (Oct 1, 2007)

dodn't know how i missed this....great report mike! looks like a blast...i know angela had as much fun as you...you kids always have fun...


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