Preseason '26-'27

[Rick]

So far, so good, but suppose it could be an issue by teal. Guess "we'll see..."

[Darren]

Late August's big bright full moon last night, typical teal mover. Hoping to put eyes on a few sometime this weekend down at the camp. Mostly hosting Lafayette-area family to fish but have hopes of sneaking out in the duck boat for a cruise around the lease, to assess the latest condition if nothing else.

[Rick]

Even had a September teal feeling northerly breeze yesterday morning that put Call and I back out walking a few miles of rice country, but we didn't see a single bird not readily IDed as "not teal". Still have the pleasure of seeing our first "for sure teal" ahead of us. But the cool breeze got Clark wound up to have us all get together and "check blinds" Monday morning, instead of waiting until after we fish the gators from the ponds next week, per my suggestion.

Back to reality this steaming morning...

[Darren]

Took greater Lafayette-area family out fishing yesterday and a very September-normal NE wind that was really pleasant for us on the north corner of Bay Eloi. We caught nice trout, sheepshead, redfish, black drum, a flounder and a shark.....shark went back but the others went to cleaning table back at the camp. A few of that shark's pals also cut off some lines after brief battles, typical of this time of year.

Eye on the prize was a brief window I saw I had this morning to sneak out for a ride to the lease to at least get an eye on condition. Water was back up on the overnight east winds, again finally getting away from the months of west as we knock on September's door. Wasn't too long into my trip that I saw my first teal, a nice bunch of a dozen flying high, then a few small groups around the lease which had me excited. Let the dogs stomp around a bit in what we hope will be a productive teal hole, an area the nutrias or some other such burrowing/mound-building critter has opened up and high tides have flooded.....shore birds were in there and but only two mottleds.......oh but the mottleds that were trying to get in there as I sat in the boat. Easily saw 30-40 or so in wads that many claim to be early arriving grays. So glad to see them in good numbers, on us. So we have mottleds, shorebirds, and a few teal burning around, would seem like a good bet I left there with heading in, plenty exciting in its own right. But the big moon apparently delivered much more than initially seen.

On way in I jumped what would end up being a few hundred teal mixed with squealers and many mottleds, along with shore birds in identical habitat about 3 miles to our due north. This area held green wings in swarms during the regular season this year and the blue ones have taken to it already; same deal, nutria-cleared area that's really just mud with grass clumps that the high tides flood out shallow.

Wheels turning in my head for some kind of makeshift hide to be built at our place to get us out the water, plans TBD. Really fulfilling couple of hours in the marsh, has us excited that we have habitat to offer the teal and not just hoping for trafficking birds passing us by like they usually do. And just as I tell all who ask about whether we have squealers at our lease, I watched a 40-pack cruise low and slow right up our west half of our tract, right over our most recent blind build. Probably a fluke, but maybe teal season will tell the tale on whether something's worth trying in early October.

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Whatever those schemes may be in short term, have to wait till my return from a jaunt out to the state of Washington for Labor Day weekend.