Sight fishing Reds with Light Tackle Spin Gear

Went out yesterday with some pretty good spin casters. We sight fished some really nice reds in the 10-15 pound range. The reds were pushing bait down the shorelines making them an easy yet fun target on  spin gear. Its unbelievable the amount of fish and bait we are seeing in the marsh right now. Tight Lines!

Back in Louisiana after a Great Tarpon Season!

After a great tarpon season on the west coast of Florida and in the Panhandle it is great to be back in New Orleans and back out on the marsh. A few weeks ago Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries opened almost all state waters to recreational and sport fishing and commercial fishing zones are slowly starting to re open. This is great news for all the fishing guides because with no hesitations now we can start filling up our calendars with trips for the upcoming fall/winter redfish season. I have been out on the marsh for the past 4 days and have gone 20-25 miles out where I do all my winter time red fishing and I have to say the marsh is as beautiful as ever and there is NO OIL to be seen. The people who are out there everyday cleaning up our shorelines have done an incredible job and we appreciate their hard work. Baring any huge storm that blows what is left of the oil that is out there into the marsh, things should be great. There are tons of fish out there along with all the pogies, shrimp and crabs that they feed on. The marsh is as alive as it has ever been and the fishing will be incredible this upcoming fall. I hope that for all that were effected by this disaster we can move on and look forward to a positive future and watch the gulf coast thrive like it always has. Tight Lines!

Past few Weeks On the Louisiana Marsh and West Coast of Florida

I have been splitting my time in the marsh and florida the past two weeks. With everyone still waiting to see what the extent of the oil disaster, all the local fly fishing guides including myself have still been putting hours on the water taking trips and putting some beautiful redfish in the boat. The redfish are in there summer patters and are all in the thick grass, tailing and crushing shrimp down the shorelines making it a ton of fun on fly rod. I have also been taking trips for Tarpon on the west coast of florida and the fish have been poring through. We have been getting tons of shots and jumping a few every day on fly. Heading to the panhandle tomorrow for the next 60 days to take tarpon trips there, very excited and looking forward to tarpon that will chase a fly down. Tight Lines!

Oil Spill Redfish, West Coat Tarpon

Well, as we all are aware of the oil spill has been on our minds here in Louisiana over the past few weeks. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for the best outcome. I have also been on the west coast of florida the past week in search of monster tarpon on the beaches and back country of charlotte harbor and they are in! With multiple fish days the poons are in and we will be there to get in their path. Yesterday was my first day back in the marsh in over a week and the red fishing was on fire. We fished for 4 hours on the west side of the mississippi river which is still open to recreational fishing and landed 8 nice reds on fly! WE were enjoying every minute on the water because if this oil takes a turn for the worst we may not know when the next time we will get to fish the marsh. We will keep you posted with any updates, keep us in your prayers. tight lines!

Hopefully this was the last cold front of the year!

We had another front come through this past week which brought strong winds and some pretty nasty weather. This didn’t stop the redfish from getting on the flats and crawling around looking for food. The fish are starting to go into their spring pattern and gorging on the small mullet that are all over the marsh. Bait Fish flies have been working really good and is super exciting to watch a big redfish come behind a 4 inch mullet fly and come out of the water to eat it. Tight lines!

Big Fish are still in!

We have finally received some good weather from the man upstairs and the fishing is starting to stabilize. We are still getting consistent shots at big redfish and black drum and the 5-15 pound fish are everywhere. I am very excited to get into the spring pattern and the fishing will be incredible. Tight Lines!

Had good friend Mark B. Hatter in town

I had good friend and angler Mark B. Hatter in town the past couple days. Mark writes and takes great photography for many publications including Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Magazine.  We had two good days of fishing, had shots at a few big fish over 20 pounds and landed tons of fish in the 10-20 pound range. Mark was able to land his personal best red fish on 4 lb. tippet, a nice 25 pounder. Its always a blast to have Mark in town because I get the chance to get some bow time as he has no problem polling me around a bit. Tight Lines!

Great fishing and good company

We had a great group of anglers in for three days this past weekend. There were 6 guys from all around the country who are part of fishing club called Spring Valley Anglers. These guys were a blast to have in town, were great company on the boat and they all were accomplished fly fisherman. We had ok weather one day and tough conditions the other two but that didn’t stop us from catching a lot of fish and a few big fish at that. We landed a 27 pound redfish and a 33 pound redfish on fly one day, landed 12 redfish in the 7-15 pound range the other day and had shots at some more monster redfish and black drum on the third day. The big reds and black drum are still in the marsh and will continue to be here until our cold fronts stop coming through. Tight Lines!

Great day on the Louisiana Marsh!

I had a great day on the Louisiana Marsh today with Kyle from Houston. Expectations were high due to the great weather forecast. We had light winds, clean water and tons of sun. The fish have been cold as of late due to the cold fronts we have been getting every other day but with the good sun heating up the flats it was only a matter of time before the monster redfish showed back up. Kyle started fly fishing about a year ago and impressed me with his casting for only picking up the sport a few months back. The redfish and black drum were suspended in about 3 feet of water and you could see their orange glow from a few hundred feet away making them easy targets. Kyle and I started off the day landing a dozen nice redfish in the 7-12 pound range which was a good intro for him as it was his first time fly fishing the Louisiana marsh. After we messed around with them and had a quick bite to eat I told Kyle we needed to go step up to the big leagues and go look for some monsters and oh did we find them. From 12:30 to 4:30 I don’t think Kyle ever had time to put his fly back in his hand. He was getting shot after shot at 25-40 pound redfish and black drum, it was almost like a shooting gallery out there! We ended up boating 8 redfish over 25 pounds the second half of the day with two absolute monsters that weighed in at 30 and 33 pounds and I can’t tell you how many other fish ate the fly that we didn’t hook and we must have broken at least another half dozen big reds off. Kyle was hooked up to a 25 lb fish at one point and there were soo many fish around the boat he told me to pick up a rod and catch one. So I grabbed a rod and picked the biggest redfish I saw and got him to eat the fly, the fish ended up being 33 pounds and Kyle and I had a monster double header. This is a testament to what we can accomplish as fly anglers in the pristine Louisiana marsh. Tight Lines!

Rough Weather on the Marsh

We have had a rough week of weather out on the Louisiana Marsh. With Rain most  of the week we have had to cancel a few trips. The days out on the water have still been good. Big redfish and black drum are still around and we are getting shots at them .The pattern has been a little off since the hard freeze we had a month back but the fish have moved back in and we are putting them in the boat. Keep and eye out for Fly Water Expeditions airing on the Sportsman’s Channel and Sun Sports with Shallow Water Angler TV in the next few weeks. We caught some monsters despite the cold conditions. Here are a few pictures, Tight Lines!