Fly Water Journal, Louisiana » flyfish

Redfish and Fly Fishing, Hopedale

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:04:27 +0000

Fly fishing for redfish, Today started at Penny’s Cafe in Violette, Louisiana. We had a great breakfast and picked up sandwiches for the day and it was off to fish for redfish. The weather man called for 5-15 knot winds with tons of sun. If you added the 5+15= 20 he would have got the wind right and we had scum sky (clouds) for most of the day. We launched out of Hopedale, LA in hopes to go look for some bigger redfish on the outside. The clouds weren’t going to help but we went anyways. The water was high and pretty clean, we started seeing fish right away. I had Jeff and Bob today and they were ready to sight cast to some nice redfish on fly. We got into the small fish early with the fish ranging from 8-10 pounds and they were feeding heavily on the outgoing tide. We put 6-7 fish in the boat in the first two hours of the day. As we got a little sun we went further out and got some nice fly fishing shots at fish in the 25 pound range and landed 5 fish that were 13-17 pounds with one double header which included the big fish of the day. We ended up with 12 redfish on fly today and the big fish are going to continue to move in.

Another good Louisiana Red Drum

We fished the 10 weight G. Loomis one piece Crosscurrent Pro 1 with a Tibor Riptide reel. A great setup for the bigger redfish, this makes it easier to thrown the big crab flies we throw at these beasts. Back at it again tomorrow and monday. Tight lines!

Another fatty redfish on fly.

Double reds caught while fly fishing.

Double header redfish

Fly fishing for redfish just doesn’t get any better then fishing the rich, productive, clear waters of Louisiana.

Give me a call to check available dates.

Rates

407-538-0770

Capnd13@gmail.com

Greg Dini
3021 Joseph St.
New Orleans, LA 70125

I look forward to having you on the boat!

RedBone Tournament in Louisiana

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:15:29 +0000

Recently I guided two great anglers from Pennsylvania Jim and Wanda in the RedBone for Cystic Fibrosis tournament on October 14th & 15th. We had sub par weather but tons of fish around. The tournament was held out of Woodland Plantation which is a great bed and breakfast to stay at while down in Louisiana fishing. We crossed the Mississippi River every morning on the ferry to fish the east side of the river out of Delacroix, LA. We had clean water and tons of shots. This was the first RedBone tournament held in Louisiana since hurricane Katrina. The event was a feeler to see how things would go for the next event they will hold here in April for Jazz Fest. With that being said it was a little unorganized with only a handful of the fishing categories that they normally have. We ended up placing runner up in the over all team event, we would have placed 1st in the fly fishing division except they didn’t have one for this particular event, and we won the big fish category with Wanda catching a 33 1/2″ redfish that weighed 17 pounds. This was a great tournament for a great cause. I look forward to fishing in the RedBone in April. Tight Lines! Fishing is great.

RedBone Tournament Louisiana

Another good redfish in the RedBone Tournament.

Louisiana fishing accommodations

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:11:00 +0000

Often I’m asked a lot of questions from first time anglers visiting Louisiana. Hopefully I can answer some of the most common questions here in my Fly Water Journal.

Fishermen can fly right into New Orleans International Airport. Rental cars are available at the airport and the drive is only 20 minutes to downtown New Orleans. There are endless places to stay down town. Most of my anglers will stay at the Hilton or the Ritz Carlton but there are tons of them if you do a quick google search for places in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.

What I like to do is pick up my charters in the morning around 6 am, I will bring them to breakfast at Penny’s Cafe in Violette, LA. We get good food and will pick up sandwiches for the day there.

The best time of the year to fish for a trophy redfish is October through March but the fishing is great year round so I don’t want to pigeon hole myself into those months only. If you want Louisiana seafood you will definately be able to get fresh Blue crabs and oysters if the time of the year is right straight off the oyster boats where we launch. I’m sure if you wanted to ship some home I can help you find a way or you can check a cooler in at the airport. If anglers would like to keep a few fish they can but I recommend they keep only slot size fish; 16-27″.

There are literally tons of fun places to hang out at night in the french quarter; Pat Obriens, etc, etc.

Some good restaurants while you are in Louisiana: Dickey Brennans steak house, Acme Oyster house, Brennan’s Sea Food, G.W. Fins, Drago’s Oysters and seafood, Antoine’s Restaurant and many I have yet to discover. I hope if you are coming to fish with me that this helps you prepare for our fishing adventure.