Trophy Sheepshead
In November the Louisiana Marsh is known for having big red fish. But Mile Haines couldn’t pass up the opportunity and made a great cast on this trophy sheepshead while it was tailing for crabs.
– Captain Jim Dietz
December Fly Fishing Highlights
Starting from the top… Cindy came down and for the 3rd year in a row, nailed some great fishing. This time was especially good timing because we were fishing the redbone, which is a non profit tournament held to raise money for cystic fibrosis. Well we got the big one! 34 lb 46 in red which is actually the biggest redfish ever to be caught in this tournament to date. We were both very excited about it. Next is Christian’s 37 lber which took the title as the heaviest fish caught on fly on my boat during 2014. Good work Christian! The next pictures are of some very happy redfish just being hungry in the marshes of Louisiana.
Cold Weather, Hot Fishing
Jim came down from Alabama to get his first crack at some big redfish. What a heck of a guy and a pretty darn good fisherman as well. It’s been cold but the fishing has been hot.
– Capt. Paul Lappin
Mid-December Fun Fishing
Had a day off, so what did I do? Went fishing, of course.
And man it was cold. Captain Ryan Frederick and I managed to put a few in the boat before heading back to the warmth of the truck. Fun day!!
– Capt. Paul Lappin
Tournament Fishing
Had a chance to fish with Gary Ellis and Brower Moffitt for the Redbone Tournament benefiting cystic fibrosis. What a great cause and what a fun day on the water with these two characters.
– Capt. Paul Lappin
November Redfish
Great 3 days of fishing with Kevin George. These guys had plenty of shots on big fish and plenty of funny stories to fill me in on. Great times and great guys. See you in key west fellas!!!
– Capt. Paul Lappin
Early October Fly Fishing Report
Although we were still dealing with some water clarity issues, we were able to make it to the cleaner outside areas on most days. There we found large singles, schools of spawners (15-20lbers), and even the occasional Jack. On the windy days we stayed inside chasing tailers in the shallows and even got this nice flounder on a blind retrieve.
September fly fishing to Remember
Early this September was probably some of the best fishing I have had in a while. It was by far the best September fishing I have ever experienced. This was immediately followed by some of the worse weather which in turn made for some very difficult fishing. Here are some fish we put in the boat this month. This includes my first 40 lb red on the boat and the biggest gar I have ever had on the boat. It has been a pretty inedible month so far.
The Spring Thing!
Although the big fish are still around they are few and far between. Because of this I like to turn my attention to some other species this time of year. When weather permits we are able to run out to the beaches. This sometimes gives us opportunities at Jacks and big reds. If it’s a little too windy for the beach, we fall back into the interior ponds and focus on 8-12 lb fish, large gar, and the sheeps are also still around. Regardless we will have some targets for you.
The Perfect Day
Although Fall is most popular, people overlook the dead of winter. Yes, during winter we get horrible fronts that will keep you off the water for days at a time. Yes, our average winter temperatures are less then desirable for most saltwater fly fishing anglers. But… If you luck out and hit it right, you may have a day like this…
No wind, bluebird skies and floating redfish everywhere!!! 17 fish over 20 lbs with 2 going over 30 lbs. The fish were not very easy to feed, but with good casters and plenty of opportunity, we certainly got it done.
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- Great View
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- Double on Fly
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- 30
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- Can you find the red?
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- Floaters
Cold Winter Redfishing is Heating Up
This winter season has been pretty good, to say the least… We have had great shots on singles, doubles and sometimes even groups of 10 or more 20+lb Red Fish. This makes the double possibility jump way up. I even got to get in the game and hook up with this 35 lber with one of my single customers.
Kevin and Tejal
Although this is a late report, I had to let people know about what kind of luck you can have as long as you keep booking… Kevin and Tejal started coming down to fish in Louisiana about 3 Years ago and although we had some semi-productive days, we still had to work hard for them. 2 Years ago, Kevin and Tejal came down here and again, it was tough weather and few fish. But last year they nailed it! 2 perfect days and the fish were floating. I think we caught 3-4 30 lbers and plenty of 20 lbers. This year during early December they pretty much nailed it again!!! Although the weather wasn’t perfect, the fish were thick and in the mood to float…
End of Fall
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- Dirty Thirty
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- Dirty Thirty
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- Marsh Remora
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- It’s a good one
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- Spoiled
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- If you couldn’t tell
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- Floater
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- Dinner
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- Icing on the Cake
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- Very nice Popper Fish
Here are some good ones from November and early December… I have to say congrats to Mike Birge on not only catching a 32 on a popper but more importantly getting on the Sheepy board!!! No easy task… I also have to mention Jeff Stang”s personal best 38 lb red which is also still standing as my biggest on the boat this season. Good work Jeff! I would also like to welcome Mike Howard and Mark Ozong into the Dirty Thirty club…
Big Fish Season is in Full Swing
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- Topwater Fly
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- Topwater Plug
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- Dirty Thirty
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- Blind Casted Fly
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- Inhalation of Plug
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- Big Redfish on Fly
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- Louisiana Redfish on Fly
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- Bull Red
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- Brandon doing Work
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- Dirty 33
As long as the weather allows us to get out on the water the big fish have been waiting. We have seen big fish floating, pushing, and even tailing, which is somewhat rare for us. It has been very windy recently but as long as you get the fly in their face they usually eat it.
The Fishing is Good
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- Candice with a nice school redfish
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- Father son Redfish action
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- Big School fish
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- Doubled up
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- Dirty Thirty
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- Popper Action in the Clouds
The fishing has been good! The big fish have moved in and even on cloudy days we have been sticking some really good fish. As long as the weather is somewhat consistent the fish have been very happy… Here are some pics to prove it…
Early Fall Action
It is that time of the year when the shrimp boats are holding massive black fin and yellowfin tuna. We didn’t hook a yellowfin on the fly on this day, but a 20+ lb blackfin was certainly a battle on the 12wt.
The redfish have been schooling in certain areas. The schools mostly consist of males between 10-15lbs. Although there are a few 30+lb females around, the smaller males usually hit the fly first. It should be any day now that the majority of the big 25+lb fish will be transitioning to the interior marsh.
Obviously there has been some Black drum and Jacks around too…
Summer Action
We have had a great summer with all kinds of fish being thrown at and caught. The latest being this 26 lb bull that I caught on a calm, hot, summer afternoon. Slot Fish are around in droves. I have seen groups of up to 100 fish just milling around in a pocket. We have also stuck some nice Jacks when we are in the right place at the right time. The catfish was not a trophy but was certainly interesting. They are actually pretty difficult to feed a fly to. In my opinion this 4.5 lb Marsh bass is one of the best trophy fish of the summer because he out weighs any other marsh bass iv’e ever seen caught by 2 lbs easy. Gotta love Summer!
Spring has Sprung
The grasses are here and the water is beautiful. This time of year the fish are very active cruising banks, tailing and sometimes backing showing almost half their body. It’s a good time for all types of topwater action including Poppers, Topwater plugs, and even frogs. The variety of fish is also good with the possibility of catching bass, trout, gar
or redfish on the same lure or fly. Here is a picture of a triple header that turned out to be a spring marsh slam. This was my first time ever seeing this, we have certainly slammed before but never at the same time. It was awesome!!!
Top Water to Save the Day
The past few weeks have been anything but pleasant. Seems like our weather is just punishing us for having such a nice fall. Well, when you have guys that have traveled hundreds of miles to just have the opportunity to catch one of our big Bulls you have to try and make a day, no matter what the weather is.
Our days have been starting with me explaining to my guys that we will not have it easy today and we will have to work for our fish. The key to topwater fishing is never lose the faith. You always have to work it expecting that a fish is following it and is about to eat it. You may go 50 casts with not even a boil and all the sudden bam a 25 lb big angry Bull has just inhaled your plug. Our usual day is about 10-12 blowups with only about 2-3 getting to the boat. You don’t get the numbers but you certainly have the opportunity to catch a big fish on what would normally be a day you should of canceled. This bite lasts through the winter months as long as you have the right factors in place.
Ridiculous December Double
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- Big Double
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- Another goood one
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- Fishing was so good we went for the slam!
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- Big 30 to start the day
Here is a day back in December that although started cloudy we had calm wind and very happy fish. The fish were floating so high they had the tips of their tails breaking the surface. Both casters were very talented and hit most the shots we had. We actually became a little bored catching the big reds so we changed flies and stuck a head. We also got a little popper action in as well. We ended up landing 1 sheepshead 4 reds over 30 lbs and countless 20+ lbers. Great December day!
Catching up on some Fly Fishing Reports
I had the pleasure of fishing with this motley crew during early December. It was composed of business men, guides, and even had a casting instructor in the group. Well with blue bird skies and relatively calm winds it was easy for these very experienced casters to just have a stickfest. In two days we caught more then 500 lbs of fish with 3 going over 30 lbs.
Going for Fly Fishing Records
I’ve had the pleasure of having some women anglers on board that were willing to attempt some record breaking. We did it but come to find out you haven’t done anything until you document. Tejal and Kevin were the first group to attempt the record and although Kevin caught 2 that would of done it Tejal was about 4 lbs shy with the one good one she landed. She did break off a few that may have done it but I guess we will never know. Cindy and Buddy were the second crew. We caught a few 20s early in the day and about mid way through the afternoon we hook a good one. We land it and weigh it and it did it! 30 lb bull redfish on 20 lb tippett. We run to a beach to document the weight and we video ourselves measuring the length and girth, or so I thought. Turns out we had the Iphone faced backwards while filming so instead of a video of measuring a fish we have a video of an arm going side to side. It was pretty devastating but you live and you learn.
More November Slobs
November was an absolutely incredible month as usual. We had both single big girls floating around in back bays and schools of males busting under birds on the outside edges. It’s crazy how much different these fish fight and look. The males under the birds don’t have the size of the females but they make up for it with their unwillingness to give up the fight. The males also have a much more brilliant color. It is something to see when a school of about 1000 bright red male redfish start busting up in front of you.
Fly Fishing for Redfish in November
Here is some pictures from the first 2 weeks of November. Had one flat full of sharks so we decided to stick one of those too. Trying to do a little picture catch up.
NOAA Weather
Boothville-Venice
Last Updated on Dec 2 2019, 10:51 am CST
Weather by NOAA
Current Conditions: Fair
Temp: 52°F
Wind: North at 16mph
Humidity: 49%
Windchill: 47°F