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Dennis and Jack Catching not Fishing

Dennis and Jack come to fish.  They are both very experienced fisherman and both fish hard.  Right out the gate Jack hooks up with a nice 25 lb fish.  After that we kinda had a slump with big fish.  We were consistently sticking fish but none were over 15 lbs.  Day 2 was better. The wind died and we were able to fish an area that I love to fish but it’s extremely weather dependent.  We had shot after shot on 10-15 lb fish and at a certain point we just started passing on the smaller fish looking for 20+ lb fish.  We stuck 2 good ones before the mullet boats moved in on us and ruined the fishing.  These mullet boats have to be some of the most inconsiderate fisherman I have ever seen, I’ve been burned too much by these guys this season.

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Happy Thanksgiving!!! Redfish Picture Catch Up

These pictures cover about 5 or 6 days during mid to late October.  We had a variety of fish with Mike catching a bunch of 18-24 lb fish and one that went very close to 30.  Jason came in on a less then desirable day with windy and cloudy conditions.  He made the most of the shots we had and he stuck this 24 lber.  Mark and I had a very interesting day… His wife kim was a mild Birder and after letting her off on the beach to check out some birds we take our eyes off of her for about a min and just like that she was about a mile down the beach which I was unable to get to due to the shallow water.  So Mark and I had to sit and wait.  Luckily earlier that day Mark got this 31 lber and Kim actually hooked (I SWEAR) what would of been a 20 lb tippet world record for women!!! Lost it on one single blade of grass.  Maybe next time…

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3 days Booked = 3 Incredible Days of Fly Fishing for Red Fish

It’s not too often you have clients book for the first time and arrive just after a bad weather window and leave just before the next front.  Jake and Samer nailed it!  Not only was the weather great but the fish were thick.  The first day we hit my usual spots and did well.  I think we caught 9 with about a 20 lb average.  The second day we were running to the usual spots and I scared a school of fish the size of a football field.  We shut down and started sticking.  We double up I don’t know how many times and I even pull a stick out and we get a triple once.  We spent all day in that area and ended with 27 fish (majority on poppers) with about a 20 lb average which equals 500+ lb day.  So the start of day three I didn’t know how to top day 2.  We decided to go for a 30 lber. The school fish we were fishing seemed to be maxing out at 27 lbs.  We went searching for big girls.  I check an area that I always drove by and never fished and we found them. Laid up sitting still in 5 ft of water with their tails barely scratching the surface.  It was incredible.  We push around passing on plenty hoping the next would be the 30.  We see one that looks good but I had to convince Jake to cast at it and Samer had to convince him to hook it.  Well once we get it in the boat I knew we had it.  A big headed 31 lb Louisiana Bull Redfish≥  It was a great way to end the trip.

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Fishing not Posting

I’ve been fishing way too much to post recent pics but here are some pics from early to mid October.  Also I had my sisters wedding which also hindered my posting.

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Hunting For Big Fish With Larry Dahlberg

I Had a great time with uncle Larry again.  This time we had had bad weather but more time (one full day and about 4 hrs his last day).  We made it happen.  We caught a fair amount of 15-20 lbers on a 10 inch wide glide which was just ridiculous because it is a huge bait and they weren’t hesitating at all.  We threw the fly a little and we did land about a 26 lber.  Larry has a great cast and we should have had more but our tu=ime ran out.  The highlight for sure is this 36 lber we sight casted with a small wide glide.  It was awesome.

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Some Offshore Fishing In my Inshore Boat

After putting a hurting to slot fish on spin gear and fly.  (Im talking tripling up on just straight jigg heads) we decide to go out and look for big reds.  We spot a huge group of birds working and found Bonitta, Spanish Mackeral and look down jacks tearing up bait in a school the size of a football field.  Needless to say we had to stop and get in on the action.  After many doubles boated and my finger almost getting bit off by a Spanish we make another move to some close in rigs to see if we couldn’t scare up a Cobia, well we got one.

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The Kerns Come fish Louisiana

After staying with Matt and Candace Kern in Rockport I told them they should come over and do one day Inshore fishing and we will do one day Offshore fishing.  Well the Inshore fishing was less then great due to a front that pushed the fish down, we did manage to land this nice size gar on the fly. The Offshore fishing the next day more then made up for the slow inshore bite.  This time of year brings in the shrimp boats that if you find the right one you can not only catch giant Blackfin Tuna on fly but if you have heavy enough stand up gear you can catch one of these MONSTER yellowfin tuna. This one went 165 lbs.

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Rockport Trip

I had the pleasure of traveling to Rockport Texas to Swan Point Landing Outfitters to give a presentation about Louisiana’s redfish fishery.  I stayed and fished with Matt Kern, a client turned friend, who is not a guide but might as well be.  With reports of slow fishing we did not have very high expectations I was just excited to see the gin clear water everyone was talking about.  Well the fishing was awesome and the water was gin clear.  We probably saw around 200-300 fish with about 20-30 legit shots and ended up catching 7 or 8.  I had a hard time making the shots early so I’ll take the blame for the bad shot to catch ratio.

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Best Days EVER!

Tuesday – Thursday of last week were the 3 most ridiculous days i’ve EVER had.  David Mangum, Greg Dini, and I went out to see what the fishing was like after the storm.  David brought along all his camera gear so naturally I figured if there is this many cameras on board the trip was destine to suck.  Well I was extremely wrong.  The first spot we stopped at was game on with schools of redfish pushing towards us as far as the eye can see. You have to wait and see what happens when the film comes out.  Here is one little guy we got.

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Fly Fishing For Jacks in Louisiana

Recently we have had some Jacks coming in and crushing schools of mullet on the same flats we are catching monster bull reds.  Although these creatures are fast moving and only give you a small window to get a shot on them if you put the fly in the right place and move it fast enough you can sometimes get a bite.  The key is to get the fly moving fast enough.  Sometimes you have to actually sweep the rod so the fly is moving fast and steady.  This makes it hard to get a good strip set on them but usually when they take it they turn and run, so after the initial run you can usually dig the hook into them.  Here is one of the bigger ones we have caught going about 28 lbs.

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Bull Redfish on the Fly in the Summer?

Had the pleasure of fishing Boman Lapp on the bow of my boat this day.  He is an ex-guide who was very able to cast the 12 wt we were throwing.  I knew with the perfect conditions and the ability of my caster we could pick and choose our fish(25+ lbers). We did just that.  We landed 5 equaling over 127 lbs.   I even got to stick one myself while Boman was getting his in.

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Redfish Topwater Popping in the Shade

I had two days of fishing with Carlyle and with great weather the first day it wasn’t a problem getting to the big fish grounds and even sticking a few of them.  Day two presented a challenge with overcast skies and varying winds from calm to 15+mph.   We decided to stay close, mostly due to a storm that was headed right for us.  We ended up having about 4 hrs to fish.  When we reached our spot we started to notice redfish coming up and sipping at the ends of these coon tail grasses in the water.  You could watch them go from grass to grass inspecting the tops for any creatures stranded with the incoming tide.  Well we started taking shots and as soon as we popped the popper they would spook.  So after about the third spook we changed presentation to a slow long strip.  As long as you got the fly in their sight and had it slowly moving away they would pounce on it.  It was crazy to see such a different reaction.

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Trophy Redfish Hunter From Japan

I had Mr Tadayoshi Sakurai on board for a stretch of 4 days.  Although he knew little english he did bring a translation book that he gave to me after i tried to explain left, right, 11 o’clock, etc.  So I looked up some directional words and went to work.  The only words I focused on was left, right, out in front, close, and far.  He was able to see the fish well so as long as I got him looking in the right direction he could usually lock in and make the cast.  We fished a new area each day due to conditions and did well each day.  The trophies for the trip were a 27 and 34 lb redfish and a monster 8.5 lbs sheepshead which would of been a state record had I known that the state record was only 8.15 lbs.

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Solo Scout Trip = Some Great Stills

Headed out on my own to get some footage of these beasts swimming around and maybe sticking one or two.  The weather was on and the fish were there.  Here are some stills that I thought came out pretty sweet.

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Color Blind Yet Seeing Red Fish

Had the pleasure of fishing with John and Gary these two days and with decent weather and decent tides we made our way to the big fish grounds.  With dirty water pushed into the gras spotting fish was hard, even with the ability to see color.  Gary had a great first day catching four fish equalling over 100 lbs with the big fish going 34 lbs.  John had a tough one. Turns out he is color blind and he was unable to see the glow these fish were putting off.  The second day was better though.  John and I worked on our communication and with his spot on casting and my directing to the fish we were able to hook 3 and land one going 28 lbs.  Good finish.

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Spring Big Redfish?

Although spring is not typically the big fish season we still have been able to target them.  We have had great weather enabling us to run farther and fish each spot more thoroughly.   Here is another addition to the Dirty Thirty club with Matt Scriven’s 31.5 lber.

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Key West

Well the weather was perfect, the tarpon were there, but we just couldn’t make it happen.  We did get this nice size bull shark to eat and also picked up a snook in the everglades on the way back.  So it wasn’t a complete failure.

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Spring Redfish Action

Spring fishing is here.  The grasses have grown high enough to filter the water and the slot fish are happily swimming around, some singles, some doubles, and some in schools of 10 or more.  Spring fishing is a different game then big fish.  Fly presentation is much more difficult when you have to compete with the grass but luckily also with spring the shots per day generally increase as long as the weather is decent.  Here are some catches from recent trips.  Although we see plenty of Gar we usually don’t shoot at them unless its a good one (15+lbs), then we take the shot.  Here is a 17 lber that did not hesitate to bite.  Also here is a good example of why you should never forget to put sunscreen on your feet when wearing flip flops.   He couldn’t even stand up to fish it hurt so bad.

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More Late Season Big Redfish

March 18

After scouting this area for the past 3 days with the other group I stumbled upon a really good looking spot at the end of the third day.  With water on the rise I knew it wouldn’t hold up for long.  So I made one last trip to the area.  As soon as we got there it was game on.  We had at least 50+ shots landing 4 totaling 104 lbs and breaking off 3 others.  Here is the big fish weighing 31 lbs (another addition to the dirty thirty.)

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Late Season Big Redfish

Sorry again for the post delays but just got back from the Keys. Time to ketchup.  These guys came down March 15-17 and they took full advantage of what our fishery had to offer.  We experienced some weather that opened up some opportunities that would otherwise not be there.  Over these three days we landed a ton of fish, some going over 25 and we even added another angler to the Dirty Thirty Club (Congrats little Murph).  We had all kinds of action. Little Murph went in the water to land a nice 25 lber and Metro although a slow start had a great buzzer beater shot that was instantly sucked in by a nice 26 lber.  Great group of guys I can’t wait for these guys to make it back.

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Hit or Miss Fly fishing in Louisiana

 

I have been really busy fishing these past two weeks.  Our trips have been anything but consistant.  We have had clear days with good shots to fish who wont eat.  We have had cloudy windy days that even though we were blind casting we still boated many fish.  And we have had clear days with  big bull redfish swimming around hungry and happily taking flies.  Here are some pics from last week to tease you up a little.  Big fish pics coming soon….

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Biloxi Marsh Still Producing Big Redfish

With very few fishable days in the past few weeks we have had to do some serious running to track down the fish we want to catch.  Water clarity is already becoming an issue with this warmer then normal winter.  Looks like spring is coming in fast.  Going to have to get my Poppers and Gurglers ready.

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Big Fish Small Numbers

It is that time of year when the winds blow, the water starts getting stained, and the big fish start heading out.  We have had very few good weather days this month but here is one.  We had limited shots on big fish but we were still able to make some eat.

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Recent Biloxi Marsh Action

 

Here are some pics from last two weeks. We had good, bad, and ugly weather.  We did what we could to make the most out of the bad and ugly and it turned out to be pretty good.  You gotta love topwater no matter what size the fish are.

 

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