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.
Summer is hot! So instead of poling around in the marsh we decided to take it to the big water in hopes of finding something different… We found it! The first buoy we pulled up to had about a half dozen Cobia floating just underneath the surface. The water only had about 3-4 ft of clarity but you could easily spot these brown bastards from about 100 yrds away. Every rig, buoy, or piling we drove up to had at least 3 and as many as 12 floating right under it. As soon you dropped a popper into the area they were on it. They stayed on it until you hooked someone out of the group then they would sound. At that point we would land the fish, move to one or two other spots, then come back and sure enough the school would be floating right on top again. We did this all day… I had a great time to say the least.
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.
Although the wind was blowing and the fish weren’t eating right, Capt Kyle Smith still got a pretty good haul. We started the day as usual trying to catch some live bait. After a couple throws with the cast net we got them. Menhaden. We dropped the live bait only to see nothing happen for the next 2 hrs. We decided to chunk. Almost immediately a reel started screaming. After that it was pretty consistent and we ended up with 6 Yellow fin from 60-90 lbs.
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.
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.
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
Recently we have been having some great action all over the marsh. From popper fishing for small reds and sheepsheads in the ponds to outside fishing for bull reds, we’ve been trying to stay busy this summer. I had Jack and Denny back in town for a couple of days and when they are here we are catching. We warmed up fishing for smaller redfish with poppers, which Denny went right to work on. At one point we even ended up putting a big popper on a spin rod and got them with that too. We spent the rest of the time looking for bulls. It certainly was not stacked up but we did manage to boat a couple of fish in the 24-29 lb range. We also got this stud trout on topwater.
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!
It has been a pretty good spring and not a bad start to the summer. The fish have started grouping up and we have had plenty of clean water to work with. The gator population is certainly not hurting as well. It seems like they have a gator on every turn. The Sheepsheads have also been real active. We recently just upped my boats personal best sheepshead day from 4 fish to 6 fish which I was pretty pumped about.
Popper season is here!!!! The water is warming and our fish are starting to look up. We landed 4 bass and 7 redfish on poppers this past saturday which is a great start to the season. If you don’t know, then believe me, there is no better sound then that of a redfish sucking in your popper just feet from the boat. That sound mixed with the sight of a red inhaling the popper makes for an amazing sight fishing experience.
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!!!
Sheepshead aka Marsh Permit aka Convicts aka my new obsession. This past winter, we constantly saw these big heads tailing and cruising all over the place. Unlike some guides out there, I encouraged my clients to cast at them. Most of the time they would spook before you could get the fly to them or they would follow it all the way to the boat without even a peck. But sometimes the stars would align and they would eat almost anything presented. I had a couple of days when we focused only on Sheepsheads, throwing small crab patterns on lightweight rods with lightweight line. It’s totally different then trying to feed a Red. We had some success: a couple of 3-4 fish days with an average weight of 7 lbs. If you’re looking for a challenge on the fly, come down to the Louisiana marshes in late winter and try to stick one of these bastards!
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.
Here is the rest of my December pics. Sorry it took until February to post them but we have been busy. We had the usual big fish bite in the ponds but on certain days we were able to pop outside and chase birds which is always entertaining. We mainly caught redfish from the 18-26 lb range under the birds and every once in a while we pulled a jack out. There was one day though that the gulf was slick calm and I just ran around the anchored shrimp boats and looked for pushes that turned out to be monster jacks just looking for something to eat. It was awesome!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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