Bull Redfish Crawling



24 pound beauty

The past couple of weeks have been absolutely amazing. Huge bull redfish are crawling on the banks of the outer islands. Jacks are also abundant when the tide is pushing hard. The outside islands water is fairly clear making the redfish stand out. Some of these big fish are sticking their backs out of the water. I can easily spot these fish up to 100 yards out as they crash bait along the shallow banks.

Nice 30 pound fish with no spots

Same 30 pound no spot fish about 40 inches long

 

To find the big redfish is fairly easy right now. Calm banks holding tons of bait fish seem to be the key. The fish swim tight to the shores smashing anything that moves. New Orleans is in a summer weather pattern. Storms flare up in the afternoon, dump their rain, then dissipate. Low light levels are common but when these fish crawl you could spot them by moonlight.

36 Pound fish 43 1/2 inces

The Jacks are on the move also. Birds like frigates and gulls hover working for the leftovers. This makes Jacks easy to spot from a distance. I can idle in close then drift into their path. The jacks are generally in a frenzy so any fly striped at high speed will get crushed. As long as the tide is moving giant schools of these silver behemoths can be seen working the surface.

The fishing is extremely easy right now. Any one with a 30 foot casting range can play this sport with success. As soon as the full moon tides settle I will get out there for more carnage. There is plenty of footage for a new video. I cant wait to show everyone some these amazing sites.  

Summer School begins

Tagging some fish

Summer time sight fishing patterns have arrived. The Mississippi River has fallen to the critical stage where dirty fresh water no longer inundates the southern salt water fishing grounds. Our eastern marsh is largely unaffected by the mighty Mississippi. The flats on islands outside the marsh will have fairly clear water exposing the monster bull reds. We are finding some pretty good numbers of fish. This cycle should only get better as the River subsides and September approaches.

Lucas with a nice summer time bull redfish

The large schools of big reds and black drum are beginning to appear. I have even seen a few schools of Jack Cravelle. The Jacks crash mullet on top making them susceptible to large poppers and fast moving tarpon style flies. Once hooked these 35 pound fish take line so fast your hands will get line burned before the line can hit the reel. Your fly reel's drag will be tested as one hundred yard runs are common. I general have to crank the motor to chase hooked fish while an hour long fight ensues.    
Soon these fish will be easy pickings on deep flats.

Black drum caught tailing in shallows

Finding these big schools of reds can be difficult in poor weather conditions. Low winds and lots of sun are the Louisiana fly fisherman's best friend. Usually big redfish hang around the schools of lethargic Black drum. The Black drum feed on the bottom creating plumes of mud in the clear water. Bait flees the big nasty drum and bull redfish lurk on the outer edges looking for an easy meal. Louisiana Redfish are notoriously lazy. The bull redfish will float to the surface and meander slowly. This habit makes the fish easy to see sight fishing targets. Put the fly on one's nose and he cant resist accelerating, mouth agape in a predatory frenzy.

My three favorite fishing months September-November are approaching. We are already on track for a spectacular year. Treat yourself by coming down to New Orleans for the three f's. Food fun and fishing!

A Good day

I took Kyle from Uptown Angler fly shop in New Orleans fly fishing. The morning started out slow with water 6-8 inches into the marsh grass. Louisiana redfish hate high water so they sit on the bottom and don't move. This is obviously a real problem for sight fishing. We busted fish out of their hibernation state only to see their wakes running from the boat. About 10:30 the slack tide began to move a little and so did the fish. Redfish, sharks, and Black drum became more active. Kyle caught a few reds and this large black drum in the pictures. We did not see a lot of fish but some we did see were monsters.

 

This was Kyle's first time saltwater fly fishing and he did quite well spotting the fish. Although not plentiful, shots were becoming more frequent. Kyle had other engagements and a thunderstorm arose between the boat and the dock. I turned the boat Southwest and skirted the storm for the run home.  I basically considered the day a failure. Upon returning to the dock I realized Kyle was grinning the whole time. He had thoroughly enjoyed his first outing and just casting at one bull red crashing a bank 40 feet from the boat was plenty of excitement for him. (I missed getting this on video of coarse.)   

 

I had lost perspective. The client was happy. We did not get drenched running home. He was about to take his son to play football.  Kyle landed 3 reds and a big black on his first outing. He had a good day and that's what matters.

  

KYLES VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/72556163