Louisiana fly fishing report Mid October 2015

Well this has been an amazing week for fly fishing in the Louisiana marsh. Perfect weather and good tides have produced some an abundance of shots on bull redfish. The winds are now at 20 knots and the easy days are over for the foreseeable future.

I am confident the first calm day after this stretch will once again produced massive quantities of hungry crawling redfish. Even in poor conditions I will find fish. They just are not on every bank and in every nook and cranny.

The brief rest is not entirely unwelcome. My body aches and some down time is required to catch up on daily chores. A couple of days rest will do me good.

FOR BOOKINGS GO TO   
HTTP://FLYFISHINGREDFISH.COM

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.  

Waiting

This morning there was a chill in the air whispering hints that the fall season approaches. Soon the waters of the Biloxi Marsh will become clear enough to see 3 feet deep. The prime season for bull redfish is close at hand. High east winds and clouds are the normal weather pattern at the moment. This pattern pushes water into the marsh causing extremely high tides. Louisiana redfish sit on the bottom during these conditions making sight fishing difficult. There are plenty of fish out there but weather conditions caused me to cancel multiple trips. Any day I can fish is producing a great number of shots.

End of summer video  https://vimeo.com/75090433

I am going to take one last vacation before the fury of trips begins in October. October is generally a great month with cooler weather, no bugs, and light winds. My skiff is prepped and my Bronco is sound. In a week or two more the explosion of fish should begin. The year started off with a bang and we should all prey to the fish gods for a continuation of this bounty.


Ancient  North shore Oak

My new video logo

 

Fly guides attack 2

Recently the weather broke into a pattern favorable for sight fishing. Another guide and I decided to head out and film our antics. The afternoon fishing slot yields the best tides. I would leave the house between 9 and 10 am for some excellent sight fishing conditions.

 The Biloxi Marsh did not disappoint. Giant redfish crawled all over the deep water banks. If the water level was low enough to get out of the marsh grass the bite was on. Monster reds hug these banks looking for prey. These fish are Easy to spot and very aggressive.

The schools of Jack Cravelle are also on the move. Open water feeders these guys can be seen at distance. Hoards of these 20 to 30 pound fish rip and slash at schools of bait fish. If you can find the bait you can find the big redfish and the jacks without too much trouble.                                     


When Fly Guides Attack episode 2
https://vimeo.com/73497047

Cajun carp on the fly

I need practice with my GoPro camera so I walked some of the canals by my house for carp. This video I made for fun. I hope you find it amusing.

Cajun carp on the fly
https://vimeo.com/72773800 1:45

Giants down under for Michael

 

 
      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                        Michael came to New Orleans from Australia to fly fish the world class Louisiana marsh. The winds blew hard that day and a heavy thunderstorm came through the night before. This clouded the water which caused us to see less fish than usual. The redfish we did see were of tremendous quality. The big boys were tucked up tight on the rare  to find calm banks.                                                                                                                     

 

Black drum were fairly abundant. These fish are not my favorite species. They are a nasty beast, however they are huge and should be included on any fly fisherman's bucket list. All my clients enjoy casting at those massive tails flailing in the breeze.

Michael lives in North Australia near the under developed giant bonefish area. He explained the routine for their the big bones. From his accounts the fish are larger but wade fishing the Bahamas is much more fun. Most cast he explained are at flashes 15 feet deep. No tails and no wakes just deep bonefish. 

To see Michael's video (Giants Down Under)
go to:       https://vimeo.com/71917237

Wolfgang's day Flyfishing for redfish

Wolfgang and I had a very civilized day on the water. Low winds and sparse cloud cover made for easy fishing. The entire South end of the Eastern Biloxi marsh is absolutely loaded with redfish. Any shallow pond that contains oyster reefs has tons of potential for active redfish and massive black drum.

Wolfgang was admittedly over excited when we began to spot fish. As the number of shots piled up he became calmer. The fish were not supper aggressive on this particular day. Fly placement was definitely key to getting the strikes he craved. Once over the hump of the learning curve fish started coming into the boat.   

 

Watch Wolfgangs video entitled

Germany at 

https://vimeo.com/71704485

 

When Fly Guides Attack

 

 

Drew and Brittney booked their half day of Louisiana sightfishig. The Biloxi marsh's shallow oyster flats are literally teaming with redfish. Multiple shots are around every corner. It is actually hard to explain the abundance of fish. I cant seem to stop anywhere without seeing nested up crawlers and wakes. The fishing is so amazing I feel like a giant among men as I run my skiff to the outside islands. Seeing 100+ fish in a few hours does not last forever. There are even some pigs in the 20+ pound range guarding the openings of the banks. Eventually the tides will turn slack and the fish will become more scarce. When this happens a good guide is your best defense. If you ever wanted to try this sport now, I mean right now, is the perfect time. Fly fishing does not get easier than this.



 

Brittney never held a fly rod before today. She landed 4 nice reds and had one break off.

See her video at https://vimeo.com/71387842





Rocky and I hooked up to make a video of the massive numbers of redfish. We searched for some donkey's (20+ lbs) for a while to no avail. Plan B was put into effect so we headed east of the MRGO.  
Once again every hole was alive with bait and redfish. We managed the holes by staying back from their nest. This allowed us to pull multiple fish from each spot. Check out this video, it rocks.

When Fly Guides Attack:
 https://vimeo.com/71555288