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

 

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

 

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

 

Early April

After a windy and cloudy March the weather finally cooperated. This brief break provided me a wonderful chance to run out to the Biloxi Marsh Triangle. Fueled the boat with 30 gallons then Adam and I setteled in for the 1 hour and 15 minuet boat ride. I did not find clean water at the first couple of stops but we saw a lot of redfish. Multiple shots produced several eats but few hookups. By mid-day Adam found his groove and started sticking fish. At one point I came off the polling platform, cranked the motor and scared a bruiser. Adam casted and the bull red spun around and ate with vigor even though the motor was running. Adam missed the hook set but a much smaller 12 pound redemption fish came right behind and got its moment of photographic glory.

I polled around a corner and spotted this massive black drum guarding the opening to a pond. A few shots later and Adam was hooked up with the biggest fish of his life. This narley looking creature fought for 30 minuets before I could grab that gigantic tail. At 42 pounds I had more than a little difficulty getting the big black drum into the boat. Good thing I have a 60 pound Boga grip because this guy was a beast.














Several fish later the day was coming to a close. I spotted a massive dorsal fin in a pond about 100 yards away. When we got to the opening the 20 + pound redfish was crawling the right hand bank. Multiple shots were taken but none found the sweet spot. The sun was now too low for sightfishing. I cranked the 90 hp Yamaha and headed the nose into a setting sun. It really felt great to get another day of fly fishing bull redfish in clean water before summer hits.


The next two days were spent with father and son team Craig and Drew.  Higher winds and less sun made for  much more difficult sightfising. Nevertheless I found good numbers in small bayous and openings. Most of the fish we spotted were crawling on banks laced with oyster clusters. Drew was on the platform when a pig was tailing one foot from the bank. His best shot was foiled when the fly hit him in the back of the head. The 20+ pound fish did not reappear until the boat was completely out of position. Still we caught some nice fish but it was not nearly as good as the day before.

Craig and Drew's final day had to be cut extremely short. The crew had tickets to the final four in Atlanta. Time was of the essence so I launched early at Delicroix and fished close to the dock. The sun was barley up and spincasting was the only option.
 We only fished maybe 3 hours but the team managed to wack 6 or 7 nice reds and one beautiful marsh bass. Today the clouds and wind have returned. I have already had to reschedule a trip. Soon the summer weather pattern will begin with afternoon thunderstorms. Freshwater reds swimming in grass will be the order of the day. If I am lucky I may make one more trip to the Triangle before the winter pattern ends.

Big Black

Smooth morning run

Stephen Skarka booked his day on the water. He is a instructor of fly fishing for Penn State University and runs Kinzua fly fishing school. Apparently you can get 1 PE credit for taking his class. Patient and kind Stephen takes instruction from a charter guide extremely well. This was evident in the video we made on how to whip big fish.

Dark clouds poor visibility

The conditions that day were high water and not much sun. We saw nice redfish but Steve could not see them until to late because of the poor visibility. We scattered quite a few groups. Eventually the clouds broke open just long enough to spot fish. Luckily we were polling a bank with clean water and big redfish at that time. At the edge of a cove, Steve got some great shots over the next 30 yards on three bull redfish. All three allowed the fly to pass within striking range but they showed no interest. I spotted a large tail fanning like an Asian dancer in the shallows of an opening so I began to pole in that direction.

The tail showed a few more times allowing me to call the spot and Steve to get a bead on the fish off in the distance. By the time we arrived the sun was shrouded by clouds. I held the boat in place and scanned the area for quit a while. The shadow of an outline appeared so I called for the cast. Steve shot his line and landed far right of the fish. I said trying to be polite "You must be casting at a different fish than the one I see." This does happen a lot. I sight one fish and the client sees another. Anyway Steve calmly took another shot that landed on target. The big fish began to slowly follow. At this point I could not definitely identify the species. I had my suspensions though, Big Black drum.

"He ate it" I exclaimed and Steve raised his rod in the traditional trout hook set style. I called for a better hook set as the fish made the first run. Steve gave a tug on the tight line. This tug was not near strong enough for my liking, but I try not to over correct the clients. Steve fought the fish while regaling me with destination stories of large browns and steelhead. Since the last trips fish took so long to land, I decided to give a lesson on how to whip a big fish.

Huge 34 pound Black drum
Check out the size of that tail

After 30 minuets I hand landed the 34 pound Black Drum. Steve was  delighted. I was hoping for a redfish but the client did not care at all about the species. This was his first saltwater fish on fly and it was huge. Smiles and congratulations followed as a well deserved calmness fell over the boat.