Louisiana Redfish and Black Drum
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My friend Vernon and I went down to fish with guide Rich Waldner of Port Sulfur, on the West Bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, LA for redfish on Dec 4-8. We only got to fish 4 days due to weather. The first 3 days were in the 80s, near 100% humidity, with wind and not much sun. The last day was really foggy, and cooler but we went anyway and did really well. This was my 3rd time fishing with Rich and as always he gave 110% everyday. V has fished with Rich many times. We started early based on the tides and always seem to be the last ones back at the launch right at dark. Rich is a retired Marine Colonel F-4 jockey and a really fun guy to fish with. Poling his flats skiff all day keeps him in fantastic shape. We saw a lot of fish every day and many, many big ones from 25-35 pounds. The best day was on day one when we got shots at many big bulls and landed 3 of 25#, 28#, and 30#. I lost a few due to the articulated fly I was using with only the trailer hook. Once I got rid of that I stopped dropping fish. On day 2 we also dropped some really big fish. I don’t think they were really hammering the fly, just kind of picking it up. I fished a short black bunny fly, with a touch of chartreuse and copper UV polar chenille all week, and Vernon fished one of Rich’s mullet patterns. Both have heavy lead eyes to get down fast. In addition to the bulls we caught a fair number of fish in the 10-15# range and many small fish. We also caught quite a few black drum with the biggest being 46# (my new personal best by 2#) and several in the mid- to high 20s. All fish caught were caught sight fishing in 10 to 24 inches of water. The last day when the wind died for a hour the big reds and drum were tailing in the shallow oyster beds. It was amazing to see these big fish tailing in the shallow water. We are going back next December!
28# Redfish
30# Redfish
25# Redfish
46# Black Drum
Excellent report. Curious to know whether it is the same basic type of red fishing we do here in the Carolinas, except with bigger fish? Are you able to judge whether these bulls are spookier than the smaller fish? Are you fishing an 8 wt, or a bigger gun? I gotta go. Thanks for the report.
Nice job catching those fish, I can not believe that boga grips still exist. There is no need for them.
Chris.Nice job catching those fish, I can not believe that boga grips still exist. There is no need for them.<br>
Chris.Esplain, por favor ?
I don’t know anything about redfish in the Carolinas. In general the water we fish in LA is from 6 inches to 1.5 feet deep, but sometimes the fish might be in 3 feet but we can’t see them unless they are up. It clears up this time of the year when the mighty Miss. goes down. The big bulls are deeper and the runts can be in just a few inches and the runts are spookier because of that. Of course we want to get a shot as far from the boat as we can and the first one is the best. I use an 8 wt and Vernon was using a 9. I like the lighter rod and that is what most guys are using. As far as the boga comment I was going to provide a smart ass response but I’ll let it ride. FYI, these are the only fish I am around that get boga-ed.
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