Chad Johnson with a nice LA redfish
Well it took a while but we finally got a trip report out of the boys on their annual Louisiana Marsh trip. And after putting this report together I have a serious jones to head south myself.
If you are keen to head to the Marshes we have a good guide lined up, one of the Journal’s buddies Nate Horn who is guiding out of New Orleans. Chad can fill you in on what you need to take, and what you don’t. And these are big fish months.
Thanks to our local Trout Unlimited chapter president Bill Thorne for putting the words together, plus the pics from Chad and Joey.
We had been planning this trip for about 6 months We had been tying crabs, mounting poling platforms on our river boats, working on casting to the face of a clock directions…all in preparation for my first Redfish trip down to the marshes of Louisiana.At the last minute, due to weather forecasts we pushed up our departure date by a week. OMG we’re leaving tomorrow.
"Spooked One _ Hey There's Another"
After driving all night and a quick three hour nap, Joey Chad and I headed out the bayou across the bay and into a series of skinny marsh ponds.This would be the first and toughest day of our 4 day trip.The wind was blowing about 20 MPH and the water was like chocolate milk. We worked hard all day and I manage to hook the first fish I cast to and after a brief battle the crab came flying loose…so that’s what they meant by setting the hook. I guess I never got it out of his crushers until he spit it out.
We managed to pick up a few fish each over the next couple of days but the fun really started on day three. We awoke to clear skies and no wind. The water had cleared up as well and we all were excited as we headed across the bay to the ponds.This was the day we had been waiting on.
Chad poling on a beautiful Morning in his underwear after falling off the platform
Right off the bat we spotted a school of Redfish schooling shrimp on a point and it didn’t take Joey long to hook up.The guys had been telling me that the action would be fast and furious once conditions got right.THEY WEREN’T LYING!! Over the next four hours we took turns casting to big feeding “Reds” We would catch three before trading spots…at times we would be casting to the next fish before we got settled on the casting deck. It was crazy, one big fish after the next. With casts ranging from point blank to long 40 to 50 foot backward casts to pushing fish.
You have never seen a hook set until you go Redfishin’ with Chad and Joey What a sight…seeing a huge Red get his head turned by the yank of a flyline…and then the fight was on. These fish have shoulders…big shoulders.The average fish probably went around 6-8 pounds with a few going over 10 pounds. The largest one weighed in at 11 pounds. I guess we put about 60 fish in the boat the last two days.
Bill Thorne meets a redfish
There is no way that I can truly describe all the fun we had. Words don’t do it justice…all I know is, this was the most fun I’ve ever had with a fly rod in my hand.
We had to buy an annual license so we have to go back…I’m ready!!!
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Some nice spots!