East Coast Tarpon

The tarpon fleet after some Georgia silver kings.

Glades

Had a trip for South FL the last couple of days, good stuff down in the Everglades. Mangrove jungles, skunk apes, and hungry fish!

Hot off the Press

Had another order from my distributor for the DVD's so I have a whole new box of inventory on hand. Perfect timing for the Holidays, in case anyone out there is looking for some last minute gift ideas for a Christmas present this year.

http://www.spottedtailproductions.com/store.html

LA Marsh '09 - Day 2

Day 2 started out with similar weather as day one - good sun, light winds, and a little bit warmer. Today we were hoping to get into the big reds and find them feeding a little better than yesterday. We worked the entrance to a pond at our first stop, only to find a decent sized black drum that was not interested in eating my fly. Along the bank, however, were some fish working the white shrimp and we watched a couple for a while before Dad picked them off one at a time.

Fish pushing water as it cruises the bank

White shrimp popping out as the red crawls in the skinny water

You can see the red in the bubble as it eats my dad's fly

Eventually we moved on to a few other areas looking for big fish and found a handful to throw at. Highlight of the day came a couple of stops later when we rounded a point and I saw a big fat red facing away from us. I made the cast out in front of the fish and watched him turn his head, open his giant mouth, and inhale my fly. After a decent bull dog fight, we brought him aboard and measured him out at 30 pounds on the boga grip.

We ended the day poling deep into a pond to hide from the afternoon sea breeze. There were several reds working the bank as well as some huge alligator gar surfacing in the middle of a tidal creek.

3 reds cruising the bank

Marsh '09 - Day 1

Headed down to New Orleans Thursday night for my annual trip to the marsh. This year, my Dad joined me for 2 days of outstanding redfishing with my buddy Capt. Christian Yergens of Shallow Water Expeditions. We had some very favorable weather conditions following Hurricane Ida that blew through earlier in the week.

Day 1 was sunny, light winds, and temps in the 70's. We started out the day seeing quite a few big fish in the 20+ lb range (including a black drum that was easily in the 40 lb class), but they were being a little moody when it came to eating. Many smaller fish were being active on the bank, and we picked up several of them in between shots at larger fish.

About mid-day we found a pod of fish fresh from the gulf, bright red and hungry. Upon me hooking up on one, my dad cast into the group and I watched as they fought over the fly. Another immediate hookup. Then I handed a rod to Christian up on the poling platform and he hooked up in short order...triple on fly!

We spent the rest of the day picking up fish in the 10-15lb range that were scattered about the ponds we were poling. With the afternoon sun and incoming tide, they were eating very well in the afternoon.

Eventually we headed back in under light winds, eager for Day 2 and hoping the big fish would be a little more in the mood to eat.

More Redfish

Went back out today for some more redfish action. Today was windier and colder, but the fish seemed to have adjusted better to the cold front that came in Friday. The wind had the water stirred up a little, but the fish were more comfortable and eating a lot better than yesterday.

I had Russ Gibbs and Tom Dekle with me today and we had a great morning with nonstop action on our first flat. We stopped counting around 7 or 8 fish, and left that flat after Russ and Tom managed a double.

Moved on to some other areas, only to find a few unwilling reds and a couple of alligators sunning themselves on the bank.

10/17 Panhandle

Been too long since I was down on the coast, but got down there this weekend for some fall redfishing. Got the boat uncovered and cleaned back up and went out Saturday with Carolyn. Windy and cold, but we found a few reds up on the flats chasing the white shrimp that are in the bay this time of year. Only got one little guy to eat.

July

Was down for a few days this past week in search of tarpon. Between the rough weather I was able to get a couple of eats but no hook-ups on the fly. One day, after getting run off the beach by big swells, Carolyn and I found some decent redfish up shallow. Good light and protected water made for some exciting sightfishing.

Father's Day red

Took my dad and Father-in-Law out on the bay for Father's Day. It was hot and muggy and generally pretty slow. But we did find a few fish sleeping in the grass, one of which decided to wake up and eat when my dad made a cast right by his head. About 28", 9 lbs on the boga.

Memorial Day

Got down to the coast for a long weekend. Pretty wet weather for the most part, but did get a chance to slip the new boat out a couple of times. Fished in the bay with Jeff the last day after the weather had passed and tallied 6 reds plus some trout. The change in weather really had the fish more active and feeding.

New Skiff

Its been a while since I've had a fishing report to post, most recently due to the murky waters the gulf has seen from the spring rain runoff throughout the Southeast. Hopefully it will clear up soon. Until then, its been nice to play around with my new boat, a Dolphin Renegade:

Checking for spots

Started out the new year exploring a new and less fished area close to home with my buddy Jason Stacy. While there weren't a ton of fish out, this area looked to be promising for later on in the season when it gets a bit warmer. Some nice grass flats and salt ponds, which should hold a lot of bait during Spring and Summer. We did stumble upon this little guy, who was slowly cruising a bank and fell victim to Jason's well-placed spoon fly.

Lagniappe from the Bayou

Headed down to New Orleans on Thursday night for a weekend of fishing the Louisiana marshes for giant reds with my buddy Capt. Christian Yergens of Shallow Water Expeditions. Had three days planned, and favorable weather, albeit cold and windy, forecasted for about half of that time.

Capt. Yergs at the helm

Day 1:

Cold and windy, just as NOAA had predicted. We let the sun warm the flats a little before heading out into the marsh. Shrimp po boy for breakfast, and then a half hour run through the creeks and canals that the area is littered with. Fished a new area and found plenty of slot fish that were built like footballs. Mainly cruising the mud flats, not a ton of tailing going on due to the cold temperatures. Not too many big fish around either, but we did catch reds up to 17 lbs and even a small black drum around 10 lbs or so.

Day 2:

Today's forecast looked a little better so we headed out earlier to take advantage of the calm winds. The temperature still did not break 55 all day, but we had some better sunlight that came and went in shifts. On our first flat were plenty of tailing slot fish, along with a few big fish showing. I blew a shot on a large redfish, but then rebounded when this 35lb black drum showed itself tailing.

Shortly thereafter, Christian was able to feed this 22lb redfish.

The winds picked up substantially in the afternoon and we got a good workout on the way home until we hit the canals.

Day 3:

Third and final day was supposed to be like day one, but instead the sun decided to show. This helped visibility and air temps quite a bit, and we were able to witness a good bit more activity than the previous two days. We fished a different area and did well early with a 23lb red on the first flat. Then we moved into a different bay where big schools of black drum and sheepshead were out sunning themselves. I caught a sheepshead about 8-10lbs on a big redfish fly, and Christian pulled a big red out of a group of 6 or so reds that were mixed in with some drum. Shortly thereafter, we moved over to another spot where we found a good number of "big" fish working the bank. By "big", we mean 30lb+. I fed a huge one fairly early, only to have it break me off during its first run to deeper water. As time drew near for us to leave so I could make my flight home, we found a couple more big reds moving around and I led a cruiser by a few feet and let the fly drop to his level. Once in position, I stripped a couple of times and watched the broad head of this large fish turn on the fly, follow it, and then eat about 10 feet from the bow of the boat. This fish made quite a few runs before I could finally turn it on its side and bring it to hand.

Weighed in at 36lbs on the 60lb boga grip. Hell of a way to end a great trip to the marsh.