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More on the Pushe	01 September 2004
Folks - After hearing about access to Pushepatapa Creek being denied to some of you, I have contacted the Office of State Lands and am presently in the process of determining who claims the streambed. I am told the state definitely claims it from its confluence with the Pearl River to a point just upstream of the Seal Cemetary Road, but how much further I do not yet know. Streambeds claimed by the state were once determined to be navigable to commercial traffic and therefore public. If this is determined to be the case for the streambed through the contended reach, it might be prudent to contact the Washington Parish Sheriff's Dept. and request they put a stop to the denial of access to the creek in that area. I will keep you informed on my findings.
Pete Cooper, Jr.	Buras, La.
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Pushepatapa Creek	31 August 2004
Are you guys aware there is a serious effort to create a reservoir on the Pushe near Varnado? Contact Randy Lanctot, Executive Director of the La. Wildlife Federation, at 344-6707 for further information. This lake, plus another proposed for Six-Mile Creek - another prime spotted bass scenic styream west of Oakdale, are not needed and will cause much more harm than good! Remember, they don't make creeks anymore. Lose one, and it's gone forever.
Pete Cooper, Jr.	Buras, La.
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Dog Days	30 August 2004
Randy Leonpacher and I decided to get out of the house and try some freshwater at Old River. Was supposed to be 80% chance of showers and plenty of clouds. Wrong! It was mostly clear and boiling hot. We persisted and finally caught the attention of a Charles Pettis who was attracted by seeing some struggling fly fishermen. Much to our suprise Charles knew of RSFF and Roger Del Rio! Typical small world story. We were fishing jitterbees with and without vosis around his pier and not having any luck. Charles told us to pack it up and go staight across the river from his pier and look for some underwater tree cover in 5 feet of water about 40 feet out from the bank. It was marked by blue tape on some trees he said. Well we found the spot and caught the only bluegill of the day. Not much to brag about but probably the only fish around. Charles also came over to check on us and gave us some prototype accardo poppers that Tony allegedly bought from the original tier along with other flies dating from that time. Randy and I passed them on to Catch for review and comment. They looked like they would catch fish! So despite fishing the Dog Day weather and not catching many fish we had an interesting trip and got in some casting time.
Dugan	Old River
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Raining Reds	29 August 2004
Just following up on Alec's report of Myrtle Grove from this past week, I was able to get out there on sunday but not until 1pm. I got to the launch and had to wait out a storm that lasted about an hour. Finally got the boat in the water after the lightning stopped and just hit the first couple of ponds off of the main canal. The wind died down pretty well and on the way into one of the ponds I noticed shrimp jumping out of the water all over the place like the water was one fire. My first thought was to tie on a shrimp pattern and the first fish I saw pounced on it, 5 1/2 lbs. The water was pretty muddy but that didn't matter, fish were tailing and cruising all over the place. There hasn't been one time that I have been to Myrtle Grove and havn't seen tons of fish. Ended up catching one more 7 lbr on the shrimp pattern then I switched to a spoon fly which also work putting two more 6 lb fish in th boat. There was tons of bait including finger mullet, I hooked a 6-7lb trout that hit the spoon fly and ended up getting off. It was a great day of fishing for dodging a storm and only being out on the water for 2 hours, look forward to going back. Greg
Greg Dini	Myrtle Grove
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not bad for a Wednesday morning	25 August 2004
I had the pleasure of fishing with Bryan Carter this morning out of Myrtle Grove. This is the first time I have fished Myrtle Grove in a while and it was nice to be back there. Fishing was great and catching was pretty good. Fish all over the place! Some tailing, some cruising and some hunkered down only to spook right at the boat. All in all it was a tough day in that the fish were pretty spooky and were really only giving us one shot. That one shot had to be a good one or forget it. However, when the cast was right, the fish were more than willing to eat a fly. This was one of those days that reminds me how often I need to get out and practice casting. A rusty rod arm can equal a lot of missed opportunities. Anywho, a great way to spend a morning before coming into work. For those interested, the fly of choice was Waldner's Spoon Fly. Those things are just hard to beat in the grass. Also, for anyone interested in a fantastic trip with Bryan, he can be reached at 504-329-5198. Take care and tight lines. Alec Griffin Uptown Angler 504-529-3597
Alec at Uptown Angler	Myrtle Grove
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Pictures	25 August 2004
CP, for reasons I won't get into, we don't have photo upload on the Reports. However, there is a procedure for uploading your picture, and linking to it, in the Forums. I've resurrected that thread, check it out.
Catch
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Fished Lake Laurier Sunday	24 August 2004
Fished just off La-1 at Bayou Ferblanc, I managed 2 reds one 16" the other 19" both on a chart/white clouser.These were my first reds on the fly rod so I was stoked. I also caught a few small reds and specks on a regular rod/reel setup. The prize of the day was a big fat 19" flounder. The weather was good and I had some fun. Can you put pictures on this forum?-cp
cp	BR
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Farewell voyage of the "Mamou Wahoo"?	23 August 2004
It's been almost a year since I last took my boat on the water, and recently had maintenance work done on the motor. It ran absolutely fine in the boatport this week upon it's return. So I took it out yesterday am for a trip to Old River. Decided to stop at New Roads and run it a bit, just to be sure. Wise decision. For the first few minutes, she ran like a cat. Felt good to have the breeze flowing thru my hair again (can't paddle fast enough to enjoy that in a yak or noe). Then suddenly the engine just stopped. Couldn't get her started again, so I decided to fish the north bank, and troll/fish my way back to the launch. Bream were either on the bottom (jitterbee tied on a jig hook fished w/o cork worked best) or sitting under the piers and docks (wet fly worked best). Either way, lots of small bream, kept 21 between 6.5 and 7 inches. Normally, I don't keep anything under 7.5, but these are dog days on False River. Back to the boat... I could bring it in to work on again, but after 17 loyal years, I'm wondering if it's not time to consider a craft more suitable to what I do now... more of this in the forum.
Catch	New Roads
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Sunday - Three Rivers	16 August 2004
Another beauty of a day, nice and cool, but a lot more wind than I expected. High pressure gave the fish a serious case of lockjaw. After fishing the bank along Lock #1 and doing fairly good, I then launched my canoe in the back bay area, thinking the white bass would be every cast. Five hours later, only 2 had come to the boat, along with a gar and one black bass. I can stand a bad trip like this once in awhile, only as long as the weather is this nice.
Catch	Three Rivers
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Saturday - stream fishing	16 August 2004
Took advantage of gorgeous weather, low river levels, and fished a few streams in the Florida Parishes, including Pushaptaw, Bogue Falaya, upper Tickfaw. Caught a few fish at each spot, bream and bass, some rather nice. But best spot was the Bogue Chitto. Caught a nice Kentucky about 2 pounds on a beadhead bugger, and some "killer gobbules". When you catch a fish that lives in current, he feels like twice his size!
Catch
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Alot of small fish	10 August 2004
Went to Grand isle to fish the beach Monday afternoon from 12pm to 3pm. The water was going out to the gulf and the water was so low I walked around the island no problem. Water clear on the backside and side of the island, alittle dirty on the gulfside. On the West side of the island at the pass there was alot of baitfish or shrimp could not tell but were going nuts. Threw a clouser in and hit samll trout every cast. Just walking and throwing a clouser to explore the beach the same ole stuff little trout,redfish, and one little croaker. Even though I did not catch anything big enough took keep the little fish were fun to fight with.
James Schexnaider	Beach Grand Isle
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Typo	07 August 2004
Sorry, on the last post about fly fishing in Gatlinburg I meant to type... If the fish took the nymph than the dry fly would act as a strike indicator. Not"if the fly took the nymph..."
Justin	Mandeville
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Stream Fishing	06 August 2004
Just got back from Tennessee and the fishing was great. The first day I tried fishing off of greenbriar road but the streams were running way to hard to fish due to a hard rain the evening before. Decided to get a guide from the smoky mountain angler and it was a good decision. One afternoon we went to Roaring Fork Nature Trail and fished the stream that flows nearby. The fish were small (biggest one being about 8 inches) but just about every pool I dropped my fly in had a little rainbow eager to strike. I had to do alot of getting used to hooking these fish as it is much different than hooking redfish or trout. I probably had 30 strikes that afternoon and only landed about 8. The next morning we fished a stream off of highway 441. The first fish I caught was a beatiful 9 and 3/4 in. Brookie. After a quik pic and measuring the fish the guide released it. After that I landed 4 nice 10-11 in. rainbows for dinner.Had the fifth right at the net but it managed to escape. The next morning I fished by myself and only had about 2 hours to fish. Once again I had many strikes but only landed one small rainbow. The fly we used was a terrestrial with a tiny nymph suspended about 14 inches below it. If the fly took the nymph than the dry fly would act as a strike indicator. Anyways I had a lot of fun and the fishing is real good up there.
justin	Gatlinburg
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Good Day of Fishing	05 August 2004
Took vacation on Tuesday 8/3 and headed to Hwy 1 marsh near Grand Isle. Redfish very active in shallow ponds from 6:30am to about 9:00am. Hooked up on six reds, landed four all in the 20-24" range. Caught one rogue speckled trout in the skinny water and a stout sheepshead. All in all my best paddle fishing day ever. Gold spoon fly caught everything.
Ken Holmes	Hwy 1 near Grand Isle
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Tuesday update	03 August 2004
The lake was ultra calm with a mild wind out of the north. The water is clear but salinity seemed low. Managed a couple of specks and a rat red on a clouser along with a ladyfish and a needlefish. I tried close in and out a ways between grass beds which are plentiful.Got several hits but whether many or any were specks is hard to say. I saw a boat in the mouth of the bayou pull up a couple of sharks on live bait. I forgot to report a couple of weeks ago on a trip Tues PM to the public landing in Golden Meadow. Once again I was fishing a chautreuse clouser under a vosi and managed about a dozen specks. The funny thing was I also caught that same number of catfish, a couple of gafftops but mainly good ole hardheads. I and only hooked 1 or 2 before this trip total. I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else and if they have an idea of why?
JeffM	Bayou Lacombe
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bull drum	02 August 2004
The bull drum action has remained great all summer. While not all that tail eat, we have landed a 35, 29 and this weekend a 32.5 pound beast on 6# tippet! The seismic surveys have the red fish disturbed, but still catchable.
Kirby LaCour	Port Sulphur
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tarpon....	02 August 2004
we struck out this weekend... only saw a few fish... wind direction pushed hyacinths and dirty water out to the tarpon spots....only saw one boat with a fish on.. but we did get about 30 nice trout at night in GI... and a stout 8 lb drum
jay boe	baton rouge
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Highway 51 update	02 August 2004
Went out to Hwy 51 late yesterday. Lake Maurepas looked good, and tidewater is finally moving through waterways, and turning bass on. Was using a green frog popper size 4 and landed a couple of bass over 2 lbs, until another nice bass broke it off. Using a bream-sized popper worked, but lots of small bass and small bream with it.
Catch	Ruddock
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Tarpon~!	29 July 2004
Mr Big scale is in fly rod depth in louisiana right NOW!....
Jay Boe	Baton Rouge....
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Crabs Crabs and more Crabs	27 July 2004
We and dad went out to fish the evening at Grand Isle. We arrived at 5:30pm driving thru hard hard hard rain from Lockport to alittle past Golden Meadow. We thought it would be raining at Grand Isle, Wrong! Nice and cool light wind from the North, no bugs, cloudy, and the surf was really not that bad even though the tide was coming in strong. I do admit the tide was really lower than I have ever seen it, you could walk and stand on the top of the second sand bar and the water barely covered the ankle. No fish but man I actually can say the crabs hit the lures well any lure would work). Gives a new meaning to crab fly. We caught crabs that fought like fish (someone must have pissed them off due to they were more aggressive than usual. Fished for crabs or anything that would hit until 8:30pm. Went to the bridge and fished until 10:15pm. Same story stronger tide coming in, wind going the other way, little quarter size crabs floating by the light in schools. Got a hit where the line was taking off lightly like a very small sheephead. Pulled it up and it pulled back. Got it up on the top of the water it was another crab. All I can say is the crabs did try to make up for the fish not being active.
James Schexnaider	Grand isle surf and bridge
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Venice Fishing	26 July 2004
There are few times when I have been as hot and sweat as much as I did yesterday but the quality of fishing in the shallow water around Venice was well worth it. I was with a buddy, Capt. Bryan Carter, in his 18ft. Hell's Bay Waterman leaving the dock around 6:30. It was calm out with a slight NW wind, just enough to provide a comfortable breeze. I can't say enough to describe the kind of fishing we had yesterday. I have had others like it while I have been down here, but not many. It's just one of those days that you wish your buddies in other parts of the country could experience so that they would understand what it really is that we talk about when we talk about Louisiana flats fishing. We threw Rich Waldner's famed Spoon Fly most of the morning as well as a crab pattern Bryan had tied. These fish were so aggressive that you could have probably thrown a bare hook and caught fish but that spoon is just so effective and for all the grass in the marsh, it's about as weedless as you can get. Fish were primarily in schools yesterday with a few singles here and there and Bryan and I did manage to get a double hook up (one from the casting deck and the other from the polling platform) out of one of the schools. That's about as fun and exciting as it can get. Most fish were in the 5-7lb range with a couple up around 9 & 10lb's. Anywho, the river levels continue to drop and I have been getting phenominal reports from Capt. Bryan and others who have been taking advantage of what that means for Venice shallow water fishing. I highly recommend getting out there with these guys as the fishing and water quality should only get better over the next few weeks and months. We only saw one other boat on the water all day Sunday even though there was a big tournament in progress and once again, the fishing is phenominal. If anyone would like to book a trip or just needs more info, don't hesitate to call. 504-529-3597. Alec Griffin Fishing Director, Uptown Angler
Alec at Uptown Angler
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Pensacola area fishing	25 July 2004
My family shared a condo in Navarre last week with my sister and her family. Light north winds had the Gulf looking like glass the whole time. Master Jake brought his friend Josh, and they spent several mornings at the Navarre Pier casting to pompano, king mackeral, amberjack, spanish, barracuda, and other species using commie tackle. Of those they only managed to catch spanish and jacks, for reasons forthcoming. On Wednesday, a pod of tarpon came off the end of the pier, and one about 90 lbs was actually landed! On Thursday, I drove over from BR and arrived at the Naval Live Oaks area on Gulf Breeze about 6am. Launched the canoe, and began casting a silver pencil popper while drifting in 4-10 feet of water. While the action was unusually slow, the top specks went 2.5 and 3.0 on the scale. Later I met up with the boys and we went to the pier, where we spotted a few kings, a barracuda, and a pod of tarpon (too far off for anyone to cast to). We also spotted a dolphin, and after two casts to him with my sinking line, the "pros" on the pier realized what was going on, and a hailstorm of baits descended on the fish and spooked him off. That's when I realized why the boys weren't having much luck on the pier. Soooo.... on Friday morning, we decided to escape the crowd and take a charter with Capt. Corey Maxwell out of Pensacola. As soon as we went out the pass, the birds were diving and baitfish was busting everywhere. On the first cast, Jake hooked and landed a bull red. Within minutes the whole commotion died out, and we went off trolling for kings. Josh caught one about 20lb, but that was it. We came back into the pass, and switched to fly rod for some topwater action on bluefish and ladyfish. These ladyfish were no ladies, they were 5lbs or more, and as Jason stated in his report, a blast to catch, much like tarpon. Our topwater fly was a hybrid version of the Kirks Popper, which I wrote about in the August Louisiana Sportsman, and my son Kevin's "Cosmos Torpedo". It's like a Kirks Popper, but using a bigger float for body and a prop blade. The thing makes unbelievable amount of commotion in the water! Anyway, conditions were unbelievably calm, but also extremely hot, and a lack of tide contributed to very tough fishing. We're anxious to get back when weather is cooler and tide a bit stronger.
Catch	Navarre Beach, FL
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Wadefishing	22 July 2004
Wadefished North Gosier Island yesterday in pretty perfect conditions. The Island was very active with thousands of BIG ladyfish, black-tip sharks, and O yea one more thing, TROUT. After finding the trout me and my dad bailed out of the boat and started wading while his friend stayed with the trolling motor to catch his fish. It was fast action fishing. Every cast would draw a strike as we were surrounded by schools of 1-2 pound trout. I was the odd duck fly fisherman since my dad and his friend naturally aren't into the sport. While wading back to shore I felt a little extra resistance on my donut. When I took a look behind me there was a 5 foot blacktip hanging on the donut wondering why he couldn't get to the specks inside of it. After we had put about 60 trout in the box we got back in the boat and had ALOT of fun with those big ladyfish. I know they're considered trash fish by many fisherman but they are absolutely fantastic on fly, especially topwater patterns. If you think you would enjoy catching small tarpon on fly then I guarantee you will like ladyfish. They put on one of the best fights for a fish its size jumping out of the water in excess of 2 feet some times. Catch em', release em'(that is if you actually get it to the boat) and throw the fly back out there for some more fun. There also a great fish for beginner fly fisherman since they don't require any perfect casts or special technique. Anyways, I had alot of fun out there and this is the time of year to get out to those islands so get your wade gear ready and go.
Justin	Venice
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3 Days of Fishing	16 July 2004
Sunday - Black Bay - seemingly perfect conditions, but very few fish early. Finally found some crystal clear water in a small outside pond that was lined with shell bottom. Cruising around we spotted 4 schools of reds and got three hook-ups in short order. Monday - Hopedale - windy and choppy but we found a good number of 14"-18" trout early. Then no luck cruising around the marsh in search of reds. Tuesday - A Puddler's Dream - I paddled my kayak for an hour in a gentle breeze in search of reds. I finally started seeing fins, backs and tails around some small islands in the deep marsh. Over the course of the next 4 hours I was continuously surrounded by 4-11 pound redfish that was feeding actively. The marsh grass was full of juvenile blue crabs and I feel sure that's what the fish were after. Although I tried a white popper for a while, it only seemed to spook fish. All fish were caught on a spoon fly.
Pescador44	Delacroix, Hopedale, somewhere deep in the marsh
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Sunday coast	12 July 2004
I fished down around GI on Sat. night/ sunday morning with fair results by most people's standards, but good results by mine. I caught my first salwater fish on the fly, which was also my first ever speckled trout. 15" under the lights of a dock at Caminada Pass bridge. It took a chartreuse and white clouser. I moved to the beach at GI at dawn but did not see any fish, just shrimp trawlers. With no luck on the beach, I moved to the marsh near Lake Laurier/ Bayou Fereblanc. I finished the day in dirty shallow water tightlining a chartreuse soft plastic on a regular rod and reel. 7 specks 12-15", 1 red 18", and one big fat flounder for the wife. Good weather and good times.
cp	br
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Washout	08 July 2004
I tried my luck at Lacombe Wednesday. Launched at the bridge and was discouraged to find only one crabber. The water was a tannic brown in the bayou and this extended out several hundred yards in Lake Pontchatrain. Fished near the lake shore then out at a rig in mid lake. The water was clear green at the rig and 2 other boats were fishing the bottom there. Fish didn't cooperate. Tried the north shore again and lost a speck at the gunwale. It was nice to get out but the conditions aren't right here....
Jeff Books	Bayou Lacombe
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It's never over til the Fat Lady sings	04 July 2004
Fortunately for myself and Master Jake, she never cracked a note. If you'd told me at 10am yesterday that this was going to be one of our best trips so far this year, I'd said "read Bill Clinton's book, and take his advise, and whatever it is your smoking, DON'T INHALE". Our trip began on the Caminada bridge Friday night. Kurt Loup joined us for what turned out to be a miserable night trip by our standards. Blame the full moon, a big tide, or just bad luck, but all our combined savvy landed only 2 barely keeper trout. Went to the surf just before sunrise, but after 30 minutes, nothing. Then went to the FAA Gate, launched the canoe, and in minutes MJ was on reds, using commie tackle and a "Cyberflex". (That lure drove them nuts, must tie a fly equivalent). Several hit at it, but most kept missing the hook side of the CFlex. Only 3 were hooked, and two of those were lost. After that, activity ceased. We moved around a lot, saw almost no backs or tails. Wind was up, water was a bit dirty, and the big tide was flooding the marsh. At 10am, we were coming out of a pond off Lake Laurier, on our way in, when suddenly nearly the whole of Laurier erupted with rainminnows busting everywhere. MJ and I moved into an area, and he threw out a plastic jig under cork, and immediately it went down. For awhile, Jake did all the fishing, landing specks and sand trout. In the next hour, the wind went soft, and I was able to pop my vosi, and they would nail the chartreuse ultraclouser below almost everytime. The specks were from 10-17", the sandies were mostly 10-12", and occasionally we'd hit into a big gafftopsail that would strip line, double over our rods, and just make things a bit more exciting (even if they were saltwater catfish). About 1pm, we left them biting, and started again back to our launch. Along the way we made a few dozen casts at various spots, and caught trout every cast, every time. We even caught a couple next to our launch! All this activity on slack, flood tide. Can't help but wonder what we would've missed had we not been such die-hards.
Catch	Grand Isle
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just relaying a story	01 July 2004
Although it's not a fly-fishing story, I highly recommend everyone visit the Louisiana Sportsman website fishing reports and check out Scott Avanzino's report on a huge Blue Marlin from earlier in the week. I've never even been Blue Marlin fishing and the story still got me excited.
Alec at Uptown Angler	New Orleans
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Bream	28 June 2004
After sitting home all weekend going completely stir crazy I saw a small break in the weather Sat. evening and made a break for False River getting there about 6:00. The water was extremely high and the landing was closed but the water was calm. I fished along the bank with a popper and started getting a lot of hits but few hook-ups. That's when I decided to use a small Adam's dry fly as a dropper to catch the little guys I seemed to be missing. Then a funny thing happened, I got several hook-ups on my popper in a row. I remember someone telling me that when using poppers for reds and specks, they felt that often the wake from the rising fish would push the fly away. Perhaps the second fly helped stabilize the popper or maybe it was just coincidence. Later they began grabbing the 12-14 Adams and ended up catching 50 or more small bream and hundreds of hits. Good fun on a 3-weight. I would see an occasional carp meander by and I was wondering if anyone had fly recommendations for them. Three weeks ago I arrived at Fourchon Beach about 7:00 am on a Friday morning and was greeted by 4 sheriffs on horseback and 3 more on atv's getting ready to do a beach sweep for cocaine. Ended up not getting a single hit as water was dirty and better for body surfing than surf fishing. I left feeling good though, Florida might have white-powdered beaches but we have white powder on our beaches!
JeffM	False River
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Got shrimp?	28 June 2004
Took the canoe down to Golden Meadow yesterday with a fishing buddy from days past, who isn't a fly fisher, and who hasn't been out on the water in a while. He was anxious to catch fish, and from a report Mike Hess gave me, the drum are all over at the Meadow. While I catch many drum on flies, lures don't work good for drum, so we picked up some bait shrimp "just in case". Perhaps I've become too purist, but I fished lures for the first few hours, landing only one small red, while he caught a bunch of reds and drum using bait. Finally temptation gave in, and I rigged up with a shrimp under cork. Despite water being very high, dirty and fresh (from all the pumping), we managed to catch a lot of fish, and a wide variety, even specks. The down side is we also caught several hardheads. YUCK! As far as I'm concerned, this is my one "bait" trip for 2004.
Catch	Golden Meadow
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Father's Day present	18 June 2004
I gave myself an early Father's Day present and took today off. The tides, moon, and seas looked ripe for some great night fishing, and early am surf action. Got to Caminada bridge at 1am, and setup at the north end, which is better on rising tide than the south end. Didn't have to setup lantern to get into the action... specks were busting all over. By 3am, had 14 in the box up to 19" using a white clouser size 2 with 1/50 oz eyes. Hooked into some bigger than 19" but couldn't keep them from pilings or biting thru 12# fluorocarbon tippet. Then a light shower moved in and killed action. At first light, the surf looked great, but storms were again building and within minutes there was lightning all over. Waited out storms for 3 hours. Suddenly it was sunny and mirror calm. Ideal for my canoe and some topwater action, right? Problem with this idyllic scenario was the tide... it was at peak flood, like way up into grass... and water was milky. Did manage 2 reds, 1 sheepshead and a flounder on Coma Spoon. The sheepsie was up in the grass - I don't mean against spartina, I mean like stranded in it. Instead of running out, he ran further into the grass and beached himself. Stupid sheepshead!
Catch	Grand Isle
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Fishing with Rich	18 June 2004
I was able to get out on the Water on Sunday with Captain Rich Waldner of "Fish with Rich" charters. Rich is always a pleasure to spend time with and is a wonderful guide and fisherman. He also ties some of the best looking flies I have ever seen. For those who have not seen the Waldner Spoon Fly or Mardi Gras Mama, you need to check them out. This particular Sunday, I was accompanied by Mary Ellen Botter, Travel Editor for the Dallas Morning News. Mary Ellen had fly fished years ago in Montana and was interested in seeing what the Louisiana marsh had to offer. Because of her flight schedule, we only had a half day on the water but still managed to boat around 15 fish on fly. The best part of this is that we did not need to blind cast a single time. The fish were plentiful and more than eager to suck down a Waldner Spoon. Also, the water was crystal clear so even an untrained eye such as Mary Ellen was able to spot Redfish and see the hook-ups. She was amazed with the fishing, the wildlife and the overall beauty of the marsh and will definitely be back for more. Thanks to Captain Rich for another wonderful day out on the marsh. I'm always impressed with his ability to find quality fish and his knowledge of thier behavior. For anyone interested in fishing with Rich, you can contact him through the shop at 504-529-3597 or on his phone at 504-656-7337. Take care and tight lines. Alec
Alec at Uptown Angler	New Orleans
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Destin surf-fishing	15 June 2004
Well, it's not Grand Isle, but I still had some excellent fishing in the Destin surf last week. Lots of South Louisiana folk take the family summer vacation in Destin, so you might as well do some fishing while you're there. The surf was full of small (1 lb +) bluefish and and BIG ladyfish in the early mornings and especially the late evenings. I used a 7 weight rod with a sink tip line and a sparsely dressed expoxy fly. I would fish from about 6:00 - 8:00 in the morning, then again from 6:00 - 8:00 in the evening. Averaged about a dozen fish each time. The surf got pretty choppy several times, but the fish kept on biting. If you're heading to Destin this summer, bring the longrod.
Murrill	Destin
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First full test of "The Device"	14 June 2004
Saturday around 2am, Steve Lee and I launched his "Device" - a portable floating platform with lights to attract specks. This was the first full test, by that I mean, this time the battery was charged. After pulling it to the first spot via his canoe (with trolling motor), the platform was anchored. Within half an hour, gobs of bait were under the lights, but no specks. An hour later, one lost speck hit my clouser. We moved to two other locations, the final one seemed to hold promise, but dawn was coming. At sunrise, Steve and I worked the area in our canoes. Strange day... in summer, the action usually is best around sunrise then tapers off, unless there's a good tide. This day the action was best around 9-11am, and there was no tide. Ended day with 11 keeper specks, several small reds (released), and one 10.2 lb red (released) that I mistook for a giant sheepshead.
Catch	Fourchon
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First time fishing in a canoe	13 June 2004
I went to a bed and breakfast cottage with a farm pond near Breaux Bridge this weekend since I had a wedding to attend during the day. They let you use the canoes which they had old town 16 canoes which I used one. Thought flyfishing in a canoe was easy, but it is really hard. It seems to me to control a canoe and keep it from moving takes alot of skill. Had fun though fishing Friday and Saturday night caught a bunch of bream and three small bass on poppers.
James	Farm pond
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Big Specks	06 June 2004
A nice night of fly fishing was to be had for me and my dad on friday. Fishing was slow up until about 10:30 pm when the moon finally ascended above the clouds. All we could hear was the sound of the generator in our boat and the awestriking (WHACK!) of big specks nailing silversides on the surface. Before we knew it we were sight casting to sows in our light. I then made the very easy decision to put the spin tackle away and rig up the long rod. Every cast was a hook up ,if I missed a fish another trout would be on my poor clouser before I could strip it in for another cast. My biggest fish of the night was 26 and a half inches. By the time we cleaned fish the next morning at my house in Mandeville it weighed 6.8 pounds. It was probably 7 when I caught it. I had two other fish right at 6 pounds and and about 15 other trout from 3 to 5 pounds. After that we started catching and releasing because we knew that we had plenty enough fish for the whole family to eat for weeks. No need to limit out. We left at 2 a.m., got back to Venice Marina for 3:30 and were home by 6:30. This was truly a fly fishing experience of a lifetime and I hope to see more trips like it in the future.
Justin	Venice
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Master J is now elevated to "GrandMaster J"	06 June 2004
It'd been a long time since a single fishing trip had me as psyched up in anticipation as this past weekend. Master Jake and I were to join the Red Stick club for their "Catch and Eat" marsh outing. The marine forecast and mid-week reports had us believing fishing would be awesome. We weren't disappointed. Our battle plan was to start at the Caminada bridge around 11pm Thursday night with the start of the incoming tide. But we hit the bridge about the same time as a monster electrical storm, and ended up resting it out for 3 hours. I setup the light while Jake continued to sleep. For two hours, all that went into the box were 3 barely keeper specks, and one 17" red, all on white clouser. Jake then awoke, and so did his magic touch. Somehow, he managed time and again to hook up into nice specks on the clouser. I just let him fish, and it became my job to handline the leader and get the specks over the rail. Friday 5am. With over a dozen specks 14-18 inches added to the box, we left for breakfast. Another storm over the island forced us to opt for the marsh over the surf, appealing as it was. Again, there seemed no bad decision here. Minutes after launching the canoe, Jake and I hit the motherload... backs, tails, pods everywhere. His first 4 casts of a foil pencil popper caught 3 reds, 6 1/4, 8 1/2, and 10 lbs. We then hit Lake Palourde for some speckled trout action on clouser under a vosi. That was good until about 10am, when the tide began to flood the marsh, and action just went dead. We went to early lunch and crash at the motel. Friday 5pm. I met a guy at Rusty Pelican who had limited out that morning at the rocks in the surf near the old AG store. I went to his spot, tried a clouser for an hour, no luck. Then two boys showed up with Top Dog lures and in minutes landed four nice specks. I then switched to a green/white Kirks Popper, and that did the trick. Another fly rodder was fishing the next rocks over with a clouser and did quite well also. Saturday am. Weather pulled a fast one, and instead of variable to 5, it was now 15 mph winds. Went up to Golden Meadow. The first ponds were full of grass, and full of reds. Jake's first 4 casts AGAIN 3 reds. This time he was using commie tackle, but still topwater, and casting it to holes where this milfoil type grass wasn't matted at the surface. The reds ran thru the grass and everytime ended getting off despite our best efforts to shed grass. We then moved into different ponds, with different grass .. the mossy type. We came across countless sheepshead and drum, and Jake managed to tease several into eating a spoon fly. Once again, the flood tide moved in, a bit later at this location, but killed all action. Saturday pm. With all our fish cleaned, and waiting for the eating part of the Saturday evening "Catch and Eat" activities, Jake and I made a quick 2 hour excursion south of the Leeville bridge. The water was unusually dirty from trawling, dredging of a canal, and strong tides. In fact, all he caught were 2 catfish and a small speck. That was, just after sunset. In one spot, he hooked up with 3 very nice specks in a row, the biggest just over 2 lbs. All were released, as we had more than enough fish for the crew and to take home (and even some shrimp we bought 16-21ct $3.50 lb). We then joined the rest of the RSFF crew. Thanks to Randy Leonpacher, Gary Parrish, and Paula Cannon for a great meal. As Danny Ayo once told me, it's always more fun to put (pole) a good fisherman on fish, then to catch them yourself. He was right about that!
Catch Cormier	Highway 1 corridor
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Freshwater weekend	24 May 2004
First available weekend this month, and with gas going above $2 a gallon, decided I'd better make it a road trip. Packed canoe and headed northwest towards lower and clearer waters. Fri am went to Lake Vernon. Water high and somewhat dirty, even though they got less than half what SeLA got. Bream action slow, but caught 2 nice bass. Fri pm fished mid-lake Toledo in cove off San Miguel. Water nice, but also high. Did very well on bass and bream. Sat am, fished off San Patricio. Tons of small bream, but 6 bass. Sat pm, fished Bistineau. Hydrilla really taking over. Water was clear, but the only nice bream anyone was catching was in the lillies at the state park. Water was dead until right near sunset, when lots of small bream just starting popping the surface all over. Everywhere I went this weekend (also made a check over at Cross Lake) saw lots of abandoned beds. Guess the major bream spring spawn is over.
Catch	various locations
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Rainy day feeling again	17 May 2004
There's this country music hit right now titled "Songs About Rain". Like the lyrics say, every song on the radio seems to have "rain" in it. Like they need to remind us of the hell we're going thru, right? Due to life's activities, and the GREAT MONSOON OF 2004, I've had to settle for an hour here and there at the pond. Yesterday afternoon I was ready for a change of scenery. After checking the radar, the only escape from the storms was to head northwest of BR. Saw water everywhere, none of it fly fishable. Finally settled on a bar pit off 2 o'clock bayou near Krotz Springs. Water was way up, but not muddy, and much to my surprise, I actually managed to catch several decent bream on popping bugs. Now I'm no longer stir crazy, just back to regular crazy.
Catch	Hwy 190 - Krotz Springs
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Northern Virginia	16 May 2004
Just got back from a week in northern Virginia visiting my brother. I went intending to the fish the Shenendoah for smallmouths, but; high, muddy rivers squelched that. We fished a local pond and caught bass until we got tired. The next day we fished Fountainhead Lake near Herndon. Beautiful lake as you would expect in this area. I started with a beadhead under a VOSI, caught a few, but; more were hitting the float. I swithched to popping bugs and caught bream until we just got tired of fishing them. Caught 3 bass and my first yellow perch. We hope to plan another smallmouth trip.
Mickey	Baton Rouge
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Red Snapper & Mangroves on Fly	13 May 2004
Well roger, you know EVERY time you post a report, I've got to one-up you...the reason Dave Coigent couldn't rech me on the telephone was because I was fishing... On Monday, May 10th I went out with Capt. Tommy Pellegrin aboard the "High Life" accompanied by Mustad Hooks sales manager Jeff Pierce. Along for the day was the crew from "The New Flyfisher" show what will air later this year on PBS. The film crew was taping a documentary/instructional segment and our target species was red snapper. Ripping current and sloppy seas made it almost impossible to get the flies down. Jeff however, was successful in landing a 25-pound jack crevalle, along with ten mangrove up to 9.9 pounds. (That fish should replace my #1 LOWA record once certified). Later in the day we made a move south to the Ship Shoal 200 block and conditions were much improved. While Mustad Jeff continued to pick away at the mangrove snapper on the surface, I elected to go deep with a extra fast sink line to continue to target red snapper. I finally got a good strike and set the hook hard. The rod doubled and the fight was on. Thinking I had a big cobia, I continued the 20 minute see-saw battle until the fish neared the surface and we saw red! Capt. Tommy slid the big sow into the net and we celebrated as a 22-pound red snapper was hoisted aboard. The fly was a Mustad Jeff T-Bunny in olive. Thanks to Capt. Tommy Pellegrin the "Snapper Master" for putting me on the pending IGFA World Record and pending State Record fish. Once certified, this will rank as the heaviest fly-caught red snapper in the world. Once again, we prove Louisiana had the BEST FISHING on the planet!! You can check out the picture and story on the front page of www.louisianasportsman.com.
Susan Gros - Reel Louisiana Adventures	Cocodrie, Louisiana
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Offshore Fly Fishing	13 May 2004
Tuesday May 11th the Big Fish +10 group had another sucessful trip with Scott Avanzino out of Venice,LA. Gary Parrish,Jerry Zitzmann,George Norton,Dave Coignet, and del Rio caught Little tunny,Dolphin,Mangrove Snapper,Blue Runner,Shark and Jack Cravelle. Seas were rough but everybody caught fish....Captian and crew did great job in heavy seas.
del Rio	Gulf of Mexico
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addittional info on previous post	12 May 2004
The title of the last post doesn't make sense because I forgot to include that later in the day when fish became rather selective, we went to the old faithful "Waldner's Spoon Fly". For those who have not fished this fly, I highly recommend it. It is one serious Redfish catchin' machine and will undoubtedly become one of your go to flies.
Alec Griffin	Venice, LA
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Spoons never fail	12 May 2004
I went fishing down in Venice on Monday with Capt. Bryan Carter of Voodoo Charters. The weather was beautiful with only one good passing shower. We had some great fishing early in the day and the first fish I threw at absolutely pounced on the fly. It was a new fly I was trying out with an orangle rabbit strip for a tail, an orange hackle flash body and a big black bead chain eye with barred mono for a weed guard. This fly looked great in the water and that first Redfish liked it too along with a nice sheepshead shortly thereafter. We came accross a nice group of fish busting through schools of baitfish near the surface so we made a fly change and went to a popper. I was determined to catch a Redfish on popper that day so I probably kept it on a little too long and missed some opportunities at fish that would have probably taken a sinking fly. Oh well, live and learn I guess. The water was a bit off color in alot of places but Bryan was able to find enough clean water to provide ample sight fishing opportunities. I highly recommend calling him for a great day on the water. Heck of a guy, heck of a boat, heck of a guide. That's a good combination that equals a good day on the water. I hope to get back out there this weekend but the weather may keep me in and I'll be at the conclave on Friday. I hope to see some of you there.
Alec Griffin at Uptown Angler	Venice, LA
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Bass, Brim	11 May 2004
For the readers of this site that live in Texas.... I fished Lake Conroe Saturday afternoon (5/8) with conventional tackle and my 4 wt fly rod. I fished in the back of the creek near Stowaway Marina. I started worm fishing and was getting lots of brim hits so I promptly switched to the 4wt with popping bug. I had lots of hits on the popper but was not able to land any....must have been very small. I think next time I need to adopt some sort of wet fly or something...perhaps beneath a vosi. The fish were in about 3-4ft of water around hydrilla. Had lots of fun however. Next time I will try an alternate strategy.
Jason	Lake Conroe (North of Houston)
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mangroves and cobia	09 May 2004
Had some mangroves chummed up for Joe Cerise and the crew of Geaux fish TV last week..also some cobia but we weren't ready for them nor would I have though anyone would have a chance with anything less than a 12 wt..the 20-40 pound fish I saw gave enough of a workout on the heavy conventional gear...on to reality..Joe hooked 5 mangroves and landed two the largest 5.15 pounds..he lost a fish over ten pounds just short of the gaff..might haver broken a record or two for 12 pound tippet..I like the looks of the shrimp fly on the homepage..it looks deadly for mangroves..I haven't been able to fish much myself, since having to drive most days..but the opportunities I have seen are enough to drive anyone crazy..hopefully it will be eveident when the show airs..groups of twnety to thirty 3-12 pound fish staying with the chum for about an hour..Joe had cut his leader down to 12 pounds to get the strikes however our rod and reel fisherman were using 20 and 40 pound flouro toward the end. Most of his strikes came off small white clousers..Got the 10 plus crew on Tuesday to chase dolphin on the rip ..guess where we are going first if I have anything to say about it!
Scott	Venice
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No sharks here	08 May 2004
Unlike Jeff, I chose freshwater... a quick trip to False River. Few bites, but at least no sharks. The bluegill were spawning and just weren't eating. Just about time to leave, I figured them out - a size 14 wet fly, no weight. Slowly sinking it drew a bite, and often a hookup. Have picture in forum of one big un protecting her bed (all fish were released).
Catch	False River
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Stringer Problems	07 May 2004
I had that old Louisiana flyfishing dilemma- freshwater or saltwater- but since I had bream fished at False River Tuesday afternoon, saltwater it was. So this morning I headed to Leeville just south and west of the bridge to hopefully go after some specks in the shallow oyster-bottomed lakes. Well the weather was not sunny and calm as forecasted but mostly cloudy and windy. I hooked up a clouser and vosi and soon caught a little flounder which I kept. Action was slow to non-existent and I was just leisurely propped back in my kayak popping my cork when I felt a tug on the boat and saw it was my stringer. I gave it a yank and my flounder splashed to the surface-it just happened to be in the jaws of a 3-foot shark. After tugging for a couple of seconds, I realized that it was just a foot or two from being on my lap and neither of us wanted that. At about the same time I realized that I better untie the stringer or he may take me somewhere I didn't care to go. As soon as I grabbed the knot which was right by my hand, the line went limp and all that remained was a cleanly severed flounderhead. I often worry about fish on the stringer spoiling but this never crossed my mind, until now. This is my 2nd shark encounter, the 1st being at Lake Pontchartrain and Bayou Lacombe when a bait fisherman in a kayak landed a shark not far from the landing. Anyway be careful out there, they're watching!
JeffM	Leeville
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The Good, The Bad, And The Real Ugly!	04 May 2004
Monday afternoon, Danny Williams and I went out to fish in his new Gheenoe. It was the first voyage with the new motor he got for it, a 9.9 Nissan 4 stroke. The motor moves that little boat great. We got to the marsh and the wind was blowing worse than forecast, the water was muddy, and the tide just...not quite right. In spite of that we started spotting a few redfish blowing up, and actively chasing bait. Unfortunately we just weren't really getting shots, untill we saw a good fish blow up in a little pocket. As we eased into the pocket, I saw the fish for just a second, and cast in the general area of where I saw him. He ate my fly and it was on. Once boated, we saw that the fish was almost 7 pounds, but he was a hot fish, he fought like a larger fish. We fished for quite a bit longer without getting any shots, but having lots of Murphy's law. The Gheenoe is so light that it responds very quickly to the push pole, and starts and stops can be a bit abrupt. Danny and I each ended up on our butts after abrupt starts. Then, after we tried to run through an area that was too shallow, Danny was trying to tilt the motor forward, but the skeg was apparently burried in the mud. When Danny pulled hard, the cowling came off the motor and Danny fell over backwards into the boat, giving himself a big strawberry scrape on his shin. By the way, did I mention that a mullet jumped in the boat, and while in mid air it hit Danny's leg, and a fin stuck him drawing blood? We went quite a while without getting any shots. Finally we were approaching a bank that was in the lee of the wind, when I pointed a tail out to Danny. Because the tail was almost black, and quite pointy, we knew it was a sheepshead. The fish was eating mussells off of the base of a bunch of salt grass, and was so focused on what it was doing that is scarecely moved 6 inches from it's feeding spot. Danny worked on that fish cast after cast for 15 to 20 minutes until it ate. It was a great sheepshead, over 6 lbs. The sun was getting low, and the wind beginning to lay, when Danny finally brought a red to the boat, another nice fish over 6 lbs. It was my turn to take the front of the boat. While we were switching end we had another visit from Murphy. Danny and I both zigged when one of us should have zagged, and we almost swamped the boat, bringing several gallons of water into it. I finally made it to the front of the boat without breaking my neck or busting my #$$. Shortly after I got the front, Danny spotted a fish working behind a little island. As we made our way around, I made a cast to the edge of the island and a nice red of 7.5 pound ate my fly and was quickly landed. Just before the sun set completely Danny caught another nice red that had his back way up out of the water. The fish swam righ too us from about 50 yards away. There was a pile of fish in the general area where Danny caught that last fish of the day. While Murphy's law was in effect all day, it was apparent that these fish never met Murphy. Tight Lines, Ron
Ron Begnaud	Calcasieu Estuary
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