Louisiana Fishing Charters recently hosted our friends from Mossy Oak on a 2 day blast and cast adventure. I have fished charters with Mossy Oak’s VP of Media Productions, Kevin Tate in the past. This time though, Kevin came down to Delacroix to get some work done for Mossy Oak. Mossy Oak is releasing their new camo pattern “Elements” and Kevin wanted LFC to help them get some photos and videos of Elements.

This awesome new release is a family of patterns utilizing the three core elements of the natural world - earth, water and wind - at their most basic levels. Kevin brought down their Elements pattern “AGUA” as it is designed for spending time on the water. The goal was to collect photos and video that they could use on their website, social media, and also to film an episode for their new show Mossy Oak’s Country Roots that will air later this year. We had a blast and although the ducks were reluctant to cooperate, the fish showed up big.

“I didn’t know a better place on earth than with Randall Shaw to get the content we needed. He’s a guy who will put you on fish for every conceivable minute he can. We fished two days and caught a bunch of fish. Our rods were bent the whole time” Kevin Tate said of his trip with LFC.

They key to out success on this trip was paying attention to the water levels. It’s been a pretty cold winter so far with a good amount of cold fronts blowing through. That has dropped the water levels and we took the Mossy Oak crew to catch fish in the bigger lakes. The awesome thing was the fish kept getting bigger and bigger!

We are looking forward to helping Mossy Oak promote the new Elements pattern. It will be available printed on Huk breathable fishing shirts coming soon.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

What a winter it has been in Delacroix! We recently saw water temps drop down to 33 degrees and air temps got to 16 degrees. That’s been unheard of in our part of the country for a long time. There were a few days we had to cancel due to this weather but whenever possible we took our clients out. We don’t cancel unless we really have to and if our clients are brave enough to fight the cold, we are going to work our butts off to put them on fish. We know they came down to Delacroix for New Orleans red fishing and we will go as long as conditions are safe.

Luckily we have a few tricks up our sleeve when the temps drop this low. We know that redfish like to gather in deep holes to find warmer temps near the bottom. They hunker down in the mud on the bottom. We know this because we catch redfish with leaches on their bellies from sitting on the bottom. That’s not something you see everyday in NOLA fishing!

Another thing that helped the fishing during these cold spells was the drop in water levels. At normal and high water levels, redfish can spread out all over the marsh. But when the water empties out of the marsh the fish have to go where there is water. With water levels close to three feet below normal level, the only places that held water were the bays and bayous. This made targeting redfish easier than normal, and we stuck it to them!

As a charter fishing New Orleans operation, we are very lucky to have mild winters. Even when we do have these cold snaps they don’t last long. As of right now the temps have gotten back into the 50’s and 60’s and the fishing is absolutely on fire. The water still has not returned to a normal level so there are big schools of redfish in all the majors bays and lakes in Delacroix.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

Delacroix, LA

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

Louisiana fishing is at its finest during the fall. Ok maybe the Spring. Or the summer. Well our winters are pretty good too. But certainly the fall is one of our favorites. We finally start getting a few cool fronts in late October. With comfortable temperatures and hungry fish feeding up for the winter, it’s easy to fall in love with fall fishing in Louisiana.

Louisiana charter fishing guides love the months of October, November, and December because schools of fish move into the interior marshes to feed on shrimp that have travelled in from the Gulf of Mexico. Redfish will form big schools that can often result in catching a fish on every cast. Trout form even bigger schools and move into the interior marshes chasing shrimp. Duck hunters are in their glory as they can shoot their game in the morning and catch their fish in the afternoon.

At LFC this month we will be focusing on finding bayous with 5 foot of water or more with a shallow shelf that comes up to about 2 feet. A few days after a cold front you can find trout move up on these shallow flats off the bayous. The shallow water lets them get closer to the sunlight. We also like to look for flocks of seagulls feeding on shrimp. Our clients who come down on a New Orleans fishing charter love the non-stop action when we get on a flock of birds.

The name of the game right now is popping corks and live shrimp. Plastics work well too but we love to give our clients the absolute BEST chance at success so we always bring live shrimp. There will certainly be days where the plastic will outmatch the shrimp though. Don’t be afraid to try both.

If you are looking for fishing trips New Orleans style please give us a call. This November will be off the charts and we don’t want to you to miss it. Captai

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

Delacroix, LA

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

Most of the time when we operate redfish charters here at Louisiana Fishing Charters, we are able to locate an area where the fished are staged up and we pick them off as they pass through that area. We use our years of knowledge to give our clients the right bait, equipment, and boat position to catch the fish. The fight with a redfish can be violent as he tugs on your line, never willing to give up. However, we usually don’t get to see the fish unless they are actively feeding or when they finally take the bait.

Recently we had a chance to visually observe a school of redfish while out on a scouting trip. If I do not have a charter for a few days, I like to go ride around and visually look for schools of fish that I can take my clients to later on. It’s one of the things I do as a redfish guide Louisiana style.

On this particular day we covered a lot of ground and found one school of fish in a shallow pond where the water was somewhat dirty. We took a few pictures of those fish, but the water clarity left a lot to be desired.

We ran around a good bit after that and didn’t see much. I decided to run to an area that I knew had clean water but wasn’t so sure about the fish. When I shut down the motor, the water was crystal clear and it wasn’t long before we started seeing reds.

Before long, we came up on a pack of at least 40 redfish. There is really no good way I can think to describe the heart pounding feeling you get when you see something like this in action.  If you have any experience with redfish you know how much fun they are to catch and when you see a big group of them, it’s like staring at a buffet when you haven’t eaten in days.

We didn’t catch but a few of them, just to test their temperament. As it turns out they were not super aggressive, but we were able to study how they move as a group and what their patterns were for that time of day and in those conditions. I took some clients back to that school of fish the next day and they had a blast catching them all morning long.

I’d be happy to take sight fishing charters for your next New Orleans fishing trip if you want to try your hand at catching redfish that you can see. Keep in mind, that would not be a trip for beginners as it requires some skill to cast a lure in the right place for the fish to eat it.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

Delacroix, LA

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

Do me a favor please. Slow down your thinking for a second. Stop worrying about the tasks ahead of you. Stop worrying about your job, your obligations at home, your social media news feed. Stop thinking about all of that just for a few seconds. Now. Picture yourself on a boat. Not just any boat, but a nice, clean bay boat with plenty of room. You are out in the Louisiana marsh on a with a Louisiana charter guide from Louisiana Fishing Charters.

Your best friends or your family is with you. They are smiling. In front of you the sun is rising over the tall marsh grass and the whole scene is resemblant of something from the African sahara, only in this sahara there is plenty of water to go around. Just as you are taking a deep breath to appreciate the beauty of this scene, the fishing rod in your hand bends over as if the top end is going to go straight in the water.

On the other end of your line, a mighty redfish is fighting for his life. He’s strong and mean and doesn’t want you to win the fight. The folks around you are also experiencing the same thing. Your captain is coaching you through this experience and everyone on the boat is grinning ear to ear. After a fun fight, you see your captain reach for his net. He dips it into the water and scoops up the biggest, bronziest Louisiana redfish you have ever seen. He lugs the big red into the boat and in that moment you feel complete. You thank your redfish guide Louisiana style with a high five and that beautiful redfish goes in the ice box for you to take home and enjoy at your dinner table.

Excuse my poetic license, but here at Louisiana Fishing Charters, this is an everyday occurrence. The thing about it is, we never stop appreciating scenes like this. That’s why we became charter captains. We love this stuff and the places we fish. We don’t ever take that for granted. And truly, seeing our clients experience this for the first time, or having them come back to experience this again, keeps it fresh for us and that’s why we do this. If you’re coming to New Orleans red fishing is just a phone call away. Give us a call and let us take you on the fishing trip of a lifetime.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

info@la-charters.com

Redfish are all through the marsh. It’s been pretty light winds lately so getting around and staying quiet in the shallows has been much easier than when we were having big winds. Water levels are currently a little low. This means that fish are out of the ponds and schooled up good in all the bigger lakes. As a Louisiana Charter Fishing guide, we love to see our clients experience these schools of fish for the first time.

We always use live shrimp with our clients unless they request to use chasing baits. If you prefer to use artificial for redfish right now, we’d recommend spinner baits, spoons, chatterbaits. Whether you fish with live bait or artificial, your trip for New Orleans Red Fishing will be a blast.

To locate redfish in those bigger lakes, look for them along the banks. The fish are cruising up and down banks in groups of 5s and 10s. They have been feeding on shad, finger mullet, and porgies so be sure to look for schools of baitfish. Take it from this Louisiana fishing guide, if you find a school of baitfish and no redfish, it’s time to try a new area.

We are entering the warmest part of the year right now. We highly recommend fishing during first 4-5 hours of morning and the last 3-4 hours of the afternoon. If you get out at daybreak and head to the large lakes you will find redfish. Head to the outside for the trout.