Sightfishing for Redfish

 

Sightfishing Redfish in Delacroix!

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

Living the Dream

 

Living the Dream!

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

Big Lakes, Big Reds

 

Big Reds in Big Water!

The time for catching specks is now. The tide has been good and the winds have been down, We’ve had primarily Southeast winds at 5-10 mph for the last week or so. If you’re looking to start your search for trout, these are the conditions you need to look for. The main way to catch them is with live bait hooked to kale hook under a cork or on the bottom with 1/4 to 1/2 oz weight depending on current. The trout run seems to be later than normal this year and should last through August.

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.

 

Take Your Kids Fishing

 

School's Out, Take Your Kids Fishing!

Kids are out of school now and if you want to get them away from their cell phones, ipads, and televisions, bring them down to Delacroix on a fishing trip. The redfish are on fire and the trout bite has been good as well. We are traveling pretty far South these days to find the schools of fish. This is great because you can combine a redfish and a trout trip in one. We are using live shrimp as we always do and recommend that you use it if at all possible. Live shrimp under a popping cork is simply the most effective way to catch inshore fish. It can really make the difference on a tough day of fishing when tides and weather are not in your favor. Not everyone has to use live bait to catch, but in the opinion of this Louisiana fishing guide, it is hard to beat.

The Southern areas we are fishing are Lake Campo, Bay Lafourche and even Black Bay. The key for trout has been to find the oyster reefs and redfish have been coming off of points with moving water but also other places where there is hard bottom or oyster shells near the bank. Our customer who book a Louisiana charter fishing with us have enjoyed the early morning boat rides to the outside. You definitely want to get going as early as possible to beat the heat.

One fun thing about this time of year is the added bonus of sheepshead and drum to our daily limits. This species are mixed in with the redfish and trout and the never turn down a shrimp. If you head to the areas we are talking about you should be able to find drum and sheep as well.

Summertime Louisiana Fishing has way more positives than negatives. We usually ave good tide movement and no more cold fronts so the water levels tend to stay normal unless we get a prevalent west wind. Don’t let your kids get too lost in tech land this summer. Get them outdoors and get them fishing. If you don’t have a boat, don’t know where to go, or just want someone to do the work for you while you enjoy the trip, consider booking your next charter fishing New Orleans experience with us.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

Delacroix, LA

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

Summer Redfish Action

 

Redfish are Fired Up in Louisiana!

I honestly don’t remember the last time we had a cold front this close to Memorial Day this week’s late season cold front certainly shook things up a bit in the marshes of Delacroix. It was certainly a week that put our New Orleans Red Fishing skills to the test.

We have been catching our fish mostly on the fringe areas of the marsh where big open bays lead out to Breton Sound. Shrimp are the food of choice for hungry redfish and just about the only way we can get them to bite is with live shrimp under a pippin cork. The cold front dropped water levels and pushed fish off the bank but as the water rises back to normal levels, those same fish will start to cruise the banks again.

One thing that is right on time this season is the bright orange redfish that gather in the shallow flats all around Delacroix. So much of the marshland that existed before Katrina was turned into large shallow lagoons. These places are key for finding some fun sight fishing action. Try to look for shallow 1-2 flats off of deeper 4-6 foot channels. Fish will move up onto these flats throughout the day. As a Louisiana fishing guide, this is one of my favorite ways to target redfish.

With the summer patterns now taking effect, book your New Orleans Fishing Charter with us soon. Summer is such a cool time to catch redfish cruising in shallow ponds and we have them figured out. The southern heat cranks up pretty good in the middle part of the day, so we try to leave the dock as early as we can to fish in the most comfortable part of the day. Tracking the fish everyday helps us to offer our customers this luxury. You won;t have to go looking for fish and spending the coolest hours of the morning on the chase. We have them dialed in and we will take you right to the action.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

Delacroix, LA

www.la-charters.com

Finding Speckled Trout and Redfish in Delacroix

 

No Better Time to Catch Redfish!

As the earth continues to tilt our hemisphere towards the sun, we have longer daylight hours and temperatures rise along with those changes. In many ways, these annual patterns signal changes for the inshore species we catch. Speckled trout will move to the outer edges where our marshes meet with the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Slot sized redfish will remain in the marshes but their positions will change relative to tides and changes in wind direction.

Right now in Delacroix, the trout are a little bit ahead of their normal pattern for this time of year. We have been catching them on the outside for quite some time now. Live shrimp at the rigs and exterior islands is the ticket. Our customers have enjoyed going after the spawning trout on their Louisiana charter fishing trips.

The redfish have been a bit of a head scratcher lately. We had some cold fronts a couple weeks ago and the northwest winds associated with those fronts pushed water levels pretty low. There hasn’t really been a strong enough southeast wind to push the tide back up yet. What this did to the redfish is pretty interesting. Typically we can find reds stacked up in the grassy ponds stretching all the way back towards the Mississippi River. However, when the tide fell out this left the shallow ponds with little water and plenty grass. When this happens the grass sucks the oxygen out of the water and the extra exposure to the sun helps the grass grow up even thicker so many of our redfish ponds were left unfishable lately because the grass is too thick.

To find redfish we had to search the outer edges of the marsh where it opens up into big bays. From there you can find current points and oyster reefs and pick off your redfish. Once the tide gets back to normal it should fill up the shallow ponds again and we will see reds start to trickle back in. These are some of the aspects of Louisiana fishing that you have to pay attention to be successful.

If you’re looking for a New Orleans fishing charter this summer we can show you a good time and put you on plenty fish.

Capt. Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

la-charters.com

Catching Springtime Redfish in Louisiana

 

Springtime Redfish in Delacroix is on Point!

Right now in Delacroix, Louisiana the redfish are more aggressive than the security team on a United Airlines flight. The annual transitional movement of bait around the marsh has these fish fired up. The water is clean in many areas due to a strong Southeast wind last week and that makes the fishing a whole lot easier. This is the kind of Louisiana charter fishing that we live for.

We are finding fish along the broken edges of large bays and lakes. Since it has been so windy lately we are positioning our boats so that we can cast with the wind. I like to find a good windblown island and have my customers cast out about 10-15 yards off the island. We are using Boat Monkey Float corks because they create so much action on the water’s surface. Sometimes the fish like a lot of popping action and sometimes they like for the bait to sit still. You will just have to try different techniques until something works better than the other.

The key to locating the fish is obviously clean water. Another thing I am looking for is patches of milfoil grass. Redfish love to use the milfoil as an ambush point for minnows,crabs, and shrimp. Once you find an area you are confident in be sure to sit for at least 10 minutes. I have noticed that it’s been taking a while for the schools to notice the action of the popping corks. Once they do however, we have been catching on average 10 redfish on each island, so be sure to fish for a while once you get a few bites.

Another thing to consider if you’re coming to Delacroix this week is that gnats have made their annual appearance. be sure to bring a good gnat repellant such as Cajun Mist or Amber Romance. The typical OFF for mosquitoes is really not the best spray for gnats and those little suckers can ruin a fishing trip in a hurry if you don’t protect yourself against them. New Orleans red fishing can be a lot more enjoyable if you take this into account.

As the wind continues to lay down, fishing should stay consistent. If you’re coming down to Delacroix and need lodging be sure to check out our Pelican Roos Lodge and Fishing Cabins. Our accommodations are unmatched by any other place in Southeast Louisiana. And if you want to try a redfish guide Louisiana style, we can help you with that as well.

Captain Randall Shaw

Louisiana Fishing Charters

www.la-charters.com

504-669-1263

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