New Orleans Redfish/Biloxi Marsh - Part One

[Tony Buzolich]

When some one talks about going to Louisiana and New Orleans most folk immediately think French Quarter, Bourbon St., Cajun cooking, and swamp. Well, last week we saw all of that and a whole lot more.

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For some time now my fishing buddy, Jim May, and I have been talking about going Redfishing in the gulf and when our wives caught wind of this they too decided we should make a vacation of it and include them. So, last week, off we went. The girls planned quilt shops and plantation tours while Jim and I get a few days on the water.

We booked our guide, Capt. Greg Moon, through Uptown Anglers, New Orleans only fly shop and agreed we’d be fishing the Biloxi Marsh area out of Hopedale for the next couple of days.

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Greg picked us up early at our hotel and promptly headed south to our first stop along the way,,,,,,, Penny’s Café. Penny’s is where all the local guides and good ol’ boys swap stories and lies about the previous days fishing. We load up on breakfast and get a few Po’Boys for lunch and continue on to Hopedale and the Breton Sound Marina where we launch.

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At first glance, except for the shrimp boats and mountains of oyster shells, this looks just like our own delta here at home. Quiet bayous (sloughs), lots of trees and foliage right to the water’s edge, and animal life everywhere. All of this was about to soon change though.

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As we motored south toward the gulf we make a sharp turn through a small cut which opens into a vast open body of marsh pot marked with thousands of small grassy islands and channels of water some only a few inches deep. For as far as you can see in every direction all there is are patches of grass, oyster beds, and small ponds of water,,,,,,,, no landmarks of any kind. This is definitely GPS country.

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Greg is weaving through slots and channels barely a foot deep as we head outward farther into the marsh. Finally we get to our first spot and begin poling and looking for signs of fish cruising and feeding in the shallows. All fishing here is totally sight casting and we strain to see tips of fins or small wakes of moving fish. Soon enough I spot movement and immediately blow my first shot. The water erupts with laid up fish we hadn’t seen. Jim’s turn next and he hooks up right away. Greg yells for me to cast short at 12:00 o’clock. Twenty feet! Geez, barely at the end of my pole and I can’t see them from the glare. Luckily I get the grab and I’m on. My first red hook-up.

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Now read Part Two for the conclusion . . . . . Tony