Tony Buzolich
11-01-2013, 09:57 AM
For the last few years Jim May and I along with our wives have been heading to New Orleans in the fall. We found that by taking our wives along, it gave Jim and I more time to fish. The girls would go explore plantations and quilt shops throughout the day, and then in the evening when we got back from fishing we’d all hit the French Quarter for dinner and some of the best seafood anywhere.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/_DSC0874upload_zps85283aac.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/_DSC0874upload_zps85283aac.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/_DSC0097upload_zps09524738.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/_DSC0097upload_zps09524738.jpg.html)
We’d get up early each morning, leave the girls at the hotel, and then meet up with our guide Capt. Greg Moon. We first met up with Greg by booking through the Uptown Angler (New Orleans only fly shop) but ever since have booked him through his own website.
The routine each morning is always the same. Greg would pick us up at our hotel, we’d make a short run to Penny’s for breakfast, (Penny’s is mentioned several times in this month’s Fly Fishing In Salt Water magazine along with a couple of good articles about fishing redfish in the area). Loaded up with Poor Boys for lunch we would head to one of Capt. Greg’s planned launching spots, usually Hopedale and the Breton Sound, Delacroix, or Port La Heche areas.
Greg had been telling us how good the red fishing had been all summer with lots of big fish everywhere. Unfortunately the week before we arrived a cold front came through and the water temps had dropped putting the fish off the bite,,,,,,,,,, briefly.
Our first day on the water started with gusting wind making poling and sight casting tough. Fish weren’t hardly moving and were layed up holding to the bottom with only a few moving close to the weeds creating small wakes. It wasn’t long though before Greg spotted a group of larger fish cruising toward us just under the surface. Jim is up first, makes a quick cast, and is immediately hooked up to the first big redfish of our trip.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/012upload_zps55952b51.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/012upload_zps55952b51.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/016upload_zps38947c3e.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/016upload_zps38947c3e.jpg.html)
The wind kept picking up making for lots of chop on the water and spotting fish even tougher. Greg still mastered control of the poling as we would look for muds and cruising fish in the shallow water. The water was definitely off color now with only a foot or two of visibility making spotting fish almost impossible for our untrained eyes.
Fortunately Greg was used to this and continued to put us on fish all day. There was no blind casting and this is all we could hopefully look for if we were going to fish at all.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/076upload_zpsb9a2ebce.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/076upload_zpsb9a2ebce.jpg.html)
As the day went on, the wind continued to blow making poling really tough. Capt. Greg didn’t flinch though and kept putting us onto several more reds along with a nice unplanned for speckled trout.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/017upload_zps337ff70b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/017upload_zps337ff70b.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/020upload_zps72dcce8b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/020upload_zps72dcce8b.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/021upload_zpsc40692f1.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/021upload_zpsc40692f1.jpg.html)
The next day the wind was still blowing at the hotel and by the time we got to Penny’s it was gusting to over 25 mph. Needless to say, we called the trip off. Casting and spotting fish would be impossible.
Now go to Part Two!
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/_DSC0874upload_zps85283aac.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/_DSC0874upload_zps85283aac.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/_DSC0097upload_zps09524738.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/_DSC0097upload_zps09524738.jpg.html)
We’d get up early each morning, leave the girls at the hotel, and then meet up with our guide Capt. Greg Moon. We first met up with Greg by booking through the Uptown Angler (New Orleans only fly shop) but ever since have booked him through his own website.
The routine each morning is always the same. Greg would pick us up at our hotel, we’d make a short run to Penny’s for breakfast, (Penny’s is mentioned several times in this month’s Fly Fishing In Salt Water magazine along with a couple of good articles about fishing redfish in the area). Loaded up with Poor Boys for lunch we would head to one of Capt. Greg’s planned launching spots, usually Hopedale and the Breton Sound, Delacroix, or Port La Heche areas.
Greg had been telling us how good the red fishing had been all summer with lots of big fish everywhere. Unfortunately the week before we arrived a cold front came through and the water temps had dropped putting the fish off the bite,,,,,,,,,, briefly.
Our first day on the water started with gusting wind making poling and sight casting tough. Fish weren’t hardly moving and were layed up holding to the bottom with only a few moving close to the weeds creating small wakes. It wasn’t long though before Greg spotted a group of larger fish cruising toward us just under the surface. Jim is up first, makes a quick cast, and is immediately hooked up to the first big redfish of our trip.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/012upload_zps55952b51.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/012upload_zps55952b51.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/016upload_zps38947c3e.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/016upload_zps38947c3e.jpg.html)
The wind kept picking up making for lots of chop on the water and spotting fish even tougher. Greg still mastered control of the poling as we would look for muds and cruising fish in the shallow water. The water was definitely off color now with only a foot or two of visibility making spotting fish almost impossible for our untrained eyes.
Fortunately Greg was used to this and continued to put us on fish all day. There was no blind casting and this is all we could hopefully look for if we were going to fish at all.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/076upload_zpsb9a2ebce.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/076upload_zpsb9a2ebce.jpg.html)
As the day went on, the wind continued to blow making poling really tough. Capt. Greg didn’t flinch though and kept putting us onto several more reds along with a nice unplanned for speckled trout.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/017upload_zps337ff70b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/017upload_zps337ff70b.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/020upload_zps72dcce8b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/020upload_zps72dcce8b.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/021upload_zpsc40692f1.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/021upload_zpsc40692f1.jpg.html)
The next day the wind was still blowing at the hotel and by the time we got to Penny’s it was gusting to over 25 mph. Needless to say, we called the trip off. Casting and spotting fish would be impossible.
Now go to Part Two!