Southbound and Down - Louisiana

So here we go again… or went again. Year four in the books for our trip down to Cajun Country, LOUISIANA. This year was a little different for us, schedules changed, babies being born, birthdays and just life in general. We ended up one man short this year, so we switched it up and took two skiffs instead of our yearly scheduled three. Turned out to be a nice change, gave a chance for everyone to take turns fishing, taking photos and poling…except our Colorado friend who at least brought his hook set this year.

We’ve always gotten pretty darn lucky with the weather, this year was no exception. We were pretty concerned with the two hurricanes which had just come through and yes, water was dirty and high but there were still fish to be found. Our early trip this year had us super pumped for the opportunity to go ham on Jacks but that wasn’t the case, not due to lack of trying, just couldn’t find them sadly. We did however, come across schools of black drum that you could walk across, ranging from the 10-30# range. Slime was slung, tug of war games commenced and double ups happened. Zero complaints about that!

You know the saying “never leave fish to find fish”? Yeah…. well we threw that out the window. We kept on our hunt for giant redfish after we had ruined enough clothes and had to mop the deck of the skiff down from all the black drum slime we could handle. We never came across clear enough water to find any groups or see much activity at all. A few were seen but it was too little too late by then. That was until our lucky break, for one fish. We were cruising around the edge of a far off island when we came across just acres of churning white water in the distance. Our first though, grab the 10wt and the 12 wt and hope its Jacks going nuts. Once we hauled absolute ace over to all the commotion, turn outs, just Spanish Mackerel. So we snagged a few of them for a quick laugh when out of the white water, the golden orb appeared. A school of the most gorgeous redfish we have ever seen floated to the surface, giving us just enough time to snag the 10wt with a top water on and hope for the best. Dallas was up front, made one cast…. POP…. POP… nothing. Me and Simmonds are in the back of the skiff with our jaws at our ankles…. what …. in … the ……. He throws back one false cast and drops it perfectly. POP…. fish turns, we giggle like Peter from Family Guy, another POP…. fish rushes and just inhales it! Talked about being freaking pumped up! As Dallas continues to fight the golden beast, the group of fish slowly descends back into the murky abyss never to be seen again. We searched and searched, just nothing but the replay of that top water eat on repeat in all of our minds.

Plenty of fish were caught this year, Simmonds finally broke the 40” mark on a red. All of that thanks to the phenomenal pick’n rig he used. Slot fish after slot fish were everywhere, eager to eat anything you threw at them. Heck, I even got to land a new one for me, a 5’ gar that took me into 100yds of backing in less than 10 seconds! The shit show of trying to figure out how to land this fish is comparable to putting a running chainsaw in the boat and seeing what happens. Best decision, we creeping up to a bank and finished the fight from land. If you could imagine a steel I-beam covered in lube, that’s what this beast felt like. Incredible armor but super slippery! A quick pic or two and she was ready to get the hell out of my grasp and go harass something else. Fun fight on an 8wt for sure!

We of course got to see our cajun friends who were generous enough to provide some true Louisiana cooking for us, complete with two different styles of King Cake and all! It’s always a pleasure to hang out with friends we don’t get to see on a regular basis, play catch up and share stories. These trips are a get away for us, a change of pace. An opportunity to release the every day grind from guiding at home and kick back, have a few cold snacks and see if we can get x-ray vision to find the fish of a lifetime. A 19 hour drive is completely worth the friendship that we have, I’d do it more often if the schedule allowed it.

So we’re back in action at home, grinding out the days chasing redfish and chasing blitzing albies.. back to the grind. Already planning a Spring and Fall bash, wherever that may be. Until next year…. tight lines.