Key West Fly Fishing

John and I recently had the opportunity to chase the big redfish that call the marsh of Mississippi and Louisiana home. We flew into New Orleans on the evening of the 16th and met Jacob for a three day fishing free for all. The first night we spent in Hattiesburg, MS seeing some of the “institutions” that we have all heard about for the past seven years. We got to bed a little after midnight on the 17th, only to be roused by my alarm going off at 4:30 am. We hooked up the boat and headed to the coast.

We arrived at the ramp at Bayou Caddy, just west of Bay Saint Louis, a little after dawn. We were greeted by a cold breeze and cloudy conditions as we bundled up and headed across Lake Borgne to the eastern margins of the Biloxi Marsh. After a relatively pleasant run, we began checking the satellite chart for likely looking edges and ponds. The persistent cloud cover made the fishing difficult despite the low water of the early incoming tide. Hoping to see pushes and tails in the flat light proved fruitless as the fish were just not active. As we approached the noon hour the sun finally broke through and we were greeted by reds as we worked our way through numerous ponds. Although the big reds alluded us, we managed to connect on several fish in the 10-15 lb range. The window of light proved to be finite and the last couple of hours were spent poling good looking water to no avail. The three of us also failed to realize that the wind had slowly gained steam and the run back to the ramp was uncomfortably memorable. The trip across Lake Borgne in a steep chop convinced us that fishing out of Hopedale, LA might be a smarter option for friday the 18th.

Despite a weather forecast calling for increasing winds and heavy cloud cover, we awoke early Friday morning and left the hotel just east of New Orleans in the predawn darkness. After a breakfast to go at a McDonald’s in Chalmette that redefined the term “fast food”, we headed down the road to Hopedale. As we made the run toward the edges of the marsh adjacent to the Gulf, the sun began to break through the soup and our spirits were lifted by the prospect of getting some light. Our first stop provided us with a number of shots at fish cruising and laid up. The fish were active and greedily pounced on the flies. We caught several nice fish, but the big ones still proved elusive. We fished the edges of the marsh and open ponds in hopes that we might find the bigger fish that we desperately desired. Around noon the wind picked up to an honest 25 knots, but the sun continued to shine. We found a clean edge adjacent to deeper water where Jacob spotted a nice red laying in a couple of feet of water. His cast landed right and the fish grabbed the fly. The fish, around 20lbs, headed up wind. As John futilely tried to chase, he spotted another fish even bigger up wind. I stripped some line off and made a couple of casts not getting the fly in the zone and the fish slid out of view. We landed Jacob’s fish, the biggest of the trip, just as the clouds rolled in, it was the last time that we would see the sun. After trying edges in hopes that the sun would reappear we gave up the ghost and headed for the ramp feeling satisfied and proud of ourselves at the good fishing we had.

Saturday morning came with high winds, rain storms and temperatures hovering around 40 degrees. We sat in the hotel room hoping the weather would break, but it was not to be. Saturday would not be spent fishing, instead we headed to New Orleans grabbed some sandwiches at Johnny’s Po-Boys and spent what seemed like hours at Louis Armstrong airport not looking forward to returning to Miami and leaving a place that we are all beginning to love.

Despite our inexperience in the area we managed to find a good number of fish, catch some and learn a lot about navigating what to us looks like a foreign landscape. We caught a decent number of fish ranging from 10-20 lbs, at one point having a triple header. The Mississippi River Delta is one of the most amazing fisheries in the country - the amount of bird life, the beauty of the marsh and the abundance of redfish and black drum makes it an uncomparable place. John and I are counting the days until we can return.

Drew

BRRRR!  

We have just been hit by a major cold front, with 30kt winds, highs in the 50’s and night temps in the 40’s.  It does not get much colder than this.  Needless to say the fishing has shut down.  Hell it’s so cold, it almost makes the fishing of just a few days ago seem like a mirage.

Before this front, our weather had been spectacular.  Blue skies, E or SE winds, and warm humid air; perfect conditions for winter time permit fishing.  I would love to say I had been out there wearing them out, but that would be an untruth.  I, like most everyone else, spent the last half of December entertaining out of town family members and enjoying the holiday season.  Sometimes it is nice to have a little time off the water.

Still, I was very excited to get back on the water, and Rob Clark from CA gave me the perfect excuse.  We fished two days, on the 30 and 31st, and enjoyed spectacular weather, and good fishing.   We spent the 30th targeting permit.  A falling tide on the Gulf gave us some early shots at backing permit, but a long run to the west of Key West gave us fish.  Here we fished the last of the flood thru the fall.  With the exception of a slow couple of hours around mid-day (hey I hadn’t fished in awhile) we were into fish all day.  The highlight of the day, a 10lb fish that chased down an aggressively stripped merkin knock-off, was Rob’s first permit on fly.  We finished the day with a 6lb bonefish and numerous shots at hard-tailing permit. 

Not to be outdone that day, Drew and his client, Court Ramsay of Lafayette, Louisiana, caught a pig of a bone in the backcountry. The broad shouldered fish made the 12lb mark easily.

The last day of 2007 greated Rob and I with 77 degree air temps and slick calm conditions.  I couldn’t help myself, I had to go tarpon fishing.  At our first two stops , we were greated with numerous rolling tarpon.  Even better, these were big fish (60-100+).  While many single were rolling around, we only targeted the schools, some of which held 50 or more fish.  Unfortunately, luck was not on our side.  We came tight to three fish, but none managed to stay on for more than a moment. 

By 10:30 the wind kicked up a touch, the sun came out, and the conditions were perfect.  Again, I couldn’t help myself.  We fished six areas for laid up fish, and found them in three.  With the blue skies and laid-up fatties, it felt like April.

We finished off our day targeting tailers.  While not as crazy as the night before, there were enough to get excited about.  By the end of the day, we still hadn’t managed to get a fish in the boat. (Sorry Rob, a Lane Snapper doesn’t count).  Still, there aren’t many better ways to go fishless than this.

Happy New Year All.  I hope we can share a boat sometime.

John