Welcome to Fly Fishing
Visit Maine, USA! Lots To do!
Search
Fly Fishing


Fly Fishing Navigation
Home
Submit Your Fish Tale
Archived Fish Tales
Fly Fishing Forum
My Account/LOGIN
Contact Flies And Fins

Flies & Fins Social Web
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Google del.icio.us Yahoo! MyWeb StumbleUpon Furl Blinklist Spurl Magnolia Simpy Blogmarks Startaid Netvouz Facebook Shadows

Flies And Fins Feed
 Syndicate or Subscribe

Fish Tale Archives
Fish Tale Archives

Fly Fishing Videos & Tunes
Fly Fishing Videos

Fly Fishing Music

Flies And Fins Member Info
Welcome, Anonymous!
Nickname
Password
Security Code: Security Code
Type Security Code:
(Register)
Membership:
Overall: 3836

Flyfishermen Online:
Visitors: 69
Members: 0
Total: 69

Random Fish Tales
·Sea Run Brown Trout: Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina
·Upstate NY Trout: Small Streams, High Water And Wild Rainbows
·Montana: Awe Inspiring Trout, Prolific Hatches & Pristine Water
·Landlocked Salmon: Switching, Moving, Reading The Water And Finding The Fish
·Big Fins: A Different Kind Of Spin
·Maine Salt Water: Perfect Days
·North Carolina Trout: Midges, Streamers & Big Dogs
·Brown Trout: Creating My Own Hatch
·Trout Unlimited: Ain't That The Truth...Fisherboy 2005
·Bahamas: Bonefish Addiction, It's Easy To Get Hooked
·Tarpon Fly Fishing: The Silver King Wins Again!
·Steelhead Confidence: A Fly Fishing Oxymoron
·Do Fly Fishermen Consider Themselves Elitists?
·Tarpon On Fly And Foot In The Everglades
·Some Things You Only Do Once
·Louisiana Bayou Redfish: Lessons Learned at Their Expense!

 
Salt Water Louisiana: Mardi Gras Redfish, Excess In Every Direction
Posted by will-benson on February 20, 2008

AddThis Social Bookmark Button  Save to del.icio.us 


Video On Flies & Fins South

12hrs. That's how long it takes to drive from New Orleans to Naples towing a flats skiff; and it's not nearly enough time to remember all the great fish we caught in the marsh. Dave and I laughed and theorized about setting the hook, what color they liked best, where the next coolest spot is, and how awful the drive was at the end of the day back to Luling... Find that on the map. Travis, god bless him, has a reason to live an hour an a half from the dock. It's because any number of docks can be reached within that drive. No shit! And being on the redfish tour means you have to know everything there is to know about Southern Louisiana from Slidell to Morgan City. I have to admit, the drive absolutely killed me but I learned more about fishing and where the next level is in the last month than I have in the last 2 years of guiding. In only a Cajun view of the world it all makes sense. And that's the point I'm trying to get at. Louisiana is just different. It's still a part of the United States as we depend on it heavily for oil, seafood and other goods, but the mindset is 1/2 American 1/2 French 1/2 Black and 1/2 Southern. Everything is on a different clock down here. You really have to let go in order to get by. And that's typically un-American. Everywhere you look you see the absurd. Mardi Gras is the epitome of this. It's the party to end all parties, and no one can escape it-- excess in every direction. And we were all about it! Especially the

freakishly enormous redfish that inhale Mardi Gras colored flies. I believe it's one of the coolest things in saltwater fly fishing. I tell people, " if you want to experience what fishing would have been like 200 years ago, this is it." It's simply ridiculous! Only years ago the redfish in this part of the world were almost wiped out by chef Paul Prudhomme's blackened redfish recipe and today they are thriving. There are many theories about this fishery but from what I have seen over the years of fishing here and talking to the commercial fisherman and other local anglers is that what we're witnessing may be the cataclysmic collapse of the fishery as the marsh washes into the Gulf. It's really scary to think that it took 6,000 years to build the Louisiana peninsula and it's taken 60 to destroy it. After Katrina there are places like Port Sulfur and Empire that have been simply wiped off the map. The captains there are starting to see a decline in the fishing as the habitat disappears. There just aren't as many places to fish as there used to be. So we know it's coming. It's just matter of time. For that reason I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to experience the marsh. It's a wild and beautiful place. And as far as sight fishing with a fly rod...when the conditions line up, there's nothing that beats it. We will be making an appearance for the second half of the Fly Fishing Film Tour with brand new footage from our trip. So check out dates at www.aegmedia.com and enjoy the show. - Will Benson



The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.

No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please Login/Create Account

Re: Louisiana: Mardi Gras Redfish, Excess In Every Direction
by jeremy on February 20, 2008 http://www.ineedasimplesolution.com
will and dave,

WOW! Seriously, when dave told me you guys were towing the flats boats from florida to louisiana, i was kinda like "why? just for some redfish? you could catch redfish in the everglades?" .. Well, now I know why. The "freakish sizes" of the redfish are amazing. I have only caught 2 redfish in my life (ps. I am very proud of those 2:) .. Anyway, I kinda thought I knew what "big" meant in terms of redfish .. but, I guess "big" is all relative to where you are fishing .. I honestly had no idea Redfish got that big, so consistently. Ya, I probably knew they get caught .. but it seems that those monsters were plentiful and the "small" ones were few and far between. Equally as much, I enjoyed how you guys caputured the essence of the experience. Love the shot of the crabs in the cooker. Sweet! Great story telling too, you really captured the totality of "the experience" via film and writing in a very cool way. It came across on film that you guys were just enjoying yourselves, having fun and learning about the fishery and the culture. That is what I like most. Fun and always learning and appreaciting the vast amount of fly rod culture opportunities worldwide .. great job .. thanks for helping me to see how special Lousiana is in terms of the fly fishing and people culture.



Re: Louisiana: Mardi Gras Redfish, Excess In Every Direction
by joey on February 20, 2008 http://www.fliesandfinseast.com
Great piece boys, Those Reds are crazy big. I liked how you had to roll over into the boat to get them in. Excess in every direction couldn't be any more accurate. I was there in college and I was in toxic shock for a week after I left.



Re: Louisiana: Mardi Gras Redfish, Excess In Every Direction
by NiC on February 21, 2008 http://www.fly-only.dk
Thats what I love about flyfishing.. you'll learn something new every day.
I have heard about Redfish flyfishing, but I never thought it would / could be fish of those dimensions.
Now I have to add a new place on my 'Must visit'- list when I, in the future, go to USA for fishing...
- Nice video ... really nice ...



Re: Louisiana: Mardi Gras Redfish, Excess In Every Direction
by Austin on February 21, 2008
Wow! some truly amazing filming. It is so cool to see you guys post tailing permit from florida, and now giant redfish in louisiana. You guys keep opening up my eyes for fly fishing opportunites, and it looks like the 14 hour drive was worth it....looking forward to seeing your what your next adventure will bring...



Re: Louisiana: Mardi Gras Redfish, Excess In Every Direction
by AvidDavid on February 24, 2008
I've fished from boats smaller than that fish!


 
Fly Fishing Pictures







Summary: Flies and Fins contains fly fishing pictures, videos, tips, tactics, forums and articles related to salt water and fresh water fly fishing. The stories are comprised of fly fishing trips and vacations to travel destinations worldwide with fly fishing tips and tactics related to trout, steelhead, salmon, tarpon, permit, bonefish, tuna, striped bass, shark, sailfish, and other freshwater and saltwater fish species. Flies and Fins is an online fly fishing community comprised of fly fishermen of all different levels and all walks of life. Flies and Fins is a state of mind, a way of life; an opportunity for fly fishermen to use video, pictures, and the written word to share their fly fishing experiences and live vicariously through the experiences of other fly fishermen. Please browse our stories site map, corresponding fly fishing story archives, and forum site map.