12hrs. That’s how long it takes to drive from New Orleans to Naples towinga flats skiff; and it’s not nearly enough time to remember all the greatfish we caught in the marsh. Dave and I laughed and theorized about settingthe hook, what color they liked best, where the next coolest spot is, andhow awful the drive was at the end of the day back to Luling… Find thaton the map. Travis, god bless him, has a reason to live an hour an a halffrom the dock. It’s because any number of docks can be reached within thatdrive. No shit! And being on the redfish tour means you have to knoweverything there is to know about Southern Louisiana from Slidell to MorganCity. I have to admit, the drive absolutely killed me but I learned moreabout fishing and where the next level is in the last month than I have inthe last 2 years of guiding. In only a Cajun view of the world it all makessense. And that’s the point I’m trying to get at. Louisiana is justdifferent. It’s still a part of the United States as we depend on itheavily for oil, seafood and other goods, but the mindset is 1/2 American1/2 French 1/2 Black and 1/2 Southern. Everything is on a different clockdown here. You really have to let go in order to get by. And that’stypically un-American. Everywhere you look you see the absurd. Mardi Grasis the epitome of this. It’s the party to end all parties, and no one canescape it– excess in every direction. And we were all about it! Especially the freakishly enormous redfish that inhale Mardi Gras coloredflies. 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 like200 years ago, this is it.” It’s simply ridiculous! Only years ago theredfish in this part of the world were almost wiped out by chef PaulPrudhomme’s blackened redfish recipe and today they are thriving. There aremany theories about this fishery but from what I have seen over the years offishing here and talking to the commercial fisherman and other local anglersis that what we’re witnessing may be the cataclysmic collapse of the fisheryas the marsh washes into the Gulf. It’s really scary to think that it took6,000 years to build the Louisiana peninsula and it’s taken 60 to destroyit. After Katrina there are places like Port Sulfur and Empire that havebeen simply wiped off the map. The captains there are starting to see adecline in the fishing as the habitat disappears. There just aren’t as manyplaces to fish as there used to be. So we know it’s coming. It’s justmatter of time. For that reason I feel really lucky to have the opportunityto experience the marsh. It’s a wild and beautiful place. And as far assight fishing with a fly rod…when the conditions line up, there’s nothingthat beats it. We will be making an appearance for the second half of theFly Fishing Film Tour with brand new footage from our trip. So check outdates at www.aegmedia.com and enjoy the show. – Will Benson