Fly Fishing for Louisiana Redfish
The morning started with a 2:35 AM soft tap at my front door. It was from my brother Lionel James, captain of Lions Tale Adventures Fishing Charters out of Destin Florida. I was ready. The day felt like Christmas, with a sense of nervousness mixed with excitement for the adventure ahead. I grabbed my cup of coffee, kissed my wife, and headed out the door for Hopedale, Louisiana. The drive was just a little over 4 hours so I knew there would be a lot of time for us to chop it up, which only adds to the experience because I have so much respect for Lionel’s business mind and work ethic - I couldn’t wait to get to into the nitty gritty. The ride was epic; full of perspective and feedback, feeling like we could have recorded 3 podcast episodes before being topped off by an epic sunrise as we crossed into Louisiana.
This was an exciting morning because it was filled with a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time in this part of Louisiana, it was my first time going on a guided fly fishing trip, and it was my first real opportunity to test out how good my casting was or wasn’t. When we arrived to the dock it was 34 degrees and the fleet was on the move. Our trip was with Captain Max McKinley of Maxed Out Fishing Charters. When Max arrived we jumped on the skiff and headed out the channel into what looked like an endless maze of marsh. As we arrived to the first spot, my nerves were heavy and I had a slight shiver from the freezing ride, which didn’t help at all with my stability. I couldn’t help but think: “is it gonna be how it looks on instagram with red fish everywhere?” My eyes are scanning everything looking for anything moving because I wasn't sure what these fish will look like in this color water. Keeping my eyes peeled about 40 yards away from the boat, I miss my first opportunity at a redfish that was swimming literally 10 feet from the boat. The fish was so close I didn’t even know how to get my fly in front of it and the small window of opportunity I had was gone as quick as it came. “Shake it off,” I tell myself. “Get ready for the next one.” Sheepshead, 10 o’clock, 10 feet, I hear Max from the poling platform. Spooked him, and just like that, I’m 0-2. Feeling a bit defeated from not being ready for my first two opportunities, I was ready to give up my spot form the casting platform. Lionel, however, let me get another shot before he tagged in and man was I happy he did.
After a short ride to another spot we pull into what Max called a pond. After polling around for a few minutes I hear again, “10 o’clock, 60 yards” and when I turn around I see a full tail of a tailing redfish waving at me. This was the moment I came to Louisiana for and my adrenaline jumps to a 10. Max gets me closer and I prepare to take my fist cast at a Louisiana redfish. My first wind up dropped just behind the fish. Pick it up, 5 more feet to the right, Max instructs, I pick up my line and recast a cast that not only feels great but lands perfectly. Three strips later and I landed my first redfish on fly. What a sense of relief and accomplishment. Inside this pond there were too many fish to count. I went on to catch another red, Lionel caught two, even Max got in on the action. After getting more than our fair share of opportunities in this pond, we decide to move to another spot. Fishing is fishing and after a few misses and a slow bite I get up on the bow for the last time. Creeping along I see a slow moving fish at 12 o’clock. After a few short cast to get just enough line out I drop my fly inches in front of the black drum that has me in the backing of my Orvis reel before I know it. After a nice fight, we land the beast and I feel full. It was a great day. Not just because we caught fish but because of the nature of the entire experience. I got to go to Hopedale, Louisiana with great company, with perfect fly fishing conditions, and caught beautiful fish on my first fly trip. I am complete.
