Double Up Redfish

Report Date: August 7, 2002

ADVENTURE SOUTH GUIDE SERVICE-Buras/Empire/Venice---

Today was the first of 3 days with Mr. Bob and Mrs. Linda Davenport of Florida. When Mr. Bob booked the trip with me some time ago, he made it perfectly clear that he really wanted to catch the redfish. I met them at the dock in Venice this morning at around 7:00 (Mr. Bob wanted to sleep in a little), and off we headed in search of a few of those bronze beauties. As I had anticipated a few days ago, our little brush with the tropical depression got the water just high enough in Venice to bring out the storm minnows. As we headed down the river this morning, the birds were lining the banks, and this is almost always a sign that the bait and redfish are in the area. All we needed was a falling tide and I knew it would be like taking candy from a baby. The only problem was that the tide was still high and rising when we got to our first stop, so I just kept moving and decided to hit some ponds and see if we could not catch some back in the grass with the water high. The first pond we tried produced 4-5 nice reds but the bite was anything but fast. We tried a couple of more ponds before I decided to head back to see if the storm minnows had made their appearance.

I called Capt. Andy to ask him how he was doing, and he told me that the storm minnows were moving, and that the redfish were feeding on them like crazy. As we pulled up to the area Capt. Andy was fishing, you could see the water flying as the redfish chased the storm minnows on the surface. Capt. Andy had some fish penned up on a point, so I trolled way around him and headed off to a point about 60 yards from him. Well, to make a long story short, we did not even get that far. A massive school of redfish was busting out in open water, and by the time I stuck the anchor, they were all around the boat. Mrs. Linda was getting some video of the action, and I hope she got the shot when no less than 50-100 redfish came up from under the boat and started busting the minnows up against the side of my boat. Talk about an awesome site! When these fish find the storm minnows, they feed on them like there is no tomorrow, and they do not care if your boat is in the area or not.

For the next hour or so Mr. Bob and Mrs. Linda caught fish on just about every cast. It really did not matter where they threw or what they threw. Mrs. Linda caught hers on the Spot Remover with a Deadly Dudley Terror Tail Jr' and Mr. Bob threw the Top Pup and put a hurting on them. I would let him cast and then try to keep the video camera on his top water so that we could get the explosion, and we got plenty. I guess Mr. Bob said it best. He said that he had seen huge schools of redfish many times in Florida, but never had he seen so many redfish, so close to the boat, and so willing to bite as he did today. He said it was simply, "Unbelievable!" and he must have said it 50 times. I even got in on the action and caught a few on the Baby 1-, but I was really too busy to fish. We'll be on the water again the next 2 days and I hope the action continues.

If you want to go fishing with a guide service that prides itself on giving it's clients an outdoor adventure of a life time, give me a call at (504) 392-1700, or on my cell (504) 382-2711. You will catch fish with us and have a lot of fun doing it! The night fishing action is on, and the available days in August are limited. The Redfish Roundup in the passes down river is on, and should continue through September. Don't miss the boat. I Guarantee Fish and Fun!!! On another note, if you are looking for a good light tackle set up, head on over to the nearest sporting goods store and pick up a Shimano Clarus 7 ft. medium action rod and the Shimano casting or spinning reel of you choice. I just picked up a couple of the Clarus rods at Academy and I can't be happier with them.

And remember, when fishing with Adventure South Guide Service, you will catch your own fish. I will not catch them for you. Until Net Time, Catch Em' Up!!!

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