Where Have I Been?

Report Date: February 16, 2003

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

I've had so many e-mails wondering what happened to my reports, that I felt it was time to get back online. I typically do not fish a whole bunch during late January and February, because you never know what you are going to get. If you get a few nice days in between fronts, and the water temperature jumps a few degrees, then you can have some good days. On the other hand, if you happen to have a trip scheduled around the passage of a front, then you are probably going to struggle to catch a few fish, in particular if you are looking for trout. With that in mind, I, personally, am not going to get my clients to book a trip when they have only a 50-50 chance at having a good trip. For those clients that insist on booking this time of the year, I tell them that I will monitor the conditions and make a call a day or two prior to the trip. I want all of my customers to come back. I do not want them to come fishing with me and have to struggle to catch fish. People who fish enough know that tough days occur even during the prime fishing times of the year, so how often do you think it happens this time of the year?

A prime example of this was yesterday. I've had Chris Posey and a couple of his buddies booked for a few weeks now. Early in the week, the weather reports were calling for rains and high winds for yesterday morning. I let the guys know that if this forecast did turn out to be correct, that the last place we wanted to be was on the water trying to catch fish. Well, as luck would have it, the forecast was continually updated and the front was not supposed to pass through New Orleans until after 12:00 yesterday, which meant it would be later than that in the Venice area, so we had plenty of time to get out and catch some fish. We also had several warm days early in the week to our advantage, and good catches early in the week by other fishermen.

The guys pulled up at the dock a little before 7:00, apologizing for being late, but I told them not to worry and motioned at the fog still hanging over Tiger Pass. With the approach of the front, the winds had subsided a little during the night, and the river and surrounding passes were "socked in" with fog. I don't do fog!!! We waited for the fog to lift a little before I joined forces with a couple of other boats and headed down river to do a little fishing. The fog was still a little thick in the river, so we stayed close to the bank and did not cross until it lifted a little down river. When we got to the first stop of the morning, I was happy to see decent colored water and a good incoming tide. This time of the year I would rather a falling tide, but if the tide is not falling, I like to see it coming in hard. We bounced around, picking up a few here, a few there, all the while waiting for the sun to get up high in the sky and warm the surface temperatures a bit. Sure enough at around 11:00 the mullet started to get active and the trout followed in their tail tracks. We drifted into a small cove and the corks started to disappear on a regular basis. This action continued for several hours before I told the guys that they had reached their 75 trout limit. We all exchanged handshakes, and decided it was time to hear for home. Hopefully we have seen the last of the cold weather down here. If we do dodge any more cold fronts, and if the river stays low like it is right now, then the spring is going to be awesome!!!

If you want to go fishing or fly fishing with a guide service that prides itself on giving it's clients an outdoor adventure of a life time, then give me a call at (504) 392-1700, or on my cell (504) 382-2711.I Guarantee Fish and Fun!! Until Net Time, Catch Em' Up!!!

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