Sportsman's Paradise

Report Date: September 18, 2003

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

Today I had Jim, Buggs, and Gary from Mississippi. Jim has fished with me in the past, and he is always good to go for some trout action. With that in mind, I headed out to the same spot that I started my day on yesterday. The tide was falling hard when we got there, so I really was not expecting much action. Once I eased the MotorGuide trolling motor over the side and into the water, the guys picked up my new St. Croix rods a proceeded to let the lures fly. Almost immediately one of the guys was hooked up, but I could tell from the acrobatic display the fish was putting on that it was not our intended target. The dance was unmistakable and could only be that of a hopped up ladyfish. The ladyfish have been thick the past week or so, and although they are fun to catch when they are big, they make catching trout almost impossible at some locations. The guys did manage to catch a few trout and a couple of big reds, but the action was slow to say the least, so we decided to take a ride while the morning was young.

Our second stop of the morning produced a few more trout and a few more reds, but again, the action was slow and I felt like I had to take advantage of the good falling tide and hit as may "high probability" spots as I could. Sure enough, our second spot proved to be the trout hole of the day. The guys did a good job of picking through the ladyfish and bull reds at this location and every couple of cast they were rewarded with a fat pogie filled trout. These fish were very healthy and fought good in the stiff current. We sat on this location for some time and the guys managed to box about 25 very nice trout. By this time the box was getting full, so we decided to head to another couple of trout spots before we went into the grass in search of reds. All the other stops, although giving up a few fish, never did give us the kind of trout action we were looking for, so it was on to the grass line to do battle with some beautiful bronze redfish.

The first red fishing location we tried produced nothing. At our second stop we hit pay dirt. I had hardly finished easing the trolling motor over the side when I looked up and saw a school of about 10 reds swimming lazily toward the boat with their backs sticking out of the water. "Cast, cast, cast," I cried, and it was ON from there. In a matter of only about 20 minutes, we had a triple hook-up, along with a couple of double hook-ups', and the limit of 15 reds was filled. These fish were abundant and they wanted to eat. At about 11:45, we called it a day and high fives were exchanged all around.

Our trout were caught using Deadly Dudley Terror Tails in Purple/Chartreuse and Black/Chartreuse, while the reds were caught using Dudley's rigged with a spinner or with gold spoons.

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 lifetime, then give me a call at (504) 392-1700, or on my cell (504) 382-2711. The guides who fish my customers are TOP NOTCH, not just some guy who knows how to drive a boat and cast a fishing pole!!! Let us arrange your next corporate, group, or family fishing trip. I Guarantee Fish and Fun!! The Fall Trout Slam is on it's way, so don't miss the boat!!!Until Net Time, Catch Em' Up!!!

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