- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Are redfish making a comeback? (A Report)
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:14 am
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:14 am
Hey y'all. Sorry I'm a bit behind with this update, but as always, there's a video to pair with this story. Seriously, big shoutout to everyone who reads these and checks out the videos.
Last Wednesday was a dream day. The wind was flat, temps were low, and the tide was dropping from 5 a.m. and kept going till around 1 p.m. I was all set to jump into the trout party I keep hearing about, but only caught two.
But you know my backup plan – sight fishing. And man, I haven’t seen redfish like this in years! I was drifting between bayou intersections until about 10:45 a.m. when I drifted into a flat that connects to a bayou with 6 duck ponds feeding into it. Usually, I'd be bouncing between the drain points, but man, I couldn't leave that flat. Reds were everywhere!
I mean, they were legit everywhere. You'll see this in the video but I spooked maybe 20 of them because I just wasn't used to seeing so many. At first, they weren't feeding and it was tough to get them to eat. But come 12:30? They were hitting everything. In all, I caught them on a maxtrix craw, zoom craw, doa shrimp, and HH cocahoe in tuxedo.
This was one of those trips where I wish I didn't have a job to go home to. I had to cut this early because I had an important call to hop on and needed to at least be in my car for it. But I'm telling y'all, if I had taken the day completely off I would've caught 20 or more.
Can’t help but get pumped just typing this up. I can't remember the last time I saw reds like this. This fall though? Two trips, two limits. And this weekend, I’m going for another. When was the last time we had it this good?
What do we attribute this to? No hurricanes? Slow down of recreational fishing? Something else? I don't know what it is but I promise to keep releasing them so y'all can catch them too.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Check out the video and hopefully, I’ll run into some of you out there.
Last Wednesday was a dream day. The wind was flat, temps were low, and the tide was dropping from 5 a.m. and kept going till around 1 p.m. I was all set to jump into the trout party I keep hearing about, but only caught two.
But you know my backup plan – sight fishing. And man, I haven’t seen redfish like this in years! I was drifting between bayou intersections until about 10:45 a.m. when I drifted into a flat that connects to a bayou with 6 duck ponds feeding into it. Usually, I'd be bouncing between the drain points, but man, I couldn't leave that flat. Reds were everywhere!
I mean, they were legit everywhere. You'll see this in the video but I spooked maybe 20 of them because I just wasn't used to seeing so many. At first, they weren't feeding and it was tough to get them to eat. But come 12:30? They were hitting everything. In all, I caught them on a maxtrix craw, zoom craw, doa shrimp, and HH cocahoe in tuxedo.
This was one of those trips where I wish I didn't have a job to go home to. I had to cut this early because I had an important call to hop on and needed to at least be in my car for it. But I'm telling y'all, if I had taken the day completely off I would've caught 20 or more.
Can’t help but get pumped just typing this up. I can't remember the last time I saw reds like this. This fall though? Two trips, two limits. And this weekend, I’m going for another. When was the last time we had it this good?
What do we attribute this to? No hurricanes? Slow down of recreational fishing? Something else? I don't know what it is but I promise to keep releasing them so y'all can catch them too.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Check out the video and hopefully, I’ll run into some of you out there.
6
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:28 am to catchyalater
Nice trip
Redfish never left the area and don't need the limits changed. Most fisherman just don't adapt and figure the fish are extinct because they can't catch them in the same 3 points they fish one Saturday a month.
quote:
Are redfish making a comeback?
Redfish never left the area and don't need the limits changed. Most fisherman just don't adapt and figure the fish are extinct because they can't catch them in the same 3 points they fish one Saturday a month.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:31 am to catchyalater
If the reports re: the stocks being down were correct, then no, they are not making a comeback. Too soon.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:33 am to catchyalater
I saw more schooling redfish on the barrier islands than I’ve ever seen before this past weekend.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:42 am to redneck
quote:
Most fisherman just don't adapt and figure the fish are extinct because they can't catch them in the same 3 points they fish one Saturday a month.
I don't understand this line of thinking. It's not random fisherman who have been reporting a drop in populations. It's people like Todd Masson who puts out two videos a week of his fishing trips. You really think he doesn't know how to catch fish?
Posted on 10/26/23 at 10:43 am to redneck
quote:
Redfish never left the area
I'm not sure what you're referring to as the "area," but if you are referring to the inside of the marsh on either side of the river, you have clearly not spent a significant amount of time targeting redfish over the last several years.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 11:33 am to redneck
quote:
Redfish and specks arent in trouble and don't need the limits changed. Most fisherman just don't adapt, and figure the fish are extinct, because they can't catch them in the same 3 points they fish one Saturday a month.
fixed
people who want limits reduced are just too dumb to catch fish so they dont want anyone else to be able to catch them either
Posted on 10/26/23 at 11:55 am to catchyalater
In 3 days of fishing this month, I probably caught 50 rat reds and only 6 or 7 slot sized ones. Definitely a welcome sign to see so many rats in the marsh
Posted on 10/26/23 at 11:57 am to bluemoons
quote:
ou have clearly not spent a significant amount of time targeting redfish over the last several years.
Charlie Thomason and his guys have no problem catching a limit 7 days a week regardless of the weather conditions. Many days with a different group in the morning vs afternoon. He had a facebook post a few months stating that the fish have always been there, people just aren't adapting to their changes. The guides are finding the fish, the weekend warriors are not
Posted on 10/26/23 at 12:26 pm to keakar
quote:
people who want limits reduced are just too dumb to catch fish so they dont want anyone else to be able to catch them either
The irony in this post is comical. Some of the best redfish guys on the planet have noticed a change. You can try to make arguments against regulation changes all you want, but this “the people who want lower limits can’t catch fish” narrative is child-like thinking at best.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 12:27 pm to redneck
Do you know Charlie? Based on your post, I’d guess that you don’t. Regardless, do you think Charlie is more motivated by keeping his books full or supporting regulations that he believes would hamper his ability to do that?
I can pretty much guarantee you that I’ve spent more time targeting redfish in the interior marsh over the last 15 years than most anybody on this board, and just as much if not more time doing so than a lot of full time guides. I immediately question the credibility, experience, or knowledge of anybody who suggests that the slot redfish population in the interior marsh is the same today as it was 5 years ago, and so should you. It’s honestly laughable that someone could suggest that with a straight face. If you give me a bag of dead shrimp, I can also almost guarantee you that we can go catch 10 25-28” fish somewhere in the marsh. That does not mean the stock health and the population are the same as several years ago. Arguing that point is a false equivalency and it completely ignores the differences in behavior and habits amongst the varying sizes/ages of redfish.
I can pretty much guarantee you that I’ve spent more time targeting redfish in the interior marsh over the last 15 years than most anybody on this board, and just as much if not more time doing so than a lot of full time guides. I immediately question the credibility, experience, or knowledge of anybody who suggests that the slot redfish population in the interior marsh is the same today as it was 5 years ago, and so should you. It’s honestly laughable that someone could suggest that with a straight face. If you give me a bag of dead shrimp, I can also almost guarantee you that we can go catch 10 25-28” fish somewhere in the marsh. That does not mean the stock health and the population are the same as several years ago. Arguing that point is a false equivalency and it completely ignores the differences in behavior and habits amongst the varying sizes/ages of redfish.
This post was edited on 10/26/23 at 12:29 pm
Posted on 10/26/23 at 12:30 pm to redneck
quote:
Charlie Thomason and his guys have no problem catching a limit 7 days a week regardless of the weather conditions. Many days with a different group in the morning vs afternoon.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t significantly less fish. You could technically still catch a 10 man limit if there were only 50 fish left in Louisiana.
The reality is there are far fewer slot fish than there were 5-10-20 years ago. That’s blatantly obvious for people who spend a lot of time in the marsh. We can argue over what to do about the changes, or what caused them, but changes have most certainly occurred.
This post was edited on 10/26/23 at 12:33 pm
Posted on 10/26/23 at 12:40 pm to bluemoons
I’ll vouch for Bluemoons. Not only has the dude been keyed into redfish forever but he’s close with many people who live/breath/sleep redfish 24/7. He knows EXACTLY what is going on with redfish in LA
Posted on 10/26/23 at 12:43 pm to hall59tiger
quote:
The reality is there are far fewer slot fish than there were 5-10-20 years ago.
Agreed. I have been fishing for redfish for three decades now. The day I had last week used to be the norm, now it is the exception.
Of course guides are going to post about how great things are. They want clients!
Posted on 10/26/23 at 1:50 pm to catchyalater
I've caught more Redfish than I ever had the last 2 months. All trips have been in and around Big Lake. But, the salinity is higher than normal. It's the Flounder I've been struggling with.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 2:35 pm to LSUlefty
I haven't caught a flounder in a while. I've been wanting to correct that. I have a spot that around this time usually has them, may have to pay it a visit.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 2:55 pm to LSUlefty
The redfish have been getting absolutely hammered for the last two months due to wind conditions. I like some of the proposals with reducing limits/taking guide limits/max size limits. We don't catch them every day, no guides do but they want you to believe they do 
Lefty, i really hope you haven't been keeping any flounder since it closed Oct 15th and won't open back until Dec 1st.
I have several clients ready to go get them on that day.
Lefty, i really hope you haven't been keeping any flounder since it closed Oct 15th and won't open back until Dec 1st.
I have several clients ready to go get them on that day.
Posted on 10/26/23 at 3:16 pm to KemoSabe65
Didn't catch any flounder last weekend. Going back this Saturday. We have a year round CPR tournament. I'll take a picture and release.
Posted on 10/27/23 at 2:29 pm to catchyalater
I had a good trip in Grand Isle the same day. Nice specs and redfish. The bite was slow but we could have caught fish all day in the same spot.
Posted on 10/27/23 at 3:14 pm to bluemoons
quote:
If you give me a bag of dead shrimp, I can also almost guarantee you that we can go catch 10 25-28” fish somewhere in the marsh.
this is total newb question, I just moved to the gulf coast at the beginning of the year, and am pretty green on saltwater fishing, but I've been trying to figure it out.
How do you keep dead shrimp on your hook? Every time I've used dead shrimp, most casts they are gone within seconds it seems like. Is that just how it is, or is there a way to keep those fish from stealing them so easily?
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News