Eric Rachel’s success in the woods has brought him a fair amount of fame and notoriety.
The wind has been relentless in Southeast Louisiana the past few days, but that hasn’t stopped Capt. Lloyd Landry with Outcast Fishing Charters (504-912-8291) from putting his customers on redfish on both sides of the Mississippi River.
“All my customers have wanted redfish the past couple trips,” said Landry, “which has been great since all that wind was blowing. The reds have been good on the east side of the river up in the duck ponds and in the marsh up toward the river because the water has been high.”
Landry has been fishing areas like this almost all the way up to Pointe a la Hache. All the inside pipelines from the Ostrica Locks up the inside of Quarantine Bay have been good even with the wind because anglers can find some protected water in the duck ponds when it’s high.
“Right now we’re catching anywhere from 48 to 68 fish a day, but some of them are running small,” said Landry. “We are catching quite a few tournament-quality fish, though.”
Landry cautioned that the water might be dingy in some of the canals and in areas like Cox Bay, so the fishing is better when the tide is falling because it pulls all the black water out of the marsh. Fishing this kind of water will also work in the back of Yellow Cotton Bay on the west side of the river.
“Actually, when the wind is blowing, you can always find a lee shore all up and down Buras Canal from the Empire Bridge to Yellow Cotton Bay,” Landry said. “When the tide falls, the clean water pulling out of the cuts will congregate redfish for the entire length of the canal.”
The best way to approach the cuts when the tide is falling is to stay back off the bank and work the points over before moving into the cut. Landry said it’s important to not crowd the fish.
“Spinnerbaits and spoons have been working well,” he added. “The spinner that Dudley makes that you can clip your own jighead to is great for these reds because I can catch more fish on one without having to switch because it’s got that heavier wire.”
Landry also throws a Chatterbait sometimes, but given that he’s catching from 20 to 50 fish a day, he likes something that isn’t quite as expensive if he loses it.