Capt. Charlie Thomason with Bayou Charters (985-809-6391) was as spirited as Tiger Stadium after a touchdown when he told me we were going sight fishing for redfish. “Everybody doesn’t have it as good as us here in Southeast Louisiana,” he said. “Wait until you see what we’re about to do.”
We hadn’t traveled more than 10 minutes from Thomason’s dock along the Hopedale Highway when he shut off the big engine and dropped his trolling motor. The pond was alive, and it was easy to tell this place was full of redfish.
“You can look around and see small, shallow wakes, and you can see the larger, deeper wakes,” said Thomason. “Those deeper wakes are what you want to see because that’s the redfish. We’re not going to be throwing at the wakes, though. You can if you want to, but I want to actually spot the fish in the water and catch them.”
Thomason’s words were cut short as he pointed out a golden bronze redfish in the water that looked like a brand-new penny. The fool thing was swimming right at the trolling motor, like it was trying to check it out to see what it was. Before it could figure it out, though, Thomason had dropped a Texas roach-colored Saltwater Assassin Shad right in front of its nose.
The water exploded in a frantic display of white splashes, red flashes and high-speed dashes as the 26-inch brute tried to shake the hook. Thomason would have nothing of it, though, and slid his net under the confused fish.
“That was awesome!” Thomason exhorted. “When you can see a fish, throw a bait to it and watch it bite — I can’t think of a more fun way to fish.”
Thomason said the entire east side of the Mississippi River is just loaded with shallow ponds that are full of grass and redfish. The grass filters out enough of the sediment to make them almost crystal clear — perfect conditions for sight fishing reds.
“The closer you get to Delacroix and Caernarvon, the cleaner the water gets because there’s more grass as you get closer to those areas,” he said. “Bayou La Croix between the Mississippi River and Oak River is also a great spot. Try places like Wreck Bay, Second Bay and Third Bay.”
The key to catching the reds that you can see is to keep your trolling motor on a constant speed, getting as high a perch as you can in your boat, and keeping your arms and rods down. Many of these reds are so aggressive that they will actually come out of the grass to check out your trolling motor. You’ll first spot the white of their mouths, and there’s no mistaking the reds because of their dark bronze color.
Baits really don’t matter as much as making a correct presentation. Lead the fish anywhere from 6 inches to 3 feet with a large-profile bait, and you will force that fish to bite. While they will sometimes turn around and eat a bait at their tails, don’t count on that to happen.
“We sometimes forget just how good we have it here,” Thomason said. “People in other states would do anything to be able to go out and catch 20 to 100 of these reds a day by sight fishing. They’re sometimes lucky if they get three or four. Get out there and take advantage of what Louisiana has to offer because I can tell you it doesn’t get any better.”