The value of higher education

[Williamsdad]

As some of you know, Luc spent 5 years at the University of West Florida, earning his degree, playing soccer, and learning many other things, not the least of which is the art of sight fishing in the Louisiana marsh. His teammate, and roommate lives in New Orleans with his family, and a couple of years ago we started the tradition of visiting them several times a year to fish with them on their home turf. They're kind enough to let us keep Luc's boat, along with theirs, behind a locked gate in their driveway, near the fairgrounds in New Orleans. We stay at a hotel several miles away, and everyday, make the trek to get the boat, and then head for the marsh.

Living there, they have the luxury of picking just the perfect days to fish, so we've evolved to the point that some days they join us, and some days they don't. We've learned from them different areas, some fairly protected, and pretty much go if the weather is at all fishable.

This past weekend we headed over, stopping in Pensacola late Friday afternoon, to hopefully chase bull reds crashing the surface in the bay - another skill Luc developed while at school. We got there at 3:00, and by 4:00, we had 5 bulls in the boat, and safely released. It's crazy fishing, with 10-20 boats searching for schools, then racing to them, casting in, and hanging on, with little regard to their fellow fisherman. We were lucky, caught a fairly calm, sunny day, and Luc found the fish almost right away. Then, just like that, it was done, and we continued toward New Orleans.

Saturday morning, winds were a little more than moderate, but the Kramers joined us anyway, inspired by our luck in Pensacola. We drove to our preferred location, and started the 40 minute boat ride to their fishing area of choice. Much of that run is through canals, much like running the east river, minus all the obstacles. It includes skinny water, and a couple of open water stretches that can get pretty rough, especially for a shallow water skiff. As mentioned, winds were up a little (10-15?), and the water was "dirty", which is a relative term, especially compared to the clear water we are lucky enough to experience around here. So with less than perfect conditions, Luc started polling us around, looking for fish.

His vision is exceptional - he can detect the slightest disturbance in the water, and points out most of the fish I eventually see, or don't see. He spots wakes, shadows, and even tails, along with the more cooperative fish, who show themselves so well even I can see them. And thankfully, probably due to less pressure, the fish are less spooky than around here, often giving us more than one shot at them.

As we polled into a creek that has produced in the past, Luc spotted a tail, near the point of a little piece of land in front of us. With his help, I saw it too, and hesitantly made a cast of my soft plastic in it's general direction. It wasn't a bad cast, but came back to the boat with no resistance. The fish had disappeared, out of site, but then suddenly reappeared, 20 yards in front of us, set up perfectly on our side of the point, at a 45 degree angle, facing out, into the current - I couldn't have picked it up and placed it any more perfectly. I actually consciously thought to myself, relax, don't screw up your next cast, and luckily, I didn't. As it turns out, the fish, clearly visible, was showing only about his upper third, we thought it was a nice, slightly over slot fish. I slowly pulled my jig right by his face, and we watched his massive gills flare as he totally inhaled it He bolted out of the creek, and I just held on. Luc said, "I guess you want me to go that way?", to which I responded, "I don't think you have any choice!", and he maneuvered the skiff as I tried to gain back some line.

Unlike Luc, and it drives him crazy, I'm the kind of fisherman who gives the fish every chance possible - I had a wind knot in my braid that was inhibiting about every other cast, and routinely, when my line gets low on the reel, I just tie knots and add line to line, so at different points on my reel, there are knots where line meets line.

Well this day, all the luck was with me, and the beast finally began getting closer to the skiff. Luc had climbed down from the platform, and really had to struggle to get the fish in our net, but he succeeded, and we boated, photographed, and successfully released, the 35 pound Louisiana redfish.

We caught a few more over the next couple of days, but this was the highlight. I guess it's really true, some days even a blind squirrel finds a nut. Tight lines!

Thanks a million Captain Luc!

[LucWilliams]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zload]

Nice fattie, PS its those young eyes

[FishWithChris]

Hell of a report, man that got me amped up! Great trip guys!

[bull68dawg]

[silverking]

Nice job, guys. Have fished both spots a bunch and your colorful description brought back fond memories of those locales. Great trip.

[SS-342]

Enjoyed the report. Thanks!