Empire, LA - On a bad day

[Saltwater4me]

As some of you know, I posted last week that we were headed to Louisiana to fish this weekend. After a truck ride down the LA stretch of I-10 that makes riding a bull seem smooth, we landed in Empire about 4:00PM local time on Thurs. evening. Things seemed the usual - unpack - buy license - get bait - oops we don't sale license here any more. After a fairly calm W.T.F. to the lady behind the counter. She explained that the new fangled computer system was too expensive and you had to go some where up the road to get license. (Lesson 1. Buy license online before you leave!!) Well, for those of you that haven't been, there ain't jack s@#$ once you get down that far in Louisiana. So, we headed to the store that did have the fancy new computerized license machine and found out that they ONLY take cash for license in that part of the state. (Lesson 2. take lots of cash to Louisiana if you are going fishing & repeat lesson 1.) After covering the two guys that were with me we stopped back at the first store to get money from an ATM that had fees close to the ones at a gentleman's club (someone told me about one time!!) Now that it was too late to fish we settled into our camp house for a long evening of nothing but anticipation. Daylight came with wind and cold temps, but we were on fire for some fishing. So we head to the boat hoist. Here is another really weird part of Louisiana NO boat ramps??? You have to go to a hoist and have them lower your boat in the water. Which by the way is not cheap (repeat lesson 2. NOBODY takes credit cards down there.) We set out into a maze of white PVC pipes and oyster bars that make the Aucilla look like a boaters paradise. Thankfully we didn't run aground, but we did stir a little mud several times. Down to fishing. Things started slow but we figured out a pattern that seemed to work and it was a redfish slam dunk. If you like sight casting to reds then load up and head for LA. The limit is 5 and they are plentiful. We used artificials almost exclusively and it was a rush. These fish were working the banks in 6" to 18" of water and when you saw one it was just a matter of presentation. We ended up catching about 20 or 25 reds the first morning and at least half of those were sight casted to. The only bad part was we were suppose to be filming some clips for a local show and the inclimate weather forced us to keep the cameras in the bag. But what a rush. You see a red tailing and drop a jig in front of him and watch him explode on it. We could of had some awesome video. The trout pattern was difficult with the temp changes that they had over the past week. We picked up a few trout as we went, but nothing like you should expect for that part of the world. That first day we fished a slack tide with the wind blowing 15 - 20 and threatening rain and still thought it was great. About 1/2 mile for the landing my buddy cut the "so called channel" just a notch to close and removed the skeg with one clean thud. (Lesson 3 a skeg guard can be very worth while. To bad he didn't realize that before now. Thankfully this was not my boat) After hours we relaxed and had the best fresh fried redfish I have ever cooked. Day two - lesson 4 came quick (lesson 4. ALWAYS charge your batteries when you are on an expensive fishing trip far, far from the house.) Boat in the water at 6:30 AM back to the store and new battery installed by 7:30AM (repeat lesson 2. - new battery $74.00 CASH). At this point a very good friendship is being fully tested by the fact that I asked him to charge the batteries the night before. Now no skeg - dead cranking battery and he is one fowl dude. Weather conditions were worse, but we were determined. Fished the same area as day one with very similar results. Made a clean run in on the skegless motor thank goodness. We cleaned a box full of reds and about a dozen trout just in time to watch my Auburn tigers beat the crap out of Tennessee!!!!!!! Loaded up and came home in the rain today!! Tired and worn out, but ready to go back at the drop of a hat.

Ya'll have a goodun'

Conditions were so nasty I only got the camera out for one pic and it turned out bad. Wore my rainsuit for 2 days straight.

[rocket]

Now that sounds like a good time!!! Did you book this place to stay, or was it a family/friend thing?

[Aucilla]

OMG

I laughed out loud several times! That was REALLY FUNny! What a great trip! I pray the Good Lord lets me do that other than in my dreams. First Mate or Deck Hand standing by!

Thanks for a great, and fun, story!

All I can say is, "That is funny!"

oh, and redfish, fried! wow!
sign me up
save this and look me up
i will bring the cash!

or the laughs!

[Saltwater4me]

The place the we stayed is called the Red Fish Inn in Empire. It is great you just call and make sure they have a unit open and it will be ready for you when you get there. They are fully furnished camp houses with a bedroom and kitchen. It is $30 per person per night. They offer house keeping and you just leave a check on the table when you leave. And yes, NO credit cards. Cash or check only. The boat lift is about 300 yard from the camp and they have a fish cleaning facility. It is a little rough but perfect for a fishing trip. If anyone wants the number I will be glad to pass it on.

[dstockwell]

Very good report.

[GC]

Great Report! Glad yall caught a mess!
That repory reminds me of so many of my own trips......you can never have enough cash.

I would like that number!

Thanks

[Second Chance]

Great report Sorry about all the issues. After one trip you kinda pick up on all the local customs (bring lots of cash l ) Still worth it for the best red fishing I've every experienced.

[qoutrage]

Well, sounds like you guys had a real adventure. It will certainly be a trip you will tell folks about for a long time. Thanks for the detailed report, I really enjoyed it.

[Saltwater4me]

The place we stayed is The Red Fish Inn owner John Mcguffee. 1888-764-FISH or you can go to his website http://www.theredfish.com/index.html and see the cabins. He also guides if you do not want to do it yourself.