Louisiana redfishing vacation, bring your flyrod says Captain Greg Dini

Despite some challenging cold fronts and a few bouts of poor weather, the fly-fishing action for big Louisiana redfish continues to be among the country’s best. In January, we logged some amazing fishing including a 32-pound redfish caught by Cary Kresge. We changed up the pattern a bit to get the big fish biting after a hard freeze in the early part of the year and it paid off with nice action on big redfish and black drum as well. A day on the water with a new fly angler, Kyle from Houston, showed us what makes this game so great. Kyle has only been fly-fishing for about a year and he lit it up, enjoying shot after shot with reds up to 40 pounds. It was a shooting gallery out there! We boated eight redfish over 25 pounds, including a monster double-header. It was one of those spectacular days in the Louisiana marsh that you just can’t forget.

A guide’s day off in February turned into one of the best fishing days I’ve had in a long time. Capt. Travis Holeman and I went to a top-secret spot where the big reds had been hanging out and decided to tie on a 4-pound IGFA tippet and my Hudini Crab in purple. We waited till we saw a big fish and when it appeared, Travis laid out a perfect 60-foot cast. The big red pounced on the fly and after a very careful 20-minute fight the fish came to the boat. I laid a gorilla grip on its tail so it wouldn’t get away. It was a good fish and we knew he had a shot to break the current 29-pound world record. The fish had a 25-inch girth and 42.5-inch length. The BogaGrip showed the big red weighing between 29.5 and 30 pounds. We submitted everything to the IGFA so cross your fingers! We also caught a 43-pound black drum on 8-pound tippet but that didn’t come close to the thrill of landing a potential world record fish!

I got to enjoy some more great Louisiana fishing with the traveling anglers from the Spring Valley Angler club. We landed some more big ones, including fish of 27 and 33 pounds. I also fished with my friend Mark B. Hatter who writes and takes great photography for many publications including Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Magazine. Mark landed his personal best redfish on 4-pound tippet, a nice 25-pounder. He even poled me around so I could catch a few. The big reds are still in the marsh and we have finally received some good weather from the man upstairs. The fishing is starting to stabilize and we’re still getting consistent shots at big redfish and black drum and the 5- to 15-pound fish are everywhere. I am excited to get into the spring pattern and the fishing will be incredible. There really is no other place quite like the Louisiana marsh come springtime.

Fly Water Expeditions

Captain Greg Dini

407-538-0770
Capnd13@gmail.com

Fly Water Expeditions Website