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Louisiana Redfish Trip.... Fly Suggestions

37K views 199 replies 48 participants last post by  KimmerIII 
#1 ·
In the late 50's, when my mother left Cuba at 6 years of age, she was sent to live with a relative in Eunice Louisiana. Being that my mother is the one responsible for my fishing addiction, I have always wanted to go fish Louisiana, as she has always spoken highly of it.
For some odd reason, my travels have never led that way, until now. This time next week, I should be in a marsh somewhere near Venice hopefully casting at fish. Which leads me to the reason for this thread..... What flies should I tie?

A few buddies have told me "whatever they see" is the best fly. Well, what exactly does that mean? There has to be a general consensus as to what flies should work best. Bait fish? Shrimpy / crabby? Natural colors? Bright loud colors?

Any recommendation on hooks?

Thanks!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Watch the Youtube video for the Zsa Zsa Gabor fly. Tie it in LSU colors. Some with eyes and some without depending on the depth. 2/0 tarpon hooks with no barb and 30lb tipit are my favorite. I use this fly 95% of the time.




If they reject it then I go for something natural like a crab or shrimp fly that lands light. Majority of zsa zsa rejections happen on an incoming or nip tide. For some reason they are more suspicious on an incoming and will study the fly harder, or spook off the louder thud from a rabbit hair fly.
 
#8 ·
In my opinion pick your normal redfish patterns and just up size it 2-3 hook sizes. #1-2/0 are fine depending on hook and profile. I would have some light and some dark flies. One of the most important things is having various weighted flies from lightly weighted to large dumbbell eyes. If the water is muddy fish are going to pop up really close and if the fly isn’t heavy enough for them to see it it’s not going to happen. You might be looking for fish in shallow water at one point of the day and 3’ later.
 
#9 ·
In my travels over to slidell and into the bayous, ive found that a little oversized flies have worked best. love the daiichi 3111 #1 for over there. bunny sliders with chartreuse tail, olive **** or fox, then black ep head with med beadchain is one of my go to for there. also an orange critter (rust silky tail, orange dub brush with some gold flash)bring some flies that resemble a white shrimp and make sure it has a dab of chartreuse at the tail. most importantly don't forget to drink a few too many beers and perfect the Cajun flop while over there!!!
 
#10 ·
Last year I fished with two flies. Redfish Crack in tan body/pink craft fur tail, and a redfish kwan tan and orange yarn body with a tan tail with lots of red and gold krystal flash. Both tied on gamakatsu 82511-12 1/0 hooks. Both got eaten if the fish saw it. I will say the big black drum would eat the kwan, but not the Redfish Crack. The Sheepies also seemed more interested in the kwan, so that's something to consider, because you will see some big sheepies and massive black drum.

Same trip my fishing partner fished a thickly tied black over white Clouser with heavy eyes and caught two fish over 40".

I think the answer is "anything you can get in front of the fish".
 
#13 ·
Put 26 in the boat the other day, I threw one of these the entire time and never changed flies. Just re-rigged my leader a few times. Either #2 or 1/0 with heavy lead eyes. Presentation is much more important than the fly in my book, and the weed guard is totally unnecessary, I won't tie them in on my next batch.
Artificial fly Fishing lure Bait Fishing bait Surface lure
 
#16 ·
I just got back from Louisiana, it's a very easy fishing over there... I was using a brown shrimp looking fly from SS flies https://www.ssflies.com/product.php?p=28 ... The thing I noticed about there is it's a lot about the short game.. The water is clean enough to sight fish but you get a lot of fish that just pop up close to the boat.. Every once in a while one would slip up and you would get a push or the tip of a tail, but it wasn't very often for us. think something you can make fast short shots that will sink quick..
 
#17 ·
The thing I noticed about there is it's a lot about the short game.. The water is clean enough to sight fish but you get a lot of fish that just pop up close to the boat.. Every once in a while one would slip up and you would get a push or the tip of a tail, but it wasn't very often for us. think something you can make fast short shots that will sink quick..
Yes, this. You need a fly that can get down quick. We like to throw little crabs or shrimp on #1 or #2 hooks with medium dumbbell eyes. Natural colors (think blue crab or olive) always work but we also throw hot pink and chartreuse often and that also works. For big bulls I'm a fan of a 2/0 hook with a variation of redfish crack and xlarge dumbbell eyes. I really like purple/pink and purple/black but any color should work as long as you can put it in front of the fish.
 
#19 ·
Sounds great, everyone! I'll whip up some bugs and report back!

Thanks!
 
#22 ·
Lots of great advise already but just to add, Saturday they were getting violent with a purple and chart slider. Deer hair on the head, chart bunny strip tail and XL bead chain. 1/0 SL12S + XL bead was a good weight for a slow sink in 1-2 ft. Tie some in small lead as well for a little deeper water. Later in the day the bite slowed and we swapped over to tan crabs about the size of a quarter on #2 SL12S with small lead eyes. Everything wants to eat crabs! Good luck and feel free to reach out to me while you're down!
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#23 ·
Lots of great advise already but just to add, Saturday they were getting violent with a purple and chart slider. Deer hair on the head, chart bunny strip tail and XL bead chain. 1/0 SL12S + XL bead was a good weight for a slow sink in 1-2 ft. Tie some in small lead as well for a little deeper water. Later in the day the bite slowed and we swapped over to tan crabs about the size of a quarter on #2 SL12S with small lead eyes. Everything wants to eat crabs! Good luck and feel free to reach out to me while you're down!
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Thanks for the report! I'm going to DM you now! haha.
 
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#24 ·
Fished the outside marsh over the weekend with the same fly I tied on a few weeks ago. 1/0 cheapo mustad with some pink and blue feathers haphazardly tied onto the hook. The result was multiple fish over 20 pounds. I ran out of lead eyes and being the lazy pos that I am I crimped on a small split shot to the loop knot when I needed to get down a little faster.

Wish I could say purple didn't work but my buddy put fish in the boat on what looked like a giant purple and chartreuse wooly bugger. We think one of those fish went north of 30 pounds but I don't own a scale so it was probably smaller than we think.
 
#48 ·
Fished the outside marsh over the weekend with the same fly I tied on a few weeks ago. 1/0 cheapo mustad with some pink and blue feathers haphazardly tied onto the hook. The result was multiple fish over 20 pounds. I ran out of lead eyes and being the lazy pos that I am I crimped on a small split shot to the loop knot when I needed to get down a little faster.

Wish I could say purple didn't work but my buddy put fish in the boat on what looked like a giant purple and chartreuse wooly bugger. We think one of those fish went north of 30 pounds but I don't own a scale so it was probably smaller than we think.
Length measurement is easy and quick not hard on the red fish jaw. So a typical 40" female red would weigh? 30 lbs?
 
#27 ·
Before y'all flock to the marsh since the fishing is "not really even fly fishing" and similar platitudes. There are loads of days when even the best of us get skunked. Is it easier than say FL? Sure. Of course it is. But some of you make it sound like just launch your boat and drive around and they redfish will jump in your boat for you.....lol
 
#31 ·
One of my buddy's grew up in Louisiana.... He told me a story of when he was younger, with his grandpa. They were in the marsh and seen a bobber floating, then noticed it was moving along. They crept up on it and he grabbed the line and hand lined the fish in, and it was a bull red.
 
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#33 ·
I'll be back next weekend 16th thru 19th. Launching out of the dale. Either Pips or Hopedale marina. Guide green HB pro with a white suburban pulling her. If you see me holla. I might need a partner if I can't find anybody to make the trip with me.
 
#35 ·
We are leaving Miami tomorrow, making our way to Venice. We will be in a brand new black f150 pulling a brand new gray Maverick HPX. Heading over there with forum member Really Shallow with his brand new skiff. We will be in town until Monday.
 
#44 ·
LA is great when it is on and you have legit chances at double digit fish, 20 to 30 pounds. You don't get those big boys in the flats down here in TX either (well, not that often, but they do come in certain areas), and we do get spooky fish too.

But fishing in LA can be tough too. Spots can get murky quick based on the wind. Fish do move, so where they are one day will not hold them the next. And most areas are fed by from a river to the north, so if there is a algae bloom, or high run off, it can have a negative affect as well.

The pics make it seem unreal, but they are pics of the best of the best. Reality is different - it is great fishing when it is on, but you can be handed a bad hand as well.
 
#50 ·
That chart's a pretty good guideline, maybe overestimating weights a little on the upper end, but It can vary quite a bit too depending on season and fish condition. One year a buddy and I got on a bunch of really big redfish that were running 44 inches but they were weighing in at only 28-29 pounds, they were skinny and all head, I think they had just come in from spawning. Sometimes they are full and fat and weigh more ymmv.
 
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