A few months back, I was talking to a buddy of mine on the phone about how tough the albacore season had been this year. I must have remarked something like "the heck with the albies, lets go catch some reds in New Orleans this winter". I was half way joking when he replied, "it wouldn't take much to talk me into going". That's where he messed up.....I knew the seed had been planted, and with a little fertilizer, we'd soon be on our way to The Big Easy.
Fast forward a couple months, and I was picking up Jason from his house at 5am with boat in tow. We were taking a roll of the dice, as the weather men had been throwing out conflicting reports. A few hours into the drive we stopped at a fast food restaurant in Lumberton NC. We ran in, to grab a quick bite to eat. As we walked out I saw a car parked inches away from the back of my boat and ran out in a panic. The driver had driven right into my push pole and snapped it where it extended from the back of the boat. One of the most important pieces of equipment for the trip was gone, and we weren't even out of the state. After a few phone calls, a police report, and over an hour of wasted time, we were back on the road. I made a few phone calls and tracked down a buddy in Mississippi who graciously offered to lend me his push pole for the weekend. Around 10pm we rolled in to New Orleans, and made our way to my friends house. Dee Murphy greeted us as we pulled up. We unloaded the truck and crashed for the night.
Fast forward a couple months, and I was picking up Jason from his house at 5am with boat in tow. We were taking a roll of the dice, as the weather men had been throwing out conflicting reports. A few hours into the drive we stopped at a fast food restaurant in Lumberton NC. We ran in, to grab a quick bite to eat. As we walked out I saw a car parked inches away from the back of my boat and ran out in a panic. The driver had driven right into my push pole and snapped it where it extended from the back of the boat. One of the most important pieces of equipment for the trip was gone, and we weren't even out of the state. After a few phone calls, a police report, and over an hour of wasted time, we were back on the road. I made a few phone calls and tracked down a buddy in Mississippi who graciously offered to lend me his push pole for the weekend. Around 10pm we rolled in to New Orleans, and made our way to my friends house. Dee Murphy greeted us as we pulled up. We unloaded the truck and crashed for the night.
Oh Snap
On day two, we dropped in at Hopedale and noticed the wind was already blowing 20+, so we made the call to fish the inside bayous for slot fish. We had high hopes of fishing the outer edges of the marsh for bull drum, but the wind would have made it miserable. We ran about ten miles through a series of canals, and started fishing a few ponds in the middle of the marsh. We fought to stay close to any edge where we could get out of the wind and make a cast. The water was muddy, but we started seeing fish right away. We took turns switching off casting to fish that were pushing, crawling and tailing. Along with the slot size reds, we picked up a few flounder.
We started off with big fish in mind...but the trip proved to be a lot more than just chasing reds. We got plenty of Louisiana culture...from the fishing village of Hopedale, to a stroll down Bourbon Street, to a local restaurant with menu items like shrimp dust and cosmic rubble. All in all, an awesome trip. Many thanks to our host Dee for going above and beyond, to Dan for trusting me with his push pole, to Barret for the fishing locations, and to Bess and Michael for letting us crash in Mobile.
......I still need to go back for another stab at the big reds, anybody interested in a road trip???
Hopedale
The Infamous King Cake Baby Fly
Headed Home
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