07-16-2015, 11:02 PM
[#0000FF]I spent about 6 months in the New Orleans area on a temporary work assignment. I'm a float tuber and I launched in many places to fish the canals and back channels around Buras. Most of them are fairly shallow and most have reds, specks and flounder...all of which will hit almost any minnow pattern. Clousers are great. Ditto for zonkers and crystal buggers. Whites, yellows and chartreuse all work well. You will be wanting to imitate cocahoe minnows, baby mullet and small shrimp.
Best times to fish are when the tides are moving. Look for places where water is flowing into or out of marshy areas. Reds and other predators congregate to ambush minnows, shrimps, crabs and other groceries as they wash in and out of their feeding areas. But otherwise, just move along and cast in toward the edges of the reeds...or out off the points. Also, look for oyster beds during low water and fish them during high water.
I caught plenty of speckled trout and smaller redfish on a 6 weight. But an 8 is better both for throwing bigger flies and for handling beefy reds.
September should be prime time...in between hurricanes. Oh yeah, watch out for snakes and gators. They will still be active until it chills down in November. And if you are in a nonmotorized craft be sure to have a tide chart and watch the water movement. There are places you can get caught and have to wait out a tide change if you can't propel yourself back against the current.
About rentals. Suggest you go on line and look for something either in the New Orleans area or down in Buras or Venice. Been a while since I was there and I have no idea of anyplace in particular for you to look.
A guide is almost always worth the investment and can keep you out of trouble. But if budget is a concern you can probably find some fish without a lot of help. Get a good map of the area you will be fishing. Stop in some of the bait and tackle shops and don't make fun of their Cajun accents.
Oh yeah. One last thing. Be sure to bathe in a good bug repellent with lots of DEET. If you don't get carried off by the mosquitoes (state bird) the "no-seeums" (tiny biting flies" will drive you nuts.
While I was down there the locals favored slathering up with Avon Skin So Soft. It worked but it was kinda weird to go into a bait shop full of big macho locals all smelling like...well, a lady's boutique.
Is the fishing worth it? My first trip...unguided...I caught about 50 speckled trout and over 20 reds. Even got a couple of flounders. But I got a lot of weird looks from some of the locals in my float tube. "What da hell is dat?"
On the trip in the picture I caught well over 30 reds and about a dozen specks...all in the back corner of the Buras Boat Basin...right next to the main highway. There are often people fishing off the bank there and catching fish. But I kicked over and fished like I was bass fishing...casting around boat docks and old sunken derelicts. Biggest Ianded was 33 inches and 13 pounds. Close to bull status. Can't remember how many bigger ones escaped with new lip ornaments on my eight pound line.
When conditions are right you will catch a lot of fish in fairly shallow water. And it is a blast to see them pushing up pressure waves in front of them as they charge toward your lure or fly.
Good luck. And you can PM me if you have any questions I can answer for you.
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Best times to fish are when the tides are moving. Look for places where water is flowing into or out of marshy areas. Reds and other predators congregate to ambush minnows, shrimps, crabs and other groceries as they wash in and out of their feeding areas. But otherwise, just move along and cast in toward the edges of the reeds...or out off the points. Also, look for oyster beds during low water and fish them during high water.
I caught plenty of speckled trout and smaller redfish on a 6 weight. But an 8 is better both for throwing bigger flies and for handling beefy reds.
September should be prime time...in between hurricanes. Oh yeah, watch out for snakes and gators. They will still be active until it chills down in November. And if you are in a nonmotorized craft be sure to have a tide chart and watch the water movement. There are places you can get caught and have to wait out a tide change if you can't propel yourself back against the current.
About rentals. Suggest you go on line and look for something either in the New Orleans area or down in Buras or Venice. Been a while since I was there and I have no idea of anyplace in particular for you to look.
A guide is almost always worth the investment and can keep you out of trouble. But if budget is a concern you can probably find some fish without a lot of help. Get a good map of the area you will be fishing. Stop in some of the bait and tackle shops and don't make fun of their Cajun accents.
Oh yeah. One last thing. Be sure to bathe in a good bug repellent with lots of DEET. If you don't get carried off by the mosquitoes (state bird) the "no-seeums" (tiny biting flies" will drive you nuts.
While I was down there the locals favored slathering up with Avon Skin So Soft. It worked but it was kinda weird to go into a bait shop full of big macho locals all smelling like...well, a lady's boutique.
Is the fishing worth it? My first trip...unguided...I caught about 50 speckled trout and over 20 reds. Even got a couple of flounders. But I got a lot of weird looks from some of the locals in my float tube. "What da hell is dat?"
On the trip in the picture I caught well over 30 reds and about a dozen specks...all in the back corner of the Buras Boat Basin...right next to the main highway. There are often people fishing off the bank there and catching fish. But I kicked over and fished like I was bass fishing...casting around boat docks and old sunken derelicts. Biggest Ianded was 33 inches and 13 pounds. Close to bull status. Can't remember how many bigger ones escaped with new lip ornaments on my eight pound line.
When conditions are right you will catch a lot of fish in fairly shallow water. And it is a blast to see them pushing up pressure waves in front of them as they charge toward your lure or fly.
Good luck. And you can PM me if you have any questions I can answer for you.
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[signature]