03-28-2013, 09:00 AM
My dad, brother-in-law and I went down to Venice, LA last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for our first Redfishing trip. Weather turned off good for our 3 days -- highs of 70 and low of 58 to 60. We put in three 8 hour days. Launched at Cypress Point Marina and went down to the very end of the Southwest Passage on day one. Water temp in the river was 47 while the bays were around 55-57. fished in water depth of 2 to 4 foot. Water was pretty murky in most places ---We found some green clear water that afternoon that had not mixed with river water --- amazing that the temp there was 67. Our guide provided 7 foot kistler medium action rods with shimano stradic 4000 spinning reels. We used 30 pound braid tied to a large popping cork. Bait was a 6 inch grub on a 3/8 lead head tied with 50 pound mono to the popping cork. Due to the murky water we used a 18" to 24" leader between the popping cork and leadhead. Total for the three days were 47 redfish in the boat. 21 fish got loose on the retrieve, 2 more broke the line and one fish completely spooled the line off the reel and never slowed down. only one fish was under 14 pounds. 46 of the fish were 14 pounds or more. most fish were 20 to 25 pounds. three pictures below. pic one showed a triple catch. pic 2 shows the 28 pounder and pic 3 shows last fish of the trip. If you have never been to southern LA to try redfish --- We recommend. Those fish don't quite pulling. They wore us out. Enjoy the pics.