# For the fish in LA and the reds just jump in your boat crowd



## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Fished Friday, Sunday, and Monday. Conditions were great. Some sun, warm, and not too windy.

Friday - Two anglers, two bull reds.
Sunday - Two anglers, one bull red, one black.
Monday - Two anglers, blanked

Yup couldn't keep the dang fish out of the boat. Took me hours to clean all the flsh slime off the deck.....LOL

Oh and for the next four or five days its going to be unfishable and I suspect the great water clarity is shot to hell.


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

Where in LA are you fishing?


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

brianBFD said:


> Where in LA are you fishing?


In the water.....


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

ifsteve said:


> Sunday - Two anglers, one bull red, one black.


Were you in my boat on Sunday? Same story for us. One big fish. Lots of misses early from the fog and clouds, and when it cleared we had some refusals before finally hooking up. The black drum went into the ice chest.

This was his first right proper bull redfish


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

I don't think we even saw two dozen reds total in three days on the water.


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## Ruddy Duck LA (Jun 23, 2017)

I seriously love this. There should be a running report thread on bad LA trips.

Sunday, I took my 13 year old and his friend to the marsh. They threw spinning rods all day.

One red hooked and lost.

One red hooked and broke off.

One small trout landed.

The only other skiffs I saw had AL and FL numbers. I talked to two groups and both got skunked. Assuming they have access to the internet, they likely had higher expectations of their trips. It's all roses around here according to people that don't actually live with our fishery year round. 

My buddy that guides got two.


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

ifsteve said:


> In the water.....


.

As if I were trying to potlick a skunk spot.....


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

brianBFD said:


> .
> 
> As if I were trying to potlick a skunk spot.....


One bad day, does not a skunk spot make.


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## Financekid1 (Jul 19, 2012)

Dang...thats too bad. We just got back from Louisiana last week and the fish were jumping in the boat.


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

jmrodandgun said:


> One bad day, does not a skunk spot make.


Really?


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

LA is the most hot and cold place I've ever fished. It can be really tough / impossible or "jumping in the boat". I've had more trips to LA that resembled the former rather than the latter, unfortunately over last few years.


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## mightyrime (Jul 18, 2016)

I leave for a 3 day trip tomorrow. Looks like the cold front on Friday will probably force a cancellation for the day. Fingers crossed for clear skies and sun on Saturday and Sunday. Last year my trip was fully cancelled due to weather. Year before was amazing as you can see from the picture in my icon.


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## lsunoe (Dec 5, 2016)

This weekend was decent on one side of the river and very poor on the other. I love how people think every trip is double digit redfish and nonstop action, when in reality that is not the case.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

mightyrime said:


> I leave for a 3 day trip tomorrow. Looks like the cold front on Friday will probably force a cancellation for the day. Fingers crossed for clear skies and sun on Saturday and Sunday. Last year my trip was fully cancelled due to weather. Year before was amazing as you can see from the picture in my icon.


Suspect you will get cancelled Friday.
Saturday and Sunday should have some sun but still cold and breezy. Sunday might warm enough to get fish active. Sure your guide will have a handle on things but might be looking in the ponds especially Saturday. Sun though might be strong enough to warm up the mud flats to get some big girls happy. Good luck and make sure to let us know how you do!!


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

yea, my trip this year got cancelled all together. hoping to rebook in january but work schedule is not helping


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

The delta has more options than Texas bays when conditions are not good. And a lot more redfish swim in the delta.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

I’m wading in the morning and big trout are going to jump in my hands. 34 degrees with sleet/snow mix


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## WillW (Dec 6, 2012)

Headed over to La this wkend to chase some on fly. Have done the same wkend & same gear every year for 7 years. Some trips have been great & some were pretty big turds. This particular one could go either way but I'm hopeful. Have a pretty solid plan we'll see how well it plays out.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

If you're crafty, Sunday has the potential to be a pretty good day.


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## Nway93 (May 9, 2016)

I went first weekend in November this year, wasn't fish jumping in the boat but had it's moments. Each day we caught multiple big fish, seemed like during the last bit of the outgoing they floated and ate anything they saw. For 2-3hrs each day it was wide open then got tough. Fished 3 days and caught 9 bulls, 5 big drum, and a handful of 10-15lb reds. Other boat we went with had about the same experience except they got there a day ahead of us and crushed them that day then had a guide camp on the spot the rest of the trip. Looking to go back late January or February though.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Now fish TB and get one red every 3-4 trips. Spook hundreds.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

K3anderson said:


> Now fish TB and get one red every 3-4 trips. Spook hundreds.


Hey we get it. Florida reds are tougher than LA reds. Nobody has ever stated otherwise. But if you were here right now you would get skunked if you were even dumb enough to be out fishing.....its 35 right now! So today, as horrible as the fishing is in FL, you'd have a much better chance to catch a red there today than here.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

ifsteve said:


> Hey we get it. Florida reds are tougher than LA reds. Nobody has ever stated otherwise. But if you were here right now you would get skunked if you were even dumb enough to be out fishing.....its 35 right now! So today, as horrible as the fishing is in FL, you'd have a much better chance to catch a red there today than here.


What makes you think you can’t catch reds when it’s 35 degrees? Serious question.


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## lsunoe (Dec 5, 2016)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> What makes you think you can’t catch reds when it’s 35 degrees? Serious question.


30mph winds today


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> What makes you think you can’t catch reds when it’s 35 degrees? Serious question.


Its 35, raining, and 20+ knot winds. If you can sight fish in this and be successful then you are da man. Me? I am staying home....lol.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Just an update. I wish I was out fishing. It would add a new dimension to my redfishing experiences. I haven't ever chased reds in the snow before.....yes its now snowing.....


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> What makes you think you can’t catch reds when it’s 35 degrees? Serious question.


You can if you are fishing the deep cuts where the water is 60 degrees.

There is super high pressure behind this front. It was 30.4 here in Austin after it came through - my experience is super high pressure put the fish in a hunkered-down mode. The affect of pressure and fish can be argued, but it does *something*. Every time I've seen fish buried in the mud, moving slowing, or just plain being dicks had to do with off the charts high pressure systems.

I was in LA over Thanksgiving and it was an epic trip. That continued through the following week from the reports I got from the guides down there.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

This isn't a duck hunting forum, so spare us the secret squirrel BS. No one is asking GPS coordinates to your favorite spot nor would I expect you to provide them if they did. If you say out of Venice or out of Larose or out of Delacroix, that is enough detail to be cool without folks stacking up on your favorite spot. You aren't doing the local community any favors by acting snarky. 

I used to fish out of Blue Bayou Marina in Larose, Louisiana. It was a great fishery then and should still be now. I know the folks in the area would love for you to come spend your money down there.

It is hard to get skunked from September-November, but you gotta know the water the rest of the year. I always struggled January-April. At those times, live bait in deeper water was the answer, but I never liked fishing that way.

I found the fishing to be pretty good when a front was actively moving through and the rain and wind were abundant. The fish seemed to back off once the front passed and the high pressures settled in. While I don't like the water to look like chocolate milk, the fish don't mind lower water clarities. Blind cast the edges of deeper moving water coming off the flats. 

Nate


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Fishing there is like anywhere else. It can be epic and it can be terrible and it can be everywhere in between. I've had trips where there were massive, hungry reds everywhere and all you had to do was get the fly within 15 feet of them to get an eat and I've had trips where they spooked at the fly line overhead and I've gotten blown off the water or had shitty water conditions.

The difference IMHO, is that when it's right the sheer number of huge fish is crazy. I've had trips where every red we caught was over 20 pounds. You get spoiled, here in Texas an 8# red is typically pretty damn big for the bays but if you catch an 8# red over there you feel like you caught a baby.

The one thing I just cannot figure out though, is why the only the sheepshead I seem to be able to get to eat a fly are in Louisiana. I've literally cast at hundreds of sheepies in Texas waters where I made absolutely perfect casts only to see the fish flee in abject terror of a 2" piece of fur. In Louisiana I've caught tons of sheepies.


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

Been fishing out of Cocodrie twice for a total of 5 days of fishing... caught a single 2.5# trout, a limit of minimum sized trout, and zero reds. (But a load of catfish and rays)

Still waiting on that "jumping in the boat" trip!


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> used to fish out of Blue Bayou Marina in Larose, Louisiana. It was a great fishery then and should still be now.


Unfortunately that entire area is no longer accessible. The whole thing with Clovelly ran off a lot of people. Nearest fishable water is Point Aux Chens WMA. Most people I know moved to Laffite. 



WhiteDog70810 said:


> I know the folks in the area would love for you to come spend your money down there.


You must have been gone a long time


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Wonder if the strain of excessive harvest is contributing to some degree. I see pictures with boat loads of fish headed to the fillet table, more than anyone could possibly eat. The mentality there seems like the locals kill that much because they can, not necessarily because they need to.


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## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

el9surf said:


> Wonder if the strain of excessive harvest is contributing to some degree. I see pictures with boat loads of fish headed to the fillet table, more than anyone could possibly eat. The mentality there seems like the locals kill that much because they can, not necessarily because they need to.


Good question. Each time I fished there, I was _amazed_ at the number of fish harvested.

The guides in LA must include napkins and forks with each charter.


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

In my experience, a majority of the average dudes fishing in Louisiana would rather catch 100 14-inch trout soaking bait than 2-3 36” reds. In fact, I’ve had a number of ****-ass dudes tell me they don’t want to catch reds because they can tear up their light trout gear and think I’m bat-shit crazy for CPR fishing reds on the fly.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

jmrodandgun said:


> Unfortunately that entire area is no longer accessible. The whole thing with Clovelly ran off a lot of people. Nearest fishable water is Point Aux Chens WMA. Most people I know moved to Laffite.
> 
> You must have been gone a long time


Yeah, it has been awhile. I know the private property nonsense hit the area hard, but we fished the WMA 95% of the time in the fall and winter. The summer would be tough because the best fishing was on private property around Lake Chien.

Nate


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## mightyrime (Jul 18, 2016)

My trip cancelled. I flew down Thursday and it dumped snow yesterday. I sat down with the guide on Friday morning and he said we could still fish Sat. and Sun. His honest advice was that Sat. would be terrible due to cold weather, cold water, possibly dirty water, and maybe too much wind. He thought Sunday towards the end of the day could maybe be OK but it was not waiting around for 3 days for that. I was able to get a $160 flight back to LA last night.
It was a real hard pill to swallow. This is my second cancelled redfish trip of 2017. I am super bummed out as I have shoulder surgery this Wednesday and this was my last hurray for a while.
I ultimately made the decision as I was in the same situation with my shitty tarpon trip i had this year as well.
It was the same story with a cold front for 3 days. Instead I stayed even when the guide said it will not be good. He was right, between wind, rain, lightning, and cold we saw maybe 3 tarpon over 3 days in primetime late april keys.

This has been a tough season as far as travel trips for me hopefullly 2018 will be better.

Know when to fold em as they say

Did I make the right choice?


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

I'm surprised the guide didn't try to talk you into staying home.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

I am surprised also that the guide didn't suggest you not come in the first place. But that said, I think you made the correct call to go home. Tomorrow might be ok but you'd just be spending more money on motels and meals to maybe get one fair day.

I have lots of guys ask me my thoughts on coming for the winter fishing. I used to say minimum is 3 days. I now tell guys that 5 days is the minimum I suggest they plan for. Sure if you can only get away for a long weekend so be it. But understand you may get weathered out especially from mid-December to the end of February.

A guide buddy of mine books every day during that time frame. So I asked him a couple of years ago don't you ever plan a day off. His answer was not at that time of year because he's likely to cancel about 50% of the trips for weather.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

mightyrime said:


> My trip cancelled. I flew down Thursday and it dumped snow yesterday. I sat down with the guide on Friday morning and he said we could still fish Sat. and Sun. His honest advice was that Sat. would be terrible due to cold weather, cold water, possibly dirty water, and maybe too much wind. He thought Sunday towards the end of the day could maybe be OK but it was not waiting around for 3 days for that. I was able to get a $160 flight back to LA last night.
> It was a real hard pill to swallow. This is my second cancelled redfish trip of 2017. I am super bummed out as I have shoulder surgery this Wednesday and this was my last hurray for a while.
> I ultimately made the decision as I was in the same situation with my shitty tarpon trip i had this year as well.
> It was the same story with a cold front for 3 days. Instead I stayed even when the guide said it will not be good. He was right, between wind, rain, lightning, and cold we saw maybe 3 tarpon over 3 days in primetime late april keys.
> ...



I would have fished today. The water would have been low and cold. It would have been a chilly ride, but you would have found fish. I have a commitment tomorrow, but most people I know are headed out to the marsh in the AM.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

CurtisWright said:


> I would have fished today. The water would have been low and cold. It would have been a chilly ride, but you would have found fish. I have a commitment tomorrow, but most people I know are headed out to the marsh in the AM.


Correct. However, you must remember the guy has to pay $600 plus to fish today. If I had friends in town yeah we probably would have gone this afternoon MAYBE. Tomorrow for sure. But today if I had to pay a guide? No way.


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## mightyrime (Jul 18, 2016)

On Wednesday when i spoke with the guide before I left it really seemed like we would get 2 solid days. By the time we arrived Thursday evening conditions were deteriorating. As you said its $600 a day to fish plus hotel, rental car and food. I really wanted to fish of course but I trusted the guide. Yes we probably could have froze and caught a couple of fish. And its looking like tomorrow may actually be OK. I was able to cancel the hotel and car after the first day and paid $160 for a plane ticket back home.

What sweetened the deal is the guide truly felt bad that I did not stay home and felt partially responsible. He offered me Nov 11-13 for 2018 with one free day which is very generous. 

I have been doing this for many years and had many terrible weather days when the guide should have cancelled or we cut the day short. A few gave a marginal discount, but never a full free day.

I like my guide and hoping for better weather next november.

Also I might try 2 days in May as I have a job down there. I guess the fish are smaller that time of year but sounds fine with warm weather and the 7wt


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## WillW (Dec 6, 2012)

@mightyrime whos your guide? That was a nice & professional gesture.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

mightyrime

ABSOLUTELY fish when you are down in May. We had out best trips of the winter/spring in May. And don't leave the big rods at home. Plenty of big girls tailing then and some huge drum. I mean huge!

And that was a terrific gesture on your guides part!!!


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## mightyrime (Jul 18, 2016)

sweet to hear about May being good. I dunno about those big slimy black drum. They are like fighting a bulldozer in low gear!

I use the guide Bailey Short


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## vicred (Mar 12, 2016)

Bailey is a stand up guy. Ive had to reschedule multiple times with him these last couple months due to weather and he has been more than accommodating. I local but we are having to work around my brothers schedule who is coming in from Tx.


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## kjnengr (Jan 16, 2018)

mightyrime said:


> On Wednesday when i spoke with the guide before I left it really seemed like we would get 2 solid days. By the time we arrived Thursday evening conditions were deteriorating. As you said its $600 a day to fish plus hotel, rental car and food. I really wanted to fish of course but I trusted the guide. Yes we probably could have froze and caught a couple of fish. And its looking like tomorrow may actually be OK. I was able to cancel the hotel and car after the first day and paid $160 for a plane ticket back home.
> 
> What sweetened the deal is the guide truly felt bad that I did not stay home and felt partially responsible. He offered me Nov 11-13 for 2018 with one free day which is very generous.
> 
> ...



Like Steve said, May can be really great. 

A 7wt is perfect to me for throwing shrimpy and crabby flies in the ponds with aquatic vegetation that time of year. However, bring that bigger rod as well in the chance that you throw topwater or search for bigger fish on the outside. 

Some buddies and I had a get together that weekend (Thursday - Sunday). Half of the group were from out of state so we toughed it out. Nobody fished Thursday and Friday in the horrible wind and rain. Saturday lots of fish were seen, but none were caught until lunchtime. After that, the fish were quite bitey. Sunday started out very cold but warmed up throughout the day. It was silly how many fish were caught throughout the day on Sunday. 

It is crazy how up and down the weather and fish are in any given week.


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## Limp Shrimp (Aug 23, 2015)

It's funny to see three pages of talking about how an area is not good..


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## Hewe Dat (Oct 25, 2017)

They just don’t want more people showing up and fishing the marsh. Ain’t nothing there but catfish and rays!


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## Limp Shrimp (Aug 23, 2015)

Some where along the way I posted a fish jumping in the boat, but that was my experience there.. I've only been once so I don't Know [email protected]@t about the place, but we caught reds in the parking lot at Joshua's and every where else... I've just never known people to brag about not catching fish... It just seems odd...


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## brianBFD (Oct 25, 2017)

Limp Shrimp said:


> Some where along the way I posted a fish jumping in the boat, but that was my experience there.. I've only been once so I don't Know [email protected]@t about the place, but we caught reds in the parking lot at Joshua's and every where else... I've just never known people to brag about not catching fish... It just seems odd...


I've launched at Joshua's and fished the area several times, mostly in the fall, but always caught fish. You don't have to go very far to catch trout or reds, but flounder seem to be a bit of a unicorn there.


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## kjnengr (Jan 16, 2018)

Limp Shrimp said:


> Some where along the way I posted a fish jumping in the boat, but that was my experience there.. I've only been once so I don't Know [email protected]@t about the place, but we caught reds in the parking lot at Joshua's and every where else... I've just never known people to brag about not catching fish... It just seems odd...



Here's my thoughts on the subject - coming from a Louisiana local

I can't lie, when the weather is right and the fish are cooperating, it can get downright stupid at times. See my post above. I've had one day OR two where if you made an errant cast and it landed behind the fish, the red was more likely to turn around and crush the fly than to spook as they have done the other 100 times I've been fishing. 

A lot of people come fish Louisiana during its prime time where as locals are giving their opinion over the entire year throughout the ups and downs.

That's all we he hear about how "dumb" our fish are and how they jump in the boat. Maybe we aren't as good anglers because we have it so good here. Maybe we don't have the perspective that someone does that fishes a group of fish that are always skiddish so what we call "bad" is different than what a Floridian calls "bad".

Very few people come back and make a report when they have a crappy trip, so all you hear is the good stuff. All we hear is how good it is, (and we can't argue how good it is when it is good) but there is no perspective of the days when the fish don't "jump in the boat". 

All I am saying is don't expect fish to jump in the boat every time you fish here like all the reports seem to suggest.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Limp Shrimp said:


> It's funny to see three pages of talking about how an area is not good..


To be fair, Hopedale and Venice are world class, but everything on the west side of the river sucks a big fatty.


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## E-money (Jul 7, 2016)

I can for sure count on one hand the amount of days I have gone out this year and caught absolutely nothing. I have also had days where it didn't matter one bit how poor a cast was, the reds were going to eat. I think most days fall somewhere in the middle.


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## backbone (Jan 4, 2016)

I was there a coupe weeks ago and didn't catch the shit out of them.....
I mean it wasn't ridiculous. 
No way I went back to back to back on fly continuously.....
All that with 90% cloud coverage did not happen.


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## Tx_Whipray (Sep 4, 2015)

The boy and I might try to make another trip over spring break, weather permitting.


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2018)

ifsteve said:


> In the water.....


Thanks for all the intel?


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## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

Limp Shrimp said:


> It's funny to see three pages of talking about how an area is not good..


YeAh

Louisiana pretty much stinks for redfish but last time I was there they were jumping in the boat.


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## mtoddsolomon (Mar 25, 2015)

the 2-3 redfish that live in Louisiana are small. Not worth the time or money to go. Please tell all your friends. Best to go to Florida. Yep make sure y’all only fish in Florida. South Carolina is out of redfish too


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## kjnengr (Jan 16, 2018)

BM_Barrelcooker said:


> YeAh
> 
> Louisiana pretty much stinks for redfish but last time I was there they were jumping in the boat.


Yeah, because they thought they were getting bombed from the noises you were making.


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## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

Good sound effects are essential to fly casting. 
Not unlike women’s tennis.


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## Ruddy Duck LA (Jun 23, 2017)

BM_Barrelcooker said:


> Good sound effects are essential to fly casting.
> Not unlike women’s tennis.


Without question, your cannon noises add a few feet of distance to the cast.

I've witnessed it.


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## Limp Shrimp (Aug 23, 2015)

I rather enjoy the sound effects of woman's tennis..


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## KimmerIII (Feb 9, 2017)

what's funny is this has been the best fall/winter in the last three years in my opinion. Oct-Dec was amazing. Right after xmas and to Feb had some tough weather but still the wind has been pretty decent to deal with and the water clarity where we fish has been excellent for sight casting.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Got skunked today. True story.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

So did we. Went to a spot that always (until yesterday) has a lot of slot to just over slot redfish. Water clarity was great. Tons of crabs. Tons of bait. Saw three rats.

Moved 20 miles to a totally different area. Water was fairly dirty. Still lots of bait. Saw two slot fish and my buddy bonked them. Tough shots and hard to see them. But at the end of the day we had plenty of sun. Wind wasn't totally awful. And we got blanked.


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## Tx_Whipray (Sep 4, 2015)

Don't feel bad, I got skunked here in Texas yesterday, too. Didn't even see a game fish all day. Still got to spend a day with both my kids on the boat, so still winning.


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## E-money (Jul 7, 2016)

We only caught one sheepy yesterday, and my buddy caught it on conventional . Saw a couple big fish including one that got me pretty nervous, but didn't get shots at. The ones we did weren't having it.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Didn't even make a cast.


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## WillW (Dec 6, 2012)

Stinker here in my area of Tx.


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## Ruddy Duck LA (Jun 23, 2017)

I had kid shit scheduled all weekend, so I didn't fish. Weather looked pretty good. I'm feeling a little better about my life this morning as I read. Misery loves company or something....... [read: I'm not really happy you guys had bad days on the water]


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

I thought the weather looked good too but I was only half right. The weather station on top of the camp showed ESE @ 15-18 knots most of the afternoon.


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## Tx_Whipray (Sep 4, 2015)

Keeping an eye on the Tuesday-Wednesday weather window next week. My kids are on spring break, and if it looks good, the boy and I might drive over.


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## lsunoe (Dec 5, 2016)

Slow weekend in SELA.
Did manage to get two of my buddies their first sheepies tho so that's a plus.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

If LA changed their limit to 1 instead of 5 and put in a slot limit all for a year or 2. Then the fishing might pick up. I've seen too many times fishermen from other states taking 18- 20 Reds back in coolers


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## Captjp (Aug 6, 2016)

permitchaser said:


> If LA changed their limit to 1 instead of 5 and put in a slot limit all for a year or 2. Then the fishing might pick up. I've seen too many times fishermen from other states taking 18- 20 Reds back in coolers


Only part of the problem but I also wish they would drop the limit. I've been guiding fly in LA for the last 20 or so years and before the out of state guides showed up our fishing was off the charts. Now everyone is a guide and our fish are beat to hell. Probably gonna get beat up a bit about that last statement but it's very true. But to be fair March can be very hit or miss.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Captjp said:


> Only part of the problem but I also wish they would drop the limit. I've been guiding fly in LA for the last 20 or so years and before the out of state guides showed up our fishing was off the charts. Now everyone is a guide and our fish are beat to hell. Probably gonna get beat up a bit about that last statement but it's very true. But to be fair March can be very hit or miss.


Meanwhile the crab and oyster guys are saying there are too many redfish. So many so that crab and oyster populations are suffering.


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## backbone (Jan 4, 2016)

And you think you have a guide problem in LA, look around down here in Fla...


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## Captjp (Aug 6, 2016)

jmrodandgun said:


> Meanwhile the crab and oyster guys are saying there are too many redfish. So many so that crab and oyster populations are suffering.


Those guys keep trying to back door their way into a commercial fishery for reds. There was a article in a local newspaper some years ago that said the average redfish eats 12 pounds of shrimp a day. I called the guy and asked if that was a typo and he meant 1.2. Nope he said that's what I was told, by the commercial guys. He was not a fisherman as one could easily tell.


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## Captjp (Aug 6, 2016)

backbone said:


> And you think you have a guide problem in LA, look around down here in Fla...


I agree, but you'll should be better with all the FL guides here in LA......lol


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## Elusive Porpi (Jan 24, 2018)

permitchaser said:


> If LA changed their limit to 1 instead of 5 and put in a slot limit all for a year or 2. Then the fishing might pick up. I've seen too many times fishermen from other states taking 18- 20 Reds back in coolers


The rod and reel guys do put a dent in the population, but not even close to the amount of damage Bowfishing does. Those trips 90% of the time are limits of reds. And thats almost every night. Even on the shitty days when rod and reel fisherman have trouble getting them to bite, the arrow makes them bite. The charters can have defenitly put a dent in the reds in southern LA from what i can tell (size wise, they are alot smaller).

These bowfishing rigs cover miles and miles of coastline every night, in the mud, oysters and grass. the Dual Mud motor rigs cause alot of damage when they constantly run through this. 

With that being said, I do bowfish, and it is alot of fun. But i only go maybe twice a year. I would be ok if it were banned.


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## Captjp (Aug 6, 2016)

Elusive Porpi said:


> The rod and reel guys do put a dent in the population, but not even close to the amount of damage Bowfishing does. Those trips 90% of the time are limits of reds. And thats almost every night. Even on the shitty days when rod and reel fisherman have trouble getting them to bite, the arrow makes them bite. The charters can have defenitly put a dent in the reds in southern LA from what i can tell (size wise, they are alot smaller).
> 
> These bowfishing rigs cover miles and miles of coastline every night, in the mud, oysters and grass. the Dual Mud motor rigs cause alot of damage when they constantly run through this.
> 
> With that being said, I do bowfish, and it is alot of fun. But i only go maybe twice a year. I would be ok if it were banned.


Yep, there is no catch and release in bow fishing and there are other species to go after besides reds


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## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

Not to ruffle feathers but bow fishing is a disgusting sport when eating the fish is not the primary objective.

I am a giant gar advocate. They are a prime fly target and once of my favorite fish. The amount that I have watched bow fishers take and then “let go” makes me sick.

Same for carp.

Btw they were jumping in the boat today.


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