Venice, La: Redfish capital of the world

Shawn Lanier - 04/15/2014

One of my all time favorite movies is The Outlaw Jose Wells with Clint Eastwood. One scene had Jose telling a bounty hunter that “dying ain’t much of a living”. Well, I am glad I am not out fishing today with gale force winds and 8 to 10 foot seas, because if you get caught sideways in a boat today you would not make it. I also like the part where Eastwood spits in between the dogs eyes. It’s been windy for the last couple of weeks for the most part, and it has been making fishing a lot of work. We have had to fish where the seas are not coming in and rocking the boat all over the place, and the winds have been rotating directions, so forget about where you fished yesterday. We are on a new hunt everyday. It’s like that all the time really, but especially lately. Having clients that are proficient at casting helps locate fish as well. Many of my clients have more fishing experience than I do as far as fishing in different parts of the country using different techniques for different fish, but many just are not used to casting so much in the shallow water we are fishing. The dropping your lure straight down just does not cut it. The Bass fishing folks seem to fit right in. Though the fishing has been a lot of work, everyone that has fished with me has had a good time and understands that weather conditions have a big influence on the fish. We have actually had some nice catches the last couple of weeks on Redfish. Many Redfish have been over twenty pounds with the largest at 28 pounds. We have also stumbled onto some Speckled Trout using lures. We have done ok, but just have not had one of those days where Capt. Shawn can do no wrong. I like those days. Those days where the toughest thing I have to do is figure out which fish to net first because we are doubled and tripled up on fish. Things will calm down before long and the fishing will be more enjoyable.

I am pretty well booked up for May, but I still have a three day slot open. I also have some openings the second half  of June. July I have some openings as well. Summer Redfish fishing is usually great, but if I don’t have much going on in August then that’s ok with me. September through mid December is my favorite time to fish and I am starting to fill those dates with my repeat clients who know what its like to fish then. Anyway, when it’s tough the tough get going. Have a good one.

Back to all reports