Stayed up ALL night so I could take the kiddo (11 years) fishin down in Buras, LA.
Arrived at 3:30AM and tried to catch a few trout under the lights - no luck.
Put the boats together, drank some coffee, fiddlefarted til sunrise.
Launched and paddled about four hundred yards to our destination. I could see redfish feeding along the shore and my hopes were high. I coached the kiddo and was pleased that he seemed to listen attentively for once (you know how pre-teens are…groan).
About my 3rd or 4th cast while I’m showing the kiddo how & what to do BAM… hooked up! The rod bowed and off I went. Mr. Red was running away from the shore and took me for a short ride.
After a minute or two I got him to the boat and intothe box he went. No need to measure him as he was obviously a 20+ incher.
Paddled back to the kiddo and got him set up. Sure enough after about three cast he got hooked up and he was off to the races. He only weighs about 85 lbs soaking wet and he’s fishing from a Tarpon 100 so he got quite a little ride from his red scaley beast. While I was fumbling for the camera I was laughing and hooting and he was squealing like a happy girl though I noted that his sqeals seemed to be tinged with fear. It was apparent that he wasn’t real sure if this was a LOT of fun or if he was headed to China without brakes. I coached him to try to keep the tip of his rod pointed toward the bow and he actually listened.
His little ride probably lasted two minutes but I’m willing to bet it’ll last forever in his memories. I sure hope so.
We finished the morning after catching nine reds and one black drum.
I got hugs all the way home. It doesn’t get much better.
Oh yea… 1/4 oz. weedless gold spoons behind a #3 Hildebrandt inline spinner. Retrieve it fast paralell to the shore. We also picked up three while trolling.
Tight lines!
Great!
Nothing is better than watching the little ones have fun. One of my close friends has a 12 year old half sister who had never fished, so last summer we took her to a little pond on the camp ground we were staying at, needless to say she caught her first fish and now is addicted! It’s great to see the little ones happy…!
Pretty Cool, Yak
Nice report. I take my 13 year old boy out almost every weekend. It’s fun to watch them hook up with a good one. A few weeks ago my boy hooked up a decent sized bass on his fly rod and it worked him over pretty good. He let it get back into the weeds and we thought it broke off. When I went over to pull the fly free that bass busted out of there like a 250 lb. fullback. More reel screeching fun and he finally landed it. 4+ lbs and 23" long. He let it go so he could catch it again.
Redfish
Something I’ve always wanted to chase with a fly rod. Some day perhaps.
Classic story. Nothing like watching the youngins enjoying the outdoors.
great report Yak!
Sounds like a great day. Do you think Buras is better than Fouchon at this time of the year? What time did you get off the water (heat index) and how were the black flies?
I bet you didn’t discuss the upcoming election once! :^)
thanks for the smile!
i bet he’ll be telling your grandkids the story one day. gosh, what i’d give to get a ride from a big red right now! the most fun i’ve ever had with a rod and reel was with a 10+lb redfish on ponchatrain. ww
I got to
I took my brother to the Bwca a few years back and put him on his first pike. The really fun part was the 42 incher he caught. It pulled us all over the lake. There is nothing like the look on a younger persons face when they get into a big fish.
Hey Kingfish…
IMO, Buras is always better than Fourchon for redfish on the shorelines but it’s even more true this year with all the dredging going on around Fourchon.
The marsh in lower Plaquemines Parish is different from Fourchon’s. At the edge of the grass the shore drops straight down about 3’ and I almost always seem to find the water clear. In my experience it’s clear more often than any other place that I frequent. With polarized shades you can see a lot of redfish and sometimes you can see flounder. Best fished (IMO) on a falling tide and we were fishing a rising tide.
It was 9/7 and 9/14(?) last year when I was smokin the reds at Buras and Hermitage Lake. I’m headed back asap to catch my first red on a fly.
Oh yeah… we came off the water about 10:30- 11:00. It was hot but not miserable as we paddled at a very slow pace while trolling and a decent little breeze helped keep things tolerable.
Catches were most frequent in the hour following daybreak. There were zero black flies, zero gnats, and zero skeeters (once we launched).
Let’s GO!!!
First Pike in Kayak
I was up in the UP of Michigan two weeks ago, to a small lake that we rent a cabin on every year. Now going on 7 years with the family. This was the first year I went out looking for Pike and found it to be an awsome time. The first morning I hooked into a monster all to loose it at the edge of the boat when I was trying to land it. (do any of you use a landing net? where do you store it so it’s handy?)
Well anyways was out 3 times for pike and landed 2 and lost a third.
What I found was the most fun was that the Pike dove into the weeds and I couldn’t pull him free. But what I was able to do is pull myself and my kayak to him. When I got to him I looked over the side of the boat and pulled him out of the weeds. In my wife’s Old Town 160T, as my little fiberglass rec kayak would not be big enough for me and a pike.
My two daughters & wife fished for panfish all week in their kayaks. Couldn’t ask for a more relaxed and fun time.
Can’t wait to get out again.
A GREAT BIG TWO THUMBS UP, Y-A-L!
One for you taking the kid out fishing, AND out in a kayak -and one for getting him hooked up and out on a Loozy Anna slay ride!
And you got a keeper!
Reminds me of when I went with my son when HE was ALSO 11… Off a bridge abutment along the Everglades City-to-Chokoloski causeway, we were throwing shrimp when I hooked into a real nice snook -a real good one, maybe 26". Trouble was, it was the day AFETR snook season CLOSED! SO I gave it back. About 10-20 minutes later, my son’s rod starts bowing 0he’d hooked about a 5-pound sheephead. He’s fighting it, slowly winning, inching it towards shore while I’m rigging another hook. I look over my shoulder, see him lifting the sheephead up -looked great! -tell him hold on a sec, I’ll be right there, when I hear a splash.
He let it go.
Then he tells me he didn’t want me to feel bad because I had to throw mine back, so he threw HIS back, too…!
Please -inform your son that THAT sort of gallantry is NOT needed -and unless and until HE hooks one out of the slot or out of season, or ya’ll don’t need it, they’re KEEPERS…!
In the meantime, congrats to you both, and continued good luck and tight lines as you yakfish and
Paddle On!
-Frank in Miami
Thanks Frank!
The story with your kid put a smile on my face and I have to admit… gave me a little goosbump or three.
redfish windfall…waterfall?
Great little fish-tale YaL… really just great!!
A successful moral lesson told straight up and with humour, even! I’m broke, but preparing to sell a bunch of prised possessions owneed for years just to get a SOT yak with which to dive into (not the best choice of terms maybe…) yak
fishing!! Especially love the salt! Looking for a lightly used (demo?) Hobie “Outback” May be too recent on the market. Need the slightly smaller size - I only weigh 135#. Desperately need the leg exercise in a water cushioned mode (hard surface exercises no bueno anymore - diabetes complications… oh well) and that rig has taken my fancy. Have a little-used HydroBike if anyone would trade around on that…? About $2k new. Too cumbersome for me now + ~120# weight. Enjoy your posts.
Kudo’s!, Peter (Ibachser)