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I had the chance to get out of Bozeman last week for a few days of chasing Redfish in Louisiana. The big fish are generally in the shallow waters from late September through March, however, getting good weather a few days in a row is a total roll of the dice. This past trip was actually rescheduled from our October trip, which was cancelled at the last minute due to weather. When you get some sun with a little bit of clean water though, the experience is hard to beat and is one that will be on my “things to do every year” for years to come.

I was introduced to this place and the guide a few years ago, and pretty much sworn to secrecy  so I can’t really go into many details on those lines. But, if you have the itch to get down that way, I would recommend talking to the folks at Uptown Anglers in New Orleans. Stay in the city so that you have something to do in case a fishing day or two ends up being cancelled due to weather. The fishing is not difficult and there are a lot of fish in the 20+ pound range around in the fall and winter, it really just all comes down to hitting the weather right.

I like to fish with  9 and 10 weight rods (I go for the Sage Salt 990 and the Orvis Helios 2  910). Hatch reels are always my go to saltwater reel choice as they last forever and I never have to take care of them. ( I use a 7+ for the 9 and a 9+ for the 10). The Scientific Angler Grand Slam line seems to be a great all-around choice for this type of fishing and has been my choice the last two years. he fly pattern really doesn’t matter though, it’s more about having something with a good weed-guard and heavy eyes. I am always partial to Chartreuse in colored water and Purples in clean water. Hope for sun and practice making some 10-30’ casts with your rod and line setup before you head out as the casting is typically not at long range, but needs to be done quickly with very little false-casting.