As the end of September rolled around, our group couldn’t help but start checking out the weather leading up to our week. Low and behold, our worst nightmare was forming in the Gulf. A hurricane.
As all anglers do, we quickly contacted out host, Josh Schwartz with Travel Creel to hear his thoughts and tentatively make a Plan B. After 24 hours, endless calls, we were on!
As expected, our four days of fishing, was knocked down to three. It’s not unusual for a salt trip to loose a day. But frankly, when a hurricane just misses you to the east, three days sounded great!
We were met at the airport but Mikey and Samantha while Josh prepped the food as my crew arrived on day one. If you’re not familiar with Travel Creel, this trip was as much about the food as it was chasing 20-lb redfish.
With day one a scratch from fishing, we made plans with one of the guides to do a walking tour of the city. It was a great Plan B, hearing about the city from a true local.
Many of us ended the day with a few hours at the famous WWII Museum. A must see for anyone in New Orleans!
Days 1-3 were rinse and repeat. Wake up to a homemade breakfast, getting your grab-and-go lunch for you and your guide, spending the day chasing huge redfish, black drum and the occasional sheepshead.
Each day ended with an over-the-top meal by Josh. Dinner was his time to shine, and my God did he outdo himself each night. The dinners kept getting better, ending with a full blown southern oyster spread with all the delicious southern fixin’s.
One simple blog post and an IG video do the meals no justice. It was better than advertised and the whole group was lucky to experience that kind of mastery of the kitchen.
Each day we paired up with our guides and fished the famous, muddy flats of the Louisiana Marsh, home of the largest redfish on the planet.
Although we avoided a direct hit of the hurricane, the winds made for tougher than usual conditions with off color, high water on the flats. But our amazing guide crew made the most of it each day.
Each day was different, targeting fish on the 3-10lb range, and often looking for the famous 15-35lb fish we were after. Several fish over 20 pounds were landed by the group throughout the week even with the conditions!
The group landed about a half dozen or so black drum, a dozen or so “sheepies’ and a handful of the notoriously hard fighting jacks.
The group collectively decided that this is one we’re keeping on the list down the road. Josh, Mikey and Samantha, we’ll be back!
If you’d like to be added to our Travel List, or want more information on our next Redfish Trip, drop me a note here!
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