Rendezvous Redfish
Savvy redfish anglers gear up for the spring redfish run in Louisiana’s coastal passes.
Text and photos by Will Drost F 22
ROM BLUE-TAILED neo- phytes that weigh just a cou- ple of pounds to the double- digit, copper and bronze veterans that can melt drag
washers, Louisiana is truly redfish- blessed. They can be found aggres- sively feeding near sandbars, in the marshes and bayous, over reefs or near piers. It is a year-round fishery, too, as Cajun anglers consider every month of the year as outstanding and productive. However, to truly rendezvous with
the bulls — fish tipping the scales at 20 pounds or more — fishermen should head to the state’s many coastal passes or Gulf outlets.
SEASONAL SEASONING
From the Mississippi River to the Sabine, bruiser redfish congregate like
herds of big red vacuum cleaners, flourishing on the state’s remarkable forage-producing estuaries while pre- paring for their annual spawning migration. On either side of old-man- winter’s presence, Louisiana’s coast becomes a veritable bull red bonanza. Seasoned fishermen key in on the
fall, which is rightly famous for produc- ing not only larger fish, but more of them. The first cool fronts of October and the high tides of the fall equinox usually signal the start of the pilgrim- age. However, anglers sometime over- look spring’s big fish run, and those in the know consider the full moon of April a signal of the start of a spectacu- lar post-winter run. The fish continue to move in and out of passes and estuaries through the months of May and June as well, but by July the fish seem to scatter
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