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Introducing Thomas & Thomas Ambassadors Capt. Bailey Short and Capt. Greg Moon from Louisiana! They gave us the rundown on some of the most incredible Redfish, Sheepshead and Black Drum fishing in the USA. Whether it's up on the flats or in the deep water, these guys know how to find fish and put a bend in the rod.
Capt. Greg Moon with a Louisiana Redfish
Capt. Bailey Short and Greg Moon-
"We fish a large portion of the Louisiana coast, if we were to call anything “homewaters” it would be the Southeastern portion of Louisiana’s coastline. However, Louisiana boasts one of the largest saltwater fisheries in the country and as such, we both find ourselves covering lots of different water depending on where the fish are.
Both of us have multiple boats and we use that to our advantage when targeting fish in a vast array of different fishing situations. Both of us agree one of our favorite aspects of fishing in Louisiana is how varied the fishery can be. Sometimes the fish are in shallow, hard to access flats, while other times they can be out in open “big-water”. We enjoy the challenge of adapting to the varying scenarios and we have outfitted ourselves to do just that"
“If the weather is good, the fishing will be too, any time of year”
"We both agree adamantly that Louisiana truly is a year-round fishery. Since Louisiana was “put on the map” as a fly fishing destination there was always a narrative about how it is a fall-winter fishery. In Our opinion, this is the biggest inaccuracy about Louisiana fishing. Louisiana boasts one of the most robust year-round fisheries we’ve both ever been around, and it truly is the case – “If the weather is good, the fishing will be too, any time of year”."
If we had to choose a favorite time of the year, we’d both easily say that summertime is THE time to be here. Why? First and foremost consistency, when you’re traveling down here to fish it's nice to know you are visiting in a much more consistent time weather wise and that equals consistent fishing. Fish get easier to pattern in the summertime due to much more consistently higher temperatures.
Our go-to rods for everyday use is the Exocett 10wt. We don't go any lighter than that due to the fact that we like to throw BIG flies at BIG fish, and it's always nice to have a little larger line class on a breezy day with a big redfish fly in hand. When we are fishing in the summer, we break out the 11-12 wt. rods more often than not, Topwater poppers are often used and the bigger rod helps with throwing a big popper into a ball of raging Redfish and Jacks. We both can't wait to put the sextant to work this season, one cool aspect of fishing here is you can bring 3 different rods and use them each for different situations, sometimes all in the same day."
"We both can't wait to put the Sextant to work this season"
"Something about Redfish is they are equal opportunity predators. They will eat ANYTHING, and most of the time, it's more about making sure you get the fly where it needs to be and present it properly to secure an eat. We vary size, weight of the fly and profile depending on small variables. We will throw anything from Game-changers, to home-made crab patterns, and of course, BIG poppers. If we had a favorite fly pattern? Who wouldn’t say topwater! But watching a Red come up and side swipe a streamer also never gets old. We’ve both boated fish in the 40+ pound range. BUT we take fish handling very seriously and weighing with a Boga for instance is not good for the fish and increases mortality rate. We’ve lifted enough fish to have a pretty spot-on estimate on size and we try to get those trophy fish back in the water and on their way ASAP. The year-round regulars are the Redfish, Sheepshead and Black Drum. That being said, in the warmer months the species diversity is much greater. The Louisiana Jack Crevalle fishery is unmatched, and we can target this fish for most of the year doing anything from blowing up in big schools, to stalking them, sometimes even on foot, on the flats."
