Small crabs attract tailing reds and the occasional "crawler."

Boat handling and fly casting became tricky. It was lights on, then lights off, and all but the occasional waking fish was extremely tough to spot in time to present a fly. I stayed on the bow with my fly rod, holding hope that a fish would tail up, while Richard hooked and landed a couple of waking fish on a gold spoon tight against the grassy bank. After that, we hit a dry spell, with Richard jokingly suggesting that we troll. But Jay had a much more sane idea.

“We need to fish the points with topwater plugs,” he said.

“You mean blind-cast?” I asked. That was the game plan. With a 20-knot wind and rushing tide tag-teaming us from the rear, Jay would not be able to slow the boat much, so he instructed us to cast to as many grassy points as we could as we whizzed along. This brought me back to Florida, where we routinely cast for snook at mangrove points in the Everglades backcountry, a particularly good plan when wind blows out flats fishing. Snook are classic ambush feeders, but reds I usually equate with roving about and grubbing for their food.

“My rule of thumb is just figure that there is a red on every point,” said Jay. “And since one of you is left-handed and the other right-handed, you can both fish from the bow.” He went on to explain that with strong wind-driven current, the points of the grass islands create eddies where the reds hold up and pick off baitfish in the flow. The fish might not park there for long, but by peppering these lies with our casts, we stood a greater chance of hooking fish we could no longer see. Noisy plugs are better for this work than soft baits or spoons because they call fish in from a greater distance down the shoreline.

We did manage to hook and land a couple of reds on both chuggers and walking plugs with rattles, and had a few more big fish make a beeline for our plugs from 10 to 20 feet away, before turning off or seeing the boat. So it was a great call on Jay’s part to salvage the morning.

The next morning brought breathless conditions until 9 a.m., after which the strong winds returned. The fish tailed well up until that point, so we enjoyed classic fly fishing before turning to plugging the points. And I did get a chance to cast at a couple of the crawlers Jay talked about. The fish were in about six to eight inches of water over bare mud at the back of a small cove off a grassy pond. The fish moved along slowly, so I had numerous shots, and even time to change flies. I got one fish to track a bit, but not commit, after which it dropped out of sight.

Like sight fishing anywhere, what you see is what you get. I was impressed by the number of fish we saw, while the seeing was good. We caught enough fish to determine that Louisiana reds are indeed aggressive, and not as spooky as they can be in waters near major population centers. The duck ponds certainly hold good numbers. Our trip was in early April, and from most accounts, it seems that late May through July is prime time for big numbers, and when you can expect ideal conditions for fly casting.

Duck ponds are basically safe haven for redfish. Redfish can be found in the shallow ponds practically year-round, though they pretty much vacate the ponds in January, taking to the deeper water of nearby bays and pipeline canals.

“To catch reds in deeper winter haunts, I do some ‘search fishing’ with gold spoons, then it’s possible to switch to fly fishing, with heavy flies tied to light tippet to help them sink faster,” says Jay. “The spring fishing is more dependable, with May being a top month due to moderate water temps. From late July through early September, water temps approach 90, and reds get lethargic. In October, shallow pond fishing is as good as May, and holds steady through December.”

As far as fish size goes, 10- to 12-pound fish, and some larger, are most common in summer. And since the water is on the fresh side in much of the marsh, there are always a few largemouth bass around, though saltwater intrusion during dry periods moves them farther inland. Flounder, trout, black drum and sheepshead mostly stick to deeper bay and canal waters, but do enter the ponds as well. In fact, we spotted a decent number of sheepshead mixed in with redfish, though we did not target them specifically. SWA

If You Go

Capt. Jay Bunch runs fly and light-tackle charters for up to two anglers out of his customized johnboat, and his partner, Capt. Tony Barousse, of Big Easy Fishing Charters, specializes in light-tackle trips for redfish, seatrout, flounder, back drum, sheepshead and largemouth bass.

If you prefer to travel light, Bunch and Barousse do provide fly and light tackle, lures and flies. To book a trip, and for further information about Louisiana fishing licenses and lodging in and around New Orleans, visit Capt. Jay Bunch’s Web site, flyfishingneworleans.com or call (866) 254-3973.

Tackle, Flies and Lures

Fly rods in the 7- to 8-weight range are ideal for duck pond reds, depending on fly weight. There is no need for sinking lines, and leaders can measure 7 to 9 feet, tapering to 12- to 16-pound tippet. Lighter tippet is not advised because hooked reds tend to twist and roll around in the vegetation.

At Capt. Bunch’s suggestion, I had tied on one of his black-and-red spoon flies. I don’t fish spoon flies where I fish for reds in Florida; I find that most of these concoctions cast like...well, let’s say that they are aerodynamically challenged. However, this one was small and light. Bunch ties his flies, and ties like any experienced fly caster. In other words, his spoon flies cast well, and wobble and flash like crazy with short strips. “No spoon fly goes in my box until after it passes the bathtub test,” Bunch said with a wink.

Spoon flies must have weedguards, and that goes for other patterns, too. We also took fish on brown-and-orange Clouser Minnows with light bead chain eyes, and Bendbacks are a logical choice over the heaviest grass, and black with gold flash is a top choice. Poppers and deerhair divers can be used when fishing the points.

Spin and plug rods rated for 10- to 12-pound test are ideal, and top sight-fishing lures include gold spoons, soft-plastic jerkbaits and smallish topwaters.

FS