Written By : David Phelps

Louisiana’s marshes offer some of the most thrilling redfish action you’ll find anywhere. But to make the most of your time on the water, it’s important to have the right techniques and gear dialed in. Whether you’re navigating murky waters or trying to spot fish on a cloudy day, these five tips will help you hook up with more redfish on your next trip. Let's dive in and fine-tune your approach to catching these powerful fish in the heart of the bayou.

1. Casting:

Practice your short game, it's a chip not a drive. 90% of your cast are going to be within 40 feet with most of them at 25 feet. The waters of Louisiana can be off color certain times of the year or due to weather conditions so quick shots with a good reaction time will produce more fish so minimal false cast is the name of the game. When practicing your cast before your trip don’t go out hauling 80 feet of line practice your quick accurate 30 foot cast with one or two false cast.

2. Looking for fish:

When you’re up on the bow of the skiff and scanning the water not always is it going to be sunny and clear water. There’s little things to look for on those not so desirable sight fishing days. So look for odd colorations in the water dark shadows to tan coloration in the water. Nervous water a lot of the nervous water will just be bait but looking for those bigger wakes with more of a U shaped is something to keep your eye on. When you’re poling down a bank always keep close eyes on points in the marsh redfish will use them as ambush points.

3. How to feed fish:

With different scenarios there’s different techniques to presenting the fly. On all different scenarios I always like to overshoot by a couple of feet so I can strip the fly across the fishes face. With dirty water scenarios I like to use the motto “spook’em or hook’em.

A. Tailing fish- when a redfish is tailing they have their face in the mud and tail up. We want to be a little more aggressive with this cast I like to lead the fish by a foot and drag it right across their nose.

B. Cruisers- when a redfish is cruising he’s swimming at a steady pace and looking for his next meal so depending on water clarity we can lead these fish by 3-5feet. Depending on where they are sitting in the water column depends where we want our fly to be sitting a lot of times redfish will want to eat up so keeping that fly “ on the brim of their cap” will make sure they see the fly

C. Floaters/glowers- this is when a redfish is sitting high in the water column and not moving very much. I like to lead the fish by 2-3 feet and make sure to keep the fly high in the water column don’t let it drop to low.

4. Fly choice:

Redfish are not the pickiest of fish so pick you favorite redfish fly I like flies that are 3-5 inches in length with either a craft fur or a bunny strip tail. My favorite color combo is black and purple for dirty or clean water. The weight of the fly is important if I’m fishing a flat that is 2-3 feet in depth and the fish are cruising more on the bottom I like lead eyes but for most of my fishing I use large bead chain eyes. In my experience when fish are up skinny or sitting middle to upwards of the water colum with to heavy of a fly it will drop below the fish and the fish will never see it. So making sure that fly stays “on the brim of their cap” is important.

5. Gear (fly rod,fly line and leader and tippets).

A. Fly rods- I typically use a 9 weight when chasing these big bulls. I fish orvis rods but every company makes a good rod find the one you like that fits your casting stroke.

B. Fly line- most fly line companies make a redfish line that is designed to load that rod for quick short shots. My favorite is Cortlands redfish line they make a cold water and a warm water series so depending on the time of the year you plan on fishing is the one you should pick.

C. Leader/tippet- for a leader set up I build my own starting with 40 pound mono to 25 floro to 20 floro. Louisiana redfish are not fly line shy so I build my leaders anywhere from 7-8 feet to help with those quick short cast. Remember 20 pound test is a lot stronger than you think so don’t be afraid to put some pressure on that fish and land him quickly get a quick picture and back into the water as safe as possible for the fish.

When you’re out in the Louisiana marsh don’t forget to take your eyes off the water every once in a while and enjoy where you are at. The Louisiana marsh is one of the most incredible places on this earth and enjoy it as much as possible!