Snot Grass Redfish at Pointe a la Hache

Bronze redfish tail

Went fishing in Pointe a la Hache to celebrate april fools day I started early around 6:30 just as the sun emerged on the horizon. I took off with no real plan only to catch as many reds and bass as possible.
 I decided to try some different presentations to build confidence in some new lures like the wake bait
inline spinner and spinner bait. The ponds down there are very shallow and packed with grass so my mirage drive spent most of the day out on the deck. The water in the bayou leading to the pond I fished was dirty but once I entered the pond water clarity increased to crystal clarity.  I was able to see a million garfish and many redfish often when it was too late and had already spooked them. The first hour I was throwing a buzzbait I got a couple of wakes up behind it and once something grabbed it but I am pretty sure that it was a garfish. I soon after abandoned the topwater and switched to the wakebait. I struggled to keep the treble hooks of the wakebait from fouling with the heavy weeds before it made in front of the fish. I got tired of taking the snot grass off of it and switched to an inline spinner. This was my first time using it and I was surprised that it was pretty weedless, and even if it got slimy it didn't hinder the action of the lure very much. I drifted further south and  found a corner of the pond where the wind had cleared most of the surface algae away. Another good sign  were the mullet jumping and crabs that were plentiful in this pond. I casted away from the bank to where I saw the distinctive wake of a red cruising. The cast was a little behind but the wake made a U-turn and then violently swirled on the inline spinner. I felt the tug of the fish and set the hook and nothing I quickly reeled in and recast but the fish was gone. I drifted around the open area to where a bayou entered the pond there was water flowing into the pond.

Keeper redfish was hiding in the grass

I cast to the mouth of the bayou and wham a redfish smacked the spinner as soon as it hit the water I set the hook expecting to feel the weight of a healthy redfish but again swing and a miss. I casted towards the other point a wake formed up and I missed another one dejected I moved on . Further Down the straight bayou I got to an intersection and looked down a dead end where I saw two fish blow up in quick succession. I pulled across the narrow bayou blocking the only exit for the fish and cast down the bank. My cast was a little too perfect and it landed directly on one of the reds spooking it and in the process the rest of the school. They ran out the bayou directly under my outback and I think I counted twelve redfish in the school. By this time the wind was picking up and I decided not to fight the wind and stay near the launch. I stood still and scanned the bayou for activity to try and locate the school which I had just spooked a couple minutes earlier. I did not see anything so I decided to use the wind and drift down the bayou blind casting to locate the school. I think I drifted back over them but I was moving at warp speed because the wind had picked up considerably.I didn't try to turn around I continued drifting across the open area I had been in earlier. At the end of the first drift I spotted a large red in a clear pocket on the grass I spooked it but It gave me an idea. I spent the rest of the day jumping from clearing to clearing. I drifted into a large opening and spooked six reds I got really excited because I was seeing a repeating pattern of where the fish were

This 18 inch red was cruising a grass line.

located. The next pocket I got to I used my marsh anchor to stop me before I drifted into the pocket. Stealth was the key to catching them and not spooking them and in this pocket I caught two fish back to back. The first fell for a texas rigged deadly dudley and the second my favorite gold spoon. I then used this anchoring method on the next pond and drew a strike on the inline spinner which again didn't connect.I examined the spinner closer and came to the conclusion that the factory hook was dull and it needs to be replaced. I missed four fish today because of a defective hook if it were a tournament those fish would have made a big difference in where I would have placed. I knew the fish didn't feel the hook so I casted to the left side of the pool with a gold spoon and boom fish on.

This fish fell for the inline spinner and then was caught on a gold spoon.

This was the most satisfying fish of the day after missing it I was able to catch it seconds later. I used the drift and anchor method to deal with the heavy wind and obtained pretty good results. Within thirty five minutes I had caught my limit of five redfish. I fished a little longer but was tired of bushwhacking and fighting the wind and was headed home by 12:00.