The WOOA Reports: Venice Louisiana -- Bull Red Fishing

Fishing Date: September 10, 2014

The crew loaded up the Dodge Turbo Diesel 4x4 and headed 650 miles East from our home base in San Antonio, Texas to Venice, Louisiana for some serious rod bending action in the Mississippi Delta with Capt. Mike Jeffcoat (832-338-9376 or mike@rjhuntingfishing.com).

It proved to be an excellent fishing trip. Day one, we settled in the Lodging that Mike had prepared for us. We got the cameras ready and got some sleep knowing that the massive distributaries of the Mississippi were waiting for us.

The Delta system is massive, and the bayous make up the complex of bays and estuaries. It looked a lot like our Texas water, but the shorelines were very different. They were comprised of reeds and grasses and lily pads like I have seen in fresh water. No wonder, the Mississippi delta is Brackish water, a combination of fresh and salt water.

We ran 18 miles from the Venice marina and found some big open water. That is where we first fished. Mike rigged us up with a Float that was 5 inches and yellow in color. I took along some of my Live Target Shrimp Lures, and we set them up 4 feet under the floats.

I used 40lb braided line knowing that the Reds in Venice are predominately Big Bulls. It did not take long for us to get the Hook Spit Rods bent up. We had 3 cameramen and made an amazing TV show in HD.

All in all we had 10 oversized reds and 7 keepers in one day. We picked up only Speckled Trout along the way. We kept on the move with the trolling motor to cover water and find fish. Predominately we drift fished. We would run up wind and sit down. Then we would set up a drift looking for, no big surprise --- Slicks on the surface of the water. Mike told me that these big reds will gorge themselves on mullet which was thick in the water and then regurgitate their food -- like I knew that trout do -- and this makes a shiny spot on the surface of the water. If the shiny spot is large, it’s probably wind-blown for some distance; if it is small, size of a bay boat, it’s probably just been created, and the fish are still there.

Tip of the Day:

Hook Spit Rods (1-832-632-1205) and Live Target Shrimp Lures (1-888-231-4448) were on fire in the new water! The Wide Open crew did not know what to expect, but we had the equipment on hand to get the job done. We had Medium Heavy Hook Spit rods that were fast tipped. They stood up to these Big Bull Reds. The line was PowerPro Braid—40 lb and the lures were from Live Target; Mike said that he was very impressed with the baits, specifically the strength of the hooks and the amazing detail of the shrimp itself. The glow in the dark color was outstanding in the stained water of the Mississippi. Having great equipment gives you extra confidence as you fish. That is the tip of the day -- Know your gear and be prepared for the fish you are targeting and you will……………….Catch More Fish.