Kilroy in the Marshes

Journeying down to my favorite place in the world, Grand Isle, LA, I hoped to have an epic, three days of fly fishing for redfish. The fish were present and willing to eat, but Mother Nature has her own ideas.
The trip started with an all night 12 drive, beginning in Atlanta traffic and ending in the marshes of Louisiana. I immediately unloaded my kayak and paddle out into the maze of marsh grass and mangroves to chase those bronze monsters of the bayou. I mainly planned to fly fish, but I had my trusty spinning rods on hand in case the wind picked up. The wind picked up. After breaking in my new Lamson 8wt on a couple of feisty reds, the wind began to howl. We had 20 mph gusts on the first day and rain that chased me back to the boat launch. I didn’t fill my limit, but I definitely did not get skunked. I new the wind projections called for a fierce blow the next day, but I hoped I could make a day of it anyway.

Day 2 dawned with ungodly, 40mph gusts and kept me indoors until I finally couldn’t take it anymore and pushed the Kilroy out into the wind. Crossing the small bays was a huge challenge, but once I got behind any type of mangrove or grass I was able to push-pole around and control my boat in the wind. Sticking tight to the bank I was able to find a few fish with my spinning rod and a jig head shrimp. Catching a few in 40mph winds is definitely making lemonade out of lemons and I felt confident I could take advantage of a better forecast for the final day.

Day 3 was all fly fishing, all day. I had a blast using flies of my own creation and sight casting to hungry reds. I spooked many more fish than I landed, but I won’t complain about a day in the marsh on my JK Kilroy!