Rick Grassett, Hopedale, Louisiana

I was on a road trip to Louisiana to fly fish for reds with several friends during the past week, so I don’t have a Sarasota report. Mike Perez, Jon Yenari and I drove from Sarasota to Hopedale, LA on Wednesday and met up with my brother Kirk Grassett, from DE, Steve Silverio, from PA and Brad Barrett, from IN, to fly fish the Biloxi marsh for reds. This was our 4th trip to fish the area. We stayed at Dogwood Lodge, a retired 100’Coast Guard buoy tender, converted into a floating lodge that sleeps 12. It was very convenient to step off the guide boats at the end of the day onto the ship.

We fished Thursday through Saturday with Capts. Al Keller, Travis Huckeba and Cody Cash Moody. A front had passed through on Wednesday and fish were hunkered down, making them tough to find. However the guides know the area well, so they were still able to find some fish. Despite challenging conditions, there were several big reds and a big black drum caught and released on flies. The flies we used were heavily weighted with a large profile, 4” to 5” long.

It was very windy and overcast on Saturday as another front approached. However several reds in the 20-lb class and numerous trout were caught and released on jigs fished under a clacker float with spinning tackle. Sunday was rained out with a squall line passing through that morning.

Back in Sarasota, trout, blues and more on deep grass flats and snook, reds and larger trout in skinny water should be good options. Catch and release night snook fishing around lighted docks and bridges in the ICW with flies and DOA Lures should also be a good option. There may be some action in the coastal gulf with false albacore (little tunny) as the water cools down and baitfish school up along the beaches. Tripletail should also be a good option depending on conditions.

Tight Lines,