A few seconds after turning off the engine and quietly turning on the trolling motor I heard Brian whisper, “got two reds coming in.” I shut down the trolling motor and scanned ahead seeing nothing. I watched his cast land forty feet away and then the water exploded. The first time I saw the 20lb red fish was when it came to the net. Out of the dozen or so fish we encountered in the pond he spotted everyone of them and I saw none. I failed to mention he stood about eight feet higher than me perched on a ladder nailing red fish after red fish, with a fly rod none the less.
We got a few interesting looks when we loaded the boat that morning. Other anglers were helping each other with rods, tackle boxes and coolers. A 5 foot utility ladder and a couple of fly rods definitely turned a few heads. Captain Brian Carter and myself had been trying to get together and catch a few bull reds on the fly for months now and the ladder idea was a trick I “borrowed” from some friends down in Venice. Captain Brent and Brandon Ballay used 10 foot step ladders to spot reds for tournament scouting on the red fish tours. The prospect of seeing reds swimming 50 to 75 feet away certainly peeked my interest. The concept is very simple: get a higher line of sight and you will see more. With the setup we used the anglers eyes are about 12 feet above the water line which almost doubles or triples how far one can see depending on clarity of the water and the sky. Being able to see red fish that far away will give you all the time in the world for a perfect cast.
Ideal conditions for any stalking conditions are putting the sun to your back and fish the leeward side of the wind, off the bank. The ladder idea is basically a poor mans polling platform but you can move it around the boat. The best set up we found was to put one angler on the trolling motor with enough room to fish. The ladder setup would go behind the first angler, with both anglers working together. The ladder angler almost always will see the fish first and takes the first shot. If the ladder angler hooks up, he comes out and the next person goes up. I couldn’t believe how many fish we saw even while we were fighting other ones. On a clear day even the farthest cast you can make will not be able to reach how far you can see. This time of year the big reds are crushing spoons and spinner baits. On this particular day a crab pattern fly was deadly. A well placed cast leading the fish with the retrieve putting the bait in front of the fish’s mouth worked every time. I am not telling you to put a ladder on your boat for obvious safety reasons, but with a little planning and safe thinking it is pretty neat way to fish. As always (and especially here) have fun and be safe.
Captain Sonny Schindler
Shore Thing Fishing Charters
Bay St Louis, MS
228-342-2295
www.shorethingcharters.com