November 2013

Greetings from the Gulf South and America’s “Third Coast”. A lot has happened since our last Chronicles.

First, we were blessed to have had a quiet hurricane season. Despite a late season scare from Tropical Storm Karen, which had no significant impact at all, things were very quiet this year. As a result, our barrier islands and marshes have continued to repair and rejuvenate. I am continually amazed at the ability of our coastal ecosystem to bounce back from the effects of tropical insults. We were able to run Chandeleur Islands trips most of November. The fishing at the Islands remained solid thru the fall and only ended due to the weather when a series of early strong cold fronts passed thru the region.

While our Chandeleur season has ended, our fall/winter marsh fishing and coastal waterfowl seasons are in high gear. We are really off to a great start! Our marshes are simply full of redfish and speckled trout this year and the fishing has been on fire! From our marsh dock base, limits of fish are the rule, not the exception. Remember our motto: “You don’t have to go far when you are already there.” There are still open dates available to come experience some of the best light tackle fishing in one of America’s premier fisheries – the Biloxi Marsh.

We are also experiencing a great start to what looks to be an exceptional gunning season for waterfowl. Despite extremely high tides exaggerated by relentless east winds which spread our birds out into smaller potholes and what in general appears to be a late migration, a series of early, strong cold fronts have kept new birds coming into our marsh. Our harvest numbers have been good with limits or near limits the rule averaging about 5 ducks per hunter effort (Louisiana has a 6 duck/hunter/day limit). Our harvest has primarily consisted of gadwalls and teal but has included mallards, widgeon, mottle ducks, scaup, redheads, pintail and hooded mergansers. Our first split closes December 1 and the second split is December 14 – January 19 and I think our second split will shape up to be exceptional. With a 2 week break, our marshes should fill up with new birds as each cold front passes. As I mentioned in the last Chronicles, our marshes are in great shape with lots of vegetation and should hold birds all season. It’s not too late to book a cast and blast trip as we still have some open dates in late December and into January.

Finally, out fly fisherman are experiencing excellent fishing this fall hampered only by weather. Small to medium size redfish (5-20 lbs.) are literally everywhere in the marsh. Larger redfish (20-35 lbs.) are being caught routinely and a chance at a record fish on the fly is clearly a possibility on every trip. We continue to work with the best guides in the area including Gregg Arnold, Rocky Thickstun, Jason Rucker, Al Keller, Travis Huckaby and Greg Moon to put our clients on the fish and to offer an exceptional outdoor adventure and experience.

Call us to discuss how we can arrange a custom trip to fit your group’s needs. Also, we are booking spring-fall 2014 trips for Chandeleur on Southern Way.

And, finally, for smaller groups of both fly and/or conventional fisherman, you may want to consider a custom expedition trip to the Islands and the Marsh on Southern Cross.

We hope to heard from you soon and until then, we’ll keep living life…A Southern Way.

With best regards and happy holidays!