By Bo Crawford

This winter my fishing buddy and I went down to Louisiana to do a little saltwater fishing before bass fishing season really got started. Over 3 days of fishing we caught many, many redfish as well as a few speckled trout and flounder. The interesting part of this story is that all these fish were caught out of my 14-foot Jon Boat using bass fishing tackle. Odds are, if you are a bass fishermen, that you already have all the knowledge and equipment you need to catch your share of Louisiana redfish, too.

Happy Jack, Louisiana, is located about 40 miles southeast of New Orleans. Here there is a series of pipe line canals that cut through the marsh and allow saltwater to come in from the Gulf of Mexico. The water fills the shallow bays, canals, and "duck ponds" of the area. These shallow areas are redfish heaven! On this trip, most of the water we were fishing was less than two feet deep. If you're used to catching spotted bass, this shallow fishing idea is hard to get used to, but redfish actually get in these shallow areas. Sometimes the redfish are so shallow that I don't understand how they can even keep their backs submerged.

The good news is that this makes it easy to find the fish because you can actually see them in the water. There is not much that matches the thrill of sight-fishing for these fish and watching them charge after and inhale your lure. Basically, you fish for reds the same way you fish for bass. You work the banks and as you come across points, cuts or canal mouths that look good you fish them more carefully. Sound familiar? It does because what you're doing is looking for current and ambush spots just like you're doing when you're bassin'.

During the three days we fished we averaged about 25 reds per day with the average fish weighing about 3 l/2 pounds. The fish ranged from little "rat reds" (a redfish that measures less than 16 inches) to an 8-pounder (caught by yours truly I might add). For the purpose of comparing the average size of a redfish to the average size of a bass, I'd say that catching a 6-pound redfish is about as normal as catching a 3-pound bass. In otherwords, 6-pounders are very common.

If you want to go, here is what you will need:

Boats: I have seen many people fish out of bass boats down there over the years and they've had good success. An aluminum bass boat is an ideal rig for this kind of fishing. Fiberglass bass boats are referred to as "glitter boats" (due to the bright exteriors they all seem to have) by the locals down there and will work also. But there are a few things you think about before taking your fiberglass bass boat.

Ice: Do you have a place to ice down the fish? There is not a place to put an ice chest in many glitter boats and I wouldn't recommend trying to pull redfish in your livewell. If you do, I wouldn't want to be the poor guy who had to get them out.

Dirty Boat:Three days of big slimy redfish flopping around on your deck is going to dirty your carpet. I know how much you guys love your boats, so go ahead and mentally accept the fact that your boat is going to get dirty - there's no getting around it. Complaining won't help. If you are the rider, try to understand that your partner loves his boat in ways that he can't describe. Be prepared to continually reassure the boater that everything will be OK, his baby just needs a little bath.

Shallow waters: If your boat rides on a "pad" then the draft on the boat is probably pretty deep, 12" or greater. Be careful you don't get stuck trying to fish a spot that is too shallow for your boat. Don't worry, there are plenty of spots to fish that your boat can get into. If you've fished for hybrids in a tailrace before then you've already thought through how to deal with all these issues and you're going to be in good shape.

Tackle: My four favorite lures in order of preference are plastic cocahoe on a 1/4 oz jig head, l/2 gold Johnson spoon, plastic cocahoe on a 1/4 OZ jig head with a #4 1/2 gold Colorado blade (like a big beetle spin), and a live cocahoe minnow free-lined or under a popping cork.
For all the artificial lures I like a baitcasting reel with medium action 6-1/2' rod with 12-lb. test line. Having a high speed reel is nice when you are burning that plastic cacohoo through the shallow water. For the live minnows I like a spinning reel with a medium action 7' spinning rod, also with 12- lb. test line. Unlike bass fishing, with reds you don't need to worry too much about the details. Any rig will work so long as you can make a long cast (long, casts are important due to the shallow water).
Roland Martin did a show on redfishing in Louisiana that aired last fall. He used a 7 1/2' flipping stick with 17-lb. "super-duper-tough-braided-gorilla-on-steroids" line. What a wimp! The biggest redfish I've seen caught inshore was 13-lbs. and she was caught on 14-lb. test that was already frayed from the day's previous fish. One area where redfishing is different than bass fishing is that you will not be fishing around much cover. Once you hook a fish you generally don't have to worry about it running into a piece of cover like you do with bass. When you are redfishing, once you hook the fish there is nowhere for him to go so you can let him take line all day long. Break-offs do happen, but in my humble opinion you should give the fish a fighting chance and leave all the extra heavy equipment at home.

Here are other items that could make a difference:
Map - We're talking about a maze of canals and you will get lost without a map.

Stainless Steel Prop - This isn't a must, but it sure is nice to not have to worry about all the oyster shells hurting your prop.

Push Pole - This isn't a must either, but a push pole is nice for those times when you misjudge depth and try to get your boat in water that is too shallow for it. If you don't have a push pole a paddle will do.

Electric Fillet Knife - Ever tried to clean a redfish without one? It isn't fun. Take the electric knife.

Lodging- I suggest you rent Ray Armstrong's waterside camp on Happy Jack Canal. Ray can be reached at (504) 393-2318 or http://www.rodnreel.com/camp01/.

Guides - Everything I know about fishing for Reds I learned from Nash Roberts III and Nash Roberts IV at Fishunter Guide Service. It is not a bad idea to let them guide you your first time out so that they can show how to navigate the waters and find the fish. Fishunter Guide Service can be reached at 800-887-13$5 or http:// www.sportsmans-paradise.com/fishunter/index.html.

The entire 3-day 4-night trip cost us about $350 a piece. That isn't bad considering that we wound up with a world-class fishing trip. It is pretty amazing that such world-class fishing can be found so close to Birmingham. Although you may not have realized it, if you bass fish then you already have 95 percent of what you need to catch reds.