Down on the Bayou

I’ve been down in Shell Beach, LA on the Gulf every weekend for the last month or so, and fishing has been pretty stellar. I’ve just really started to get a hang of it, but it’s like fishing Lake of the Woods, every possible spot can hold fish. Learning where to fish with the changing tides, and how the tides vary time wise depending on what station you check them from has been one of the trickier things to learn. It’s a whole new learning curve, and has been rewarding and frustrating at the same time!

I had the chance to meet some salt of the earth people down here, and they have been unreal resources. From showing me some amazing spots, to giving me a free place to stay!

Right now there is a red hot Speckled trout bite, so I’ve been spending a lot of time throwing for them. Chasing the birds around has been a riot. Followed a school of fish well over 2 miles, for 3 hours across an Oyster bed and racked up 100’s of fish. Poppin’ Cork and double rigged matrix shads have been the ticket! Specks rival the mighty Walleye for the frying pan! Shrimp, Crawfish and Crab boils also are the cat’s meow! I don’t know how I lived without them before moving down here!

The Redfish have been a little tougher lately but able to pull out a handful each weekend, just by catch while fishing for specks. I’m going to switch my attention back towards the reds pretty soon. It’s been pretty awesome to live within a few hours to such an amazing fishery. I plan to be down there about every weekend, so if you’re in the neighborhood, look me up, I normally will have an open seat.

First time in over 20 years I’ve missed a fishing opener in Minnesota though, not a streak I wanted to break!

Attachments:

1. 

   Ben-Red.jpg
   

2. 

   Chels-Trout.jpg
   

3. 

   Annie-Driving.jpg
   

Some more photos

Attachments:

1. 

   Lake-Red.jpg
   

2. 

   Ben-Trout.jpg
   

3. 

   RedFeesh-1-of-1.jpg
   

Shrimp Boil!

Attachments:

1. 

   PrimosShrimp-9.jpg
   

Redfish are so cool looking…

…I can’t wait to catch one.

Ben,

What do you flavor your Shrimp Boils with? Looking at the picture is making be hungry.

Have great Memorial weekend.

Thanks,

FDR

I had a shrimp boil at a “fest” last weekend. Holy crap was it good. Loved the sausage, but the shrimp was unbelievable. Very sweet. No way Michelle was going to try it with the shrimp cooked whole, poop lines and all. Me, I don’t care.

francisco4 wrote:

Ben,

What do you flavor your Shrimp Boils with? Looking at the picture is making be hungry.

I use Zatarian’s boil seasoning bags.

Or there are a million recipes to make your own mix on the interweb.

Grouse

Lived gulf side of Florida for a year+ and used a guide 3 times for redfish and never caught one. Envy on you for that one Ben!!

Ben if you dont mind me asking what brought you down south?

francisco4 wrote:

Ben,

What do you flavor your Shrimp Boils with?

Same, I use Zatarians. Kind of the standard down here. That or Louisiana. I prefer the mix rather than the bags you soak.

mplspug wrote:

No way Michelle was going to try it with the shrimp cooked whole, poop lines and all. Me, I don’t care.

Missing out!

KP wrote:

Ben if you dont mind me asking what brought you down south?

I took a job producing Primos Hunting’s TV show, the Truth About Hunting. That’s down in Jackson, MS so only about 3 hours from where I’ve been fishing.

I can’t wait for this fall for the Bulls to start schooling up again, should be a riot!

Ben Brettingen wrote:

Shrimp Boil!

Ben,

Good to see you’re getting on the fish! When I was down there fishing out of Baras, LA the place we stayed at spoiled us with seafood dishes at every meal. The one that really stood out was stuffed flounder. I caught what I was told was a big flounder at about 6 lbs. When we brought it back to camp one of the cooks cleaned the flounder by cutting off the head / tail then filleting it in such a way that the fish was basically “unfolded” with all bones removed and the meat left attached to the skin. The cook then stuffed the whole fish with fresh, cleaned shrimp, lump crab meat, lots of garlic, butter, chives… and who know what else. Then it was baked in the oven.

It was the best seafood dish I’ve ever eaten by far. I’ve since looked for recipes and all I can find is flounder fillets stuffed with the shrimp and crab and nothing on how to cook the fish whole. Not that I’d have access to a whole flounder but the memory of that meal has always stuck with me. If you ever catch one of those flounder…think about giving it a try.

I’m jealous! Awesome photos Ben!