“March Red-Bass Madness”

I don’t know about you but this New England March weather has me bouncing off the walls with a major case of ‘Cabin Fever’! First its cold then it’s warm, the ice is safe, and then it’s not! Sparkling roadside streams entice you with open water, while a quick look at the frozen partly thawed banks detours you right back into your truck.
Oh sure you can retreat to your tackle room once again, open every compartment in your thousands of Plano boxes, just to witness for the umpteen time your baits are ready, hooks are replaced and sharpened, reels have been cleaned and oiled, while your assortment of must have rods for every technique ever created are neatly lined up by size! Or, you can do what I have discovered to be the best remedy for ‘New England Cabin Fever’………Go Fishing.

You heard me correctly, go fishing where it’s warm the weather is stable and most importantly the fishing is everything you have ever dreamed of. You may have thought for years it’s impossible or just too outrageously expensive to travel to a fishing camp, well it’s time to re-adjust that thinking and focus in on what just might become an annually prescribed fishing trip for your New England Cabin Fever.
Cuddle up to your computer ‘Google’ in Fishing Camps and you’ll end up with over a million, try inserting the state and that number drops down significantly, add in a major city and then a fish species and your getting closer. Once your cyberspace travel guide gets to an area you think you might be interested in, start checking the various choices and their web sites. Scan each site for a variety of information such as accommodations, equipment provided, packages with rates, and whether or not the fees include travel back and forth from an airport.

Although without a doubt word of mouth is indeed the best form of recommended advertisement, especially when traveling long distances, sometimes it is unavailable. In this case contact the local Chamber of Commerce and/or the states Fishery and Wildlife Department, you will find they usually have a complete package of reputable camps and lodges available for the asking.

Another way to gather information on fishing camps and lodges is by attending the sportsmen fishing and hunting shows available throughout New England. A quick visit to the show promoters web site will enlighten you to the list of their vendors, ‘Google’ these names visit their web sites gathering information while making a list of your questions. I highly recommend calling these camps before the show if possible. Doing so will allow the camps to prepare information and literature specific to your questions, provide a list of satisfied clients for you to contact, and setup a time during the show to actually spend with you going over their facilities. And, don’t be surprise if they just happen to offer you a Free Show Pass!

When we New Englanders think of warmer weather during the colder months, more often than not Florida is first to surface with it’s enticing ‘Sunshine State’ appeals. And, rightfully so, Florida indeed has some of our nations best largemouth bass waters, while it’s off shore and back bay saltwater angling play host to many longtime ESPN television fishing series. However, I would like to suggest you consider Louisiana. Although the devastating damaged cause by Katrina still lingers on with remnants scattered along the highways and back roads, its fishery is thriving.
Many of my colleagues and I have been secretly escaping to this hidden Cajun Paradise for years………..ten years to be specific. With the New Orleans airport our rendezvous point, one-by-one we arrive from points unknown, loading our rental cars with ice chests, luggage and fly rods. The one-hour drive south to Buras, LA is over before our conversations end.

We have arrived to Louisiana’s #1 Fishing Destination, Ryan Lambert’s Cajun Fishing Adventures. (www.cajunfishingadventures.com) For the next three days, there are no deadlines, no scheduled phone interviews, and except for a few lap top computers to download digital pictures, our electronic equipment is composed of Humminbird sonar’s and GPS units. (But, if you insist on keeping in touch with corporate America CFA has complete internet access, fax machines, large screen TV, if you need it they have it!)
Utilizing access ramps to both sides of the Mississippi River and near by bays, Cajun Fishing Adventures caters to inland and offshore saltwater fishing. Surrounded by expansive shallow water wetlands, know as the ‘Marsh’, the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico are only a short Skeeter Bay Boat ride away. (www.Skeeterboats.com)
Obviously, there has to be some magic ingredient that has encouraged our return year after year! One might suggest it’s the culinary enticement of Redfish Ryan with Shrimp Fettuccini, or the Trout Menuire served with Crawfish Etouffe, after a long day reeling in fish after fish. While another might say its being greeted in the morning to the aroma of CFA’s very own Cajun Sausage Bread, and a Shrimp Omelet topped off with a brewed cup of New Orleans’s coffee. Certainly the tradition of Creole and Cajun cuisine will satisfy the most discriminating palettes, however Ryan Lambert himself best states our reason. “Our mission is simple: to get every client coming back again by providing every individual with the ultimate fishing experience!”

To me, it’s cruising through the Marsh’s narrow veins, while mullet play tag with one another leaping in the air. Finding that hidden marsh bay then working a topwater bait over submerged velvet green vegetation as a chorus of a thousand birds take up their position in an estuary second to none. Watching for the slightest movement along the edges of ten foot Cane, then flipping your bait just ahead of a cruising redfish, only to land a largemouth bass.

Where else in the world can a bass angler venture with light tackle, witnessing the adventure of battling schooling redfish, the hard tugging runs of larger bull redfish 15lbs plus, the sudden appearance of delicious flounder attached to your jig, or the brilliant scaled colors of a spectacle trout leaping in the air with your spinner in his mouth. Then there is always the possibility of landing a Stingray, Spanish Mackerel, Hardheads, Needlefish, and if your lucky maybe a Jack Crevalle might spend the next twenty minutes testing your angling skills. These are just a few of the most common species caught within the Marsh, traveling into the Gulf, oil rigs provide cover to a variety of bottom dwelling species, while Dolphin and Tuna are only a cast away.

And, so it is ‘The Ultimate Fishing Adventure’ that has intrigued my colleagues and I to secretly meet annually for the past ten years. You ask yourself, “Why would I disclose such a fishing paradise?” There are basically two reasons; 1. The fishing is just too good not to share it with others. 2. The twelve Louisiana guides Ryan Lambert employees as well as Ryan and every other fishing lodge within the Venice and Buras areas make their living taking anglers fishing, and they need our business. Hurricane Katrina continues to overshadow this fishing paradise above the surface, but below the surface the fishing is better than ever!

Give Ryan Lambert a call at 1.985.785.9833 or email Ryan at cajnfish@aol.com I’m sure that Doc Ryan Lambert has the perfect cure for your New England Cabin Fever.
 

God Bless and Best Bass’n

Northwood’s Sporting Journal
Office: 1.207.732.4880
www.sportingjournal.com
Column: Best Bass’n
March 2008 Issue

Bill Decoteau is an outdoor journalist with a strong passion for pursuing the Black Bass. His activities include covering and photographing professional bass trails, the New England Paralyzed Veterans of America Bass Trail, as well as emceeing benefit tournaments. Bill may also be found holding bass seminars or sharing winning techniques utilized by some of the nationals’ top-bass pro’s at many of the regional sportsmen shows.

Northwood’s Sporting Journal
Office: 1.207.732.4880
www.sportingjournal.com
Column: Best Bass’n