I have been fishing Reds in the Leeville marshes since I was a child. I always used either a live minnow and cork or a gold spoon. One thing that I did not learn, until about 3 years ago, was how to properly sight fish. I would always read articles of people being able to see fish under the water, make an accurate cast, and WHAM, another Red for the ice chest. I never really tried sight fishing or tried to learn how, until recently.

Sight fishing can be very rewarding if approached with patience and the right equipment. I have been on many fishing trips that sight fishing was impossible due to either water clarity or wind conditions. But there are many occasions that sight fishing can be the most rewarding and challenging days you will ever experience in the marsh. Sight fishing will increase your chances to catch fish consistently. If approached correctly, sight fishing will help you catch those perfect Tournament Reds.

Don't get me wrong, I love casting out a cork and minnow. I also love the surprise of an aggressive Red hammering my old trusty gold spoon. But, until you truly experience the full scope of sight fishing, I feel that you will never truly experience the thrill of "busting up on some Reds". I associate sight fishing a lot with hunting or stalking deer. You need to have the proper equipment, the correct wind placement, keen stalking ability, absolute quietness, and an accurate shot. Or in this case, an accurate cast. These small details will get you close to your Reds for that perfect cast. But before we get into that, let’s start with the basics.

The Equipment

Proper equipment is a must to have a successful day of sight fishing. I have tried all the cheap imitations, but nothing beats a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. My personal preference for polarized glasses is Costa Del Mar. Their glasses range from $100 to $300 depending on how advanced the technology of polarized you are looking for. I personally fish with the Costa Del Mar Fathom with the Green Lenses. These glasses have a glass, not plastic, lenses and are very durable. The Fathom glasses retail for $150.00. These glasses are a little expensive, but you would not believe how well you can see fish under the surface of the water with these glasses.

The second type of equipment you may want to consider is a casting platform. What a platform allows you to do is see the fish at a different angle than from the deck of your boat. You will be able to see fish farther away while up on the platform. This will give you an advantage over someone just fishing from their deck. You will see more fish and you will have more time to prepare for that perfect cast.

Next, you will want to use little or no trolling motor if possible. Reds spook easily. Imagine what a Red is thinking when they have a big plastic blade chopping through the water towards them. Well, you can figure that one out. Maybe that's why you see so many Mud Clouds when you are trolling through your favorite duck ponds. What will help you position yourself correctly and also the correct drifting speed is a good drift sock. If you are too cheap, like me, to purchase a quality drift sock just tie a rope to the handle of a 5 gallon bucket and you will slow your drift considerably. If that is still not enough to slow your boat to a controllable drift, try a second bucket. If that's not enough, then you should not be out on the water. If its too windy, just suck up your pride, belly up to a bar and slam back a few beers. That would be your best bet.

Another very important equipment choice for sight fishing is a quality reel that you can become very accurate with. Some people only use bait cast reels, others only use spinning reels. No matter your preference, just get really good at making pin point accurate casts. This will payoff making that perfect cast when it really counts.

The Location:

You can't just sight fish anywhere. The first thing you want to find is a smaller duck pond or a small bay. You should find water that averages about 1.5 foot in depth. If you are in 2 feet of water or more it becomes difficult to spot fish in deep water. A pond with grass in it is preferable for two main reasons. A pond with some grass in it will cause the sediment in the water to sink. In turn, the water should be almost clear in a pond with some grass or a grass bed. Secondly, a pond with grass will hold bait. Don't get me wrong, you may pull up in a pond with some grass and not see a single bait fish or any reds. Just don't treat that example as the norm. For the most part, if you find grass you will find some bait. If you find bait, you should find feeding Reds. This gives you the perfect situation to find those Reds. Shut down your boat at least 100 yards away when you first pull into that grassy pond. If you can, try to shut it down before that. Those Reds can hear your boat in the water from far away. Take the safe route and shut down your boat early. There are many times that people rush into a spot, get right up in the grass, and leave within a few minutes because they think there are no fish. Their big mistake was that the fish were there, but they chased them out with their noisy boat, and their poor approach.

Again, take your time. You are not there to catch 20 or 30 fish. You are there to look, look, and look. Try to notice a small ripple 30 yards away. Then watch that ripple closely. That may be a Red that just ate a minnow and is sitting there for a second serving. Also, look for pushing Reds. Early in the morning, you can approach a pond and just see this Stud Red pushing down a bank. When this happens, consider yourself lucky. Other times, it may be the smallest ripple. You need to be very aware of Reds that may be right in front of your boat. Also, you want to look out about 30 yards from the boat. Some times, Reds can get right up on you by the time you see them. Just relax and make your cast count. You may want to seriously consider "flipping" your bait for a cast. This approach will cause the bait to hit the water will a soft landing. If you cast overhead, the bait hits the water at a higher speed and greater splash. Practice "flipping" and you will be surprised how good you get at it. You must place your bait in front of the right fish, not the smaller fish. Sight fishing will allow you to select the fish that you want

The Approach:

You will want to place your boat to drift with the wind. You won't be using your troll motor all that much so you need to use the wind to your advantage. I do use my troll motor while sight fishing. I use it very little or only when I really need it. I usually use it very little until I see sign of a Red or actually spot a fish. From that point, I tend to take a very slow approach using the wind or a push pole. If approached quietly and slowly, you can get extremely close to a Red.

You will want to make your first cast to a fish with enough room to be able to make a second or third cast. That second or third cast may be yourself or your partner. It is very important that you do not spook the fish with the splash of your bait. It is critical that you do not get too excited when spotting your first fish. If you see a fish, the first thing you will instinctively want to do is yell, "I see one. There he is. I'm gonna hammer this one. You're mine now sucka!" And things like that. I know because I used to do it myself. I would get so pumped, that I could not control myself and them POOF!, the fish was gone. All that does is make noise that can spook the fish. It also makes your partner get excited and rush over to see what you see. If your partner moves in the boat, that will cause a small wake or wave to head out towards your fish which will quickly spook that Red. So, you will want to remain calm and keep your eyes focused on that fish. Always be looking for ripples, pushing Reds, fish fins and bait jumping.

Its also important that two people do not cast at the same time towards the same fish. This will cause the fish to spook. Have a game plan with your partner and know who will make that first cast to a spotted Red. Try to quickly notice if the fish is facing towards you or away from you. This should help you to determine where to place a proper cast. There were many times that I would see a fish, flip my bait out there, and make a poor judgment on the cast. Then the next thing I know, I'm trying to chase down the Red with my troll motor while it continues to run across the pond. Its kind of like trying to catch Jace Ledet after giving him a Krispy Kreme donut. You can't catch him. If you spook it, I would say that your chance of catching that one is slim to none.

My suggestion in just starting out, is cast about 15 feet past the Red. The farther away your bait hits the water, the less of a chance the splash will spook the fish. By making this cast, it actually does not matter which way the fish is facing. This will allow you to work your bait slowly back to the feeding fish. This will give you time to make a controlled presentation with your bait. You need to make your bait resemble a swimming minnow, crab or shrimp. The one down fall to this approach is spooking the fish with your line. I have spooked numerous fish with my string, so don't be upset when this happens. You won't catch them all, but by taking this approach, you should catch 60 to 70 percent of the fish you see.

Putting it all together:

Remember, sight fishing is used to catch larger or "select" Reds. Smaller, more aggressive Reds usually beat older or larger Reds to a bait. Smaller Reds are the ones to attack your spoon time after time. You may ask yourself, "why can I go out and catch fish day after day on that spoon. But I can't really catch that Stud Red." Its because you have to change your approach. You have to fish a little different to catch those "Select" Reds. In many cases, luck has allot to do with winning a Professional Tournament. But, to consistently catch large Reds takes a ton of skill. Sight fishing is how the Pro's consistently do it time after time. Basically if you pinpoint the correct location, and you use the correct gear and approach, sight fishing will be like fishing in an aquarium. You will be able to selectively pick the fish you want to catch.

All of these tips are from my personal experience. I'm sure that there are many other approaches to successfully sight fishing Reds, but these are a few tips that have worked for me. Next time you go out, try these tips. You may be surprised that you don't have to cast your arm off all day humming out that gold spoon to catch Reds. You may only have to cast 20 times to catch 10 Reds.

 

Brance Lloyd