Sight Fisherman Heads to the “Pumpkin Patch” for Summertime Redfish!
Keith Lusher 07.01.24
Summertime is in full swing and here in the Gulf South, that means its time to target shallow water for redfish! For Taylor Valois of Slidell, LA, the warm southeast winds and the high water that allow him to venture back into the duck ponds is what June is all about! “The time has finally come to pole around the pumpkin patch,” Valois said. The platform fisherman refers to the duck ponds that he fishes as “pumpkin patches” because of the orange coloration that the redfish have during the warmer months. Valios sight fishes from his flatboat which has a 6-foot aluminum platform mounted in the center. In June, Valios fishes the marshes along Lake Borgne in Southeast LA. “It’s a kind of fishing that requires a little work and practice but when you actually see your lure inhaled by a tailing red, that’s a one-of-a-kind experience,” he said.
This month Valios said the duck ponds in the marsh are the place to be because the water is clear and the vegetation is starting to grow. When that happens, he adjusts by fishing lighter lures on the top of the water. “The areas I fish that I’ve been successful in are usually ponds with high vegetation. So I break out the top water frog, light jig heads, or my personal favorite weedless hooks,” Valios said.
Valios said June is a great month to target the pond because the grass isn’t quite out of hand. “When fishing for redfish in the ponds I look for shallow ponds with not too much vegetation,” Valios said. “Too much grass can be a struggle to deal with and I find the redfish don’t care for it when the grass reaches all the way to the surface.
Lately, Valios has been using Google Earth to read the layout of the marsh and he’s figured out a way to see if the water is the duck ponds is clean. “Before I make a trip I map out spots on Google Earth that are dark blue,” Valios said. “When I see a pond with a dark blue tint that means I’m looking at the bottom of the pond which is an excellent area to try.”
Valios favorite set-up is any kind of plastic crawfish that you would normally use for bass fishing. He threads it onto a weighted hook that allows the craw to swim horizontally.
While Valios fishes from a platform, the majority of anglers don’t have the structures mounted in their boats. Valios said don’t let that stop you! “Platforms are nice to have but if you don’t have one, standing on an ice chest, ladder or homemade stand will work as well,” he said.
Valios has been catching a limit of redfish (4) every trip this month and said the fish are very predictable with the lack of cool fronts passing through. “We’re getting into a summertime pattern now and every day is a carbon copy of the previous day for weeks on end sometimes,” he said. He said the redfish bite should remain stout through the summer and plans on fishing numerous “pumpkin patches” from now until September!
