How to Fish Gulf Rock Lines in SW Louisiana from a Kayak

Still frame shows a bull red, but video covers a number of species.

I have never used Power Pro line on anything but that's just me! What length of Redfish would be considered a "Bull" in La.? Our slot limit in Tx is 20-28". A Bull here would be pushing 40". My go to mainline weight (Flurocarbon) is no less than 20# with 30# leader line. I use that weight line for all inshore fishing here.(Galv.) Fishing the Jetties, I use 30# mainline and 40# leader line with a MH rod and can catch most anything the jetties have to offer. I don't yak...too old for that stuff now but if I did.....my yak would be built with out-riggers for stability. You may want to consider this too after seeing your video!! Stay safe and good luck catchin' this year.

Redfish in Louisiana are typically classified as rat reds (undersized, < 16"), slot reds (16-27") and bull reds (> 27") following the legal distinctions. Most of the bull reds we catch are 36-45", but those rock lines also give up numbers of 27-36" fish also.

We've gravitated toward spooling up our big level wind reels with 80 lb power pro so we can horse bigger fish away from structure. We favor 30-40 lb power pro on most spinning reels.

The yaks in the video are very stable. We've practiced flipping them and then righting them in open water. Flipping them is very unlikely to happen by accident, as it takes purposeful effort to do it. I think I'd give up yakking and just fish from the shore on the beach if I though I really needed outriggers. There's already enough stuff in the vehicle and on the kayak, and I'm starting to look for ways to simplify things on the equipment side rather than adding more. Outriggers would also greatly complicate getting bigger into the yak.

We tried a few yaks before buying, and we practiced in the calm comfort of an inland lake before venturing into the Gulf. We have lots of safety measures: float plan, buddy system, flotation devices, training, and staying in calmer water.

Messianic Mike

It's also good to work a popping cork and gulp along the rocks with a short leader so it doesn't get caught in the rocks. Lot's of slot reds along these rocks. Good stuff.

We play that game a lot in the summer, but since we were making and publishing the video in winter, we stuck with techniques we've had good success with year round. Have you had success with that approach in the winter?

How many pounds was the redfish? A bull red is 20 lbs or better

I don't think we weighed that one. It was 40" long, which suggests a weight of 25 lbs.

But in Louisiana, reds tend to be classified by length as follows (based on the LA law):

< 16" rat reds, throw them back
16"-27" slot reds, put 'em in the box (limit 5 per day per angler)
> 27" bull reds, you can keep 1 per day per angler, meat is firm

Most Louisiana guides prefer to throw the bigger bulls back because they are harder to clean and they figure clients will prefer the more tender meat on smaller fish. But depending on how fishing is that day, they often want a good picture of their clients with plenty of fish for social media, so they vary based on whether they think their clients will limit out without keeping any bigger bulls.

Neat video. Thanks for sharing.