Saltwater

South Louisiana is one of my favorite fishing destinations. Very few places offer such a diversity of species to fish, both inshore and offshore. And very few places offer you such fertile water that ensures no one goes home without something in the cooler. Two of my favorite inshore species to fish are redfish and speckled trout.

Snook (centropomus undecimalus) are generally found along the structure of inshore brackish ecologies. Because of its temperature tolerance range and tropical/Central/South American origins, "USA snook" are only found in quite fishable numbers in Florida. And even in Florida, it's only that part of the state which is basically south of a horizontal line drawn through Orlando.

It looked like our skiff would be swallowed by a solid wall of mangroves, but Captain Jeff Legutki banked the Hell's Bay Whipray into a leftward arc, revealing a good sized "cathedral"-style opening right in our trajectory about forty feet off our bow. As my sigh of relief tapered off, we flew into the portal, which began our watery path through the cool shadows of these large trees, all of them so spidery-looking with their multi-footed roots.

Proverbial oceans of time had passed since I'd been in blue water pursuing sailfish. I'd hunted, captured, and released hundreds of the spindlebeaks with the unrelenting ferocity that made me sure I'd never stop. But I did, in favor of the sandy shallows countless moons ago. Whatever currents and forces move the lives of men and fish is what I suspect urged me oceanward once again; but I can't be certain. It wasn't even a matter of "pez vela's" absence making the heart grow fonder. I simply wanted to fish for them again.

Southwestern Louisiana is bayou territory and the Lake Charles area is home to plenty of redfish and trout in the marshes of Big Lake. Traveling to the end of Big Pasture Road in Calcasieu Parish brings the traveling angler to Grosse Savanne Lodge. There are still plenty of cattle in the big pasture but the real wildlife treasure lie in the several thousand acres of bayou that holds large and aggressive redfish.

Every place we seek game fish — inland, in the coastal shallows, or off in the marine deep — has its own unique character. And what makes it special depends on each angler and boater. When we adventure after a specific species, the globe tightens, the list of destinations grows much shorter and the competition begins.

Traveling to South Texas to fish in the famed waters around Rockport often involves hot and windy conditions.

My recollections of past story assignments often begin with visual scenic images, but my recent trip with Captain Kyle Messier on the Crystal River seems to have changed that pattern. The spinning Lazy Susan wheel of memories is now made up of diverse game fish — lots of them. The main reason for this magical shift is that I'd never fished a Florida coastal city where fresh water springs and the nearby brackish rivers and salty bays teamed up to create such a huge ability to house so many different finny fighters.

I'd have thought I'd grown used to the "before-trip" night of anticipation and excited imaginings for a new angling destination, guide, whatever — but I had not. And so, the wee hours before my trip to Whitewater Bay (with Don Eichin and guided by Captain Bob LeMay) were ruptured by adrenal wakeups and the inevitable "counting-down" glances at the alarm clock. Over so many years, the launch ramp at Flamingo meant out front poling shallow waters for redfish and snook. This time, we'd be going in the other direction — north — to new waters for me.

Each fall there is a two-month window for recreational shrimpers to use bait to gather these tasty crustaceans for sport. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources set this year's shrimp baiting season from Sept. 13 through Nov.