By Sam Root of Saltyshores.com
got back from Louisianan late last night. I have been fishing the Louisiana with Capt. Greg Dinni and the Derek of Boldwater. We flew into town Monday night about 8pm, yep right when Ida was making land fall. Unbelievably Soutwest airlines did not cancel the flight. We ran right behind the hurricane.
The flight was a little rough on the approach but other than that it was not to bad at all. I did a priceline offer and got a us a cheap hotel near downtown New Orleans. I offered $61 dollars for a 4 star hotel. I guess it was off season because to my surprise my bid was accepted right away at the Pere Marquette. It was a couple blocks away from the Bourbon street the party headquarters. The rooms was small but otherwise very very nice.
The next day we planned on fishing but since it was gusting 35mph and the water being murky we opted to stay in town and do the tourist stuff. We did the Aquarium tours and of course of Bourbon street.
The food:
The Po boy's at Penny's were always good and consistent not to mention the breakfast.
Penny's Cafe
Dragos in downtown was just like last time, phenomenal seafood. We took Greg there for dinner and at some softshell crabs topped with some crab stuffing. The Oysters topped with cheese and garlic was legendary. From ambiance to food and service 5 stars absolutely.
We also ate on the 2nd night at place called Mulates nearby. The place came highly recommended and Greg had heard good things about it. From the moment we pulled up I can tell it didn't seem right. I mean the place looked nice and all but all the clientele were older patrons and the place wasn't even close to being busy.
Going against our instinct we wanted to eat there. We had the sampler plate along with gumbo. Derek ordered a cajun burger, Greg had the fish. I have to say at first I thought it was just one dish that was overly salty but to my dismay every single dish was doused in salt! I started to ask the guys, isn't the food too salty? They absolutely agree that everyone was at the point that it was not edible. This has to be one of worst places I've eaten in quite a long time. The service was avaerage, the ambiance was good the food was 1 star. Please avoid this place if you are looking for good food. On a good note, the music was good if you like zydeco music.
The 1st day we did great considering it was a day right after the hurricane. I even got one on the fly while Derek was fighting his fish!
The 2nd day we only had 1/2 of a day since we had to hit road by 3pm to make it ot the airport in time. Greg still put on some nice fish. We caught a few fish on the spin using the DOA Cal Gold Rush. Then we decided to use my Loop 9wt for the rest of the day. This was a great choice. Derek and I switched off and we ended up catching some nice reds up to 13lbs. We caped the day off when Greg got a nice 40lb Black Drum on the fly.
Originally the plan was to target monster reds in the 20-40lb class range on fly but the storm forced us to fish clear skinny water due to lack of visibility. I will be back soon as the season for monster reds on fly is just starting over there.
