1. Mach 10 with the Red Reaper
Delacroix, Louisiana
July 2013
Stevie Nick
Stevie Nick didn’thave to blindfold us. The 180’sand G forces pretty
much assured that Al “Cbreeze” Calabrese and I would never find our
way back to the pondswherewe would besight-fishing all day or even
be able to locate Stevie’s tournamenthoney-holeson a map.

2. Delacroix’s marshes are a magnificent labyrinth of cuts, canals, bayous,
ponds, smalllakes and bays that would confound anybody thathadn’t
devoted a good part of their life getting lost in and findingtheir way out
of. TurnsoutStevie navigates the back-ways of this region as good as
any Delacroix native and without havinggrown up fishing the bayous
here.
From the momentwe launched from Serigne’s Marina, it felt like we
were in tight contention in a final day of a tournamentwitha $100,000
prizeup for grabs. We wereventuringinto super-skinny watersand
timing the tides back there while factoring in the wind was tricky and a
real gamble.

3. Stevie with Red Gold. Striking it rich!
There were a few times when Al and I were white-knucklingit with
Stevie wingingit at high speeds and snaking through very tight
channels. This is when I noticed him usinghis Lowrance without
hesitating or breaking speed, just making instantaneous changes to
course.
Note: Later safely back at the dock he disclosed that he uses the E-Card
by Standard Mapping (standardmap.com). TheE-Card provides him a
photo map overlay of industry-standardlaminated mapsthat many
fishermen use religiously. Accordingto this tournamentangler, the E-
Card’s technology blows away competition with its high-definition and
accuracy. So Stevie didn’thave a photographic memory after all.
Touching in with Standard Mapping’s E-Card on his Lowrance HD-S unit

4. Delacroix Marsh
Sight fishing redsin the marsh, at least in this marsh, is definitely the
pinnacleof light-tackle saltwater fishing in Louisiana. The water was
without exaggerating clear as any water I’ve seen, muchless fished in.
Delacroix is at the back door of New Orleans, which some say is the
northernmostcity of the Caribbean. These waters fit that scenario
perfectly. South LA never ceases to amaze. It has some of the clearest
and cleanest water amidst the murkiest, muddiestwater in the country.
Butgood luck seeing em! Someof sight-fishing is learnable. The rest of it
is talent. If you don’thave it, you could have $5,000 CostaDelMar’sand
not see many fish. Butthey are there.

5. Stevie Nick and I in the eagle’s nest, a 5’ custom platform he had built specifically for sight
fishing redfish from his boat
By afternoon, I wasspotting some before Eagle Eyes or Cbreeze did. But
when that happened, it was usually because those two were sizing up
some fish 30-40 plus yardsaway and Imight be seeing one sneakingby
within 10.
In termsof his arsenal, besides the E-Card and the raised platform,
Stevie had a remotecontrol for the trolling motor and was windingus
though the ponds and grass beds in 1-2 feet of water, simultaneously
tracking multiplefish in multiplelocations and placinghis bait in front
of the fish he wanted while telling Al where to cast, which of the fish to
go for and why and telling me to keep trying.
On this trip, among the sight fishing lessons, I learned a lot from Stevie
about boat handling. What you do is, when you start feeling bottom and
it’s just getting shallower, you turn on some Bob Marley, back outabout
30-40 ydsthen punchit. You get the boat up to mud-planeand you
might makethat flat. Worked for us severaltimes.
By end of the day, I had several nicknamesI could kid Stevie with.

6. Speed Racer meets Dukes of Hazard:
If anybody had been tailing this tournament champion, they would have
crashed and burned many times, either launchingthemselves into the
marsh at the hairpin turns, rippingoff lower unitson sub-surfacedebris
and old forgotten damsor just getting plain old stuck. His Blazer Bay
turned into an airboat with afterburnerswhen called for. No smoke
screens or oil slicks needed here.
Rain Man…bears some explanation. First of all, Stevie simply is a savant
of sorts when it comes to sight fishing. Secondly, he shared everything
he saw or knew throughout the wholeday from start to finish and
hardly anything wasrepeated. He wasoverflowingwith explanations
and insights, tirelessly teaching and it was fascinating. I know he wasn’t
countingcards but something was going on that I couldn’texplain.
Red Reaper: By the end of day, with an effortless stealth and great
economy of action, Stevie had pretty much hand-picked the
tournament-classredfishof the area, catching what he wanted, passing
up what he didn’t. I think the redfishknew when his gaze fell upon
them.
Stevie Nick holdinga redwith the “burnt-copper” colordistinctiveofthereds living in the clear
shallows

7. I left Delacroix feeling I’d just had another “oncein a lifetime trip.” Every
fishing trip is differentand some stand out for one reason or another.
The combination of seriousand fun was a blast.
Who Dat Releasing Dat Fish?
(the reflection knows)
I left with the memory of hearing Bob Marley as G forces took hold.
Article and photos by:
Bruno Prager
Co-Publisher-New Orleans
Bruno@coastalanglermagazine.com
CoastalAnglerNOLA.com