Rolling swells passed gently under the hull as Capt. Brandon Ballay ran his boat past the mouth of South Pass, one of the larger outlets that funnel water from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. A third-generation guide, Ballay knows the waters of the Delta like the back of his hand. We started the day fishing near the mouth of Southeast Pass and caught a few nice redfish, but as the tide changed he ran to a miles-long sandbar just west of South Pass, explaining that bigger reds should be hunting there. Here the swells became breakers before crashing on the bar and mayhem erupted as schools of baitfish trapped in the whitewater were harassed by bull reds. This was going to be epic fishing, which is not unusual for the Delta.
My favorite fishing partner, Ginger Tatem, was with me on her first fishing trip to what I consider to be one of the best angling
