South Louisiana is hot, humid, and fishing well if you start early. The marsh has cleared up nicely after a dry stretch, water temperatures are in the upper 80s, and the redfish are exactly where they should be in August. Offshore, the tuna fleet has had a good run of weather to reach the deepwater rigs and floaters.
What’s Hitting
Redfish are the backbone of the fishery and they are cooperative right now — singles and small groups working the shorelines and pond edges through the Delacroix, Hopedale, and Venice marshes. Bull reds are showing at the passes and around the outside islands. Speckled trout have moved outside, holding on the barrier island shorelines, the rigs in the bays, and around Lake Pontchartrain structure at night. Flounder are on the drains and cuts. Offshore, yellowfin tuna are on the deepwater rigs and floaters, with blackfin, wahoo, and mahi on the shelf-edge structure. Tripletail are showing on crab traps and floating debris in the passes.
Where to Find Them
Work the shallow ponds and dead-end bayous off Delacroix and Reggio at first light for reds. Hopedale and the Biloxi Marsh shorelines are producing well. Trout are on the outside — the Chandeleur and Breton island chains and the rigs in Black Bay have been holding fish. Lake Pontchartrain bridge pilings and the Causeway are the night trout program. Venice gives access to both the passes for bull reds and the run to the deepwater rigs for tuna.
Tides & Conditions
Water temperatures are 87 to 90 in the marsh and slightly cooler outside. Tidal range is modest in Louisiana, so wind direction matters more than the lunar table — a light southeast breeze has been keeping water on the marsh. Afternoon thunderstorms build daily and can be severe. Marsh water clarity has been good, which makes sight-fishing possible but also makes the fish spooky. Be off the open water before the afternoon cells develop.
Tackle & Tactics
Marsh redfish will eat almost anything presented well — a gold spoon, a soft plastic on a light jighead, or a piece of market shrimp under a cork. In clear water, downsize and lengthen your leader and make longer casts. Trout on the islands want a soft plastic under a popping cork or a live shrimp fished on the current side of the structure. Bull reds at the passes take a large soft plastic or cut mullet on a Carolina rig. Offshore, the tuna program is chunking or live-baiting at the rigs at night and into the dawn, or trolling the shelf edge.
Local Intel This Week
Sweetwater Marina in Delacroix, Campo’s Marina in Shell Beach, and the Venice Marina complex are the standard launch points. The Rigolets and Seabrook areas give shore anglers access to trout and reds. Fish are concentrating on shoreline points, drains, and structure with moving water rather than in open lakes. Speckled trout, redfish, and tuna all carry size and bag restrictions that have changed in recent years in Louisiana — check current Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and federal regulations and seasons before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
In a marsh pond with clear water, the fish will see you before you see them. Kill the trolling motor at the mouth, drift or push in, and fan-cast the pond before you move deeper into it. Most anglers run to the back of a pond and spook every fish in it on the way, then wonder why the water they came to fish looks empty.
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