This week the Louisiana marsh is hot, low and full of shrimp. Late August in south Louisiana means water in the upper 80s, afternoon storms you can set a watch by, and redfish that will eat all day if you can get to them without spooking the pond. The trout have pushed out toward the cleaner outside water, and the nearshore rigs are holding tripletail worth a dedicated run.
What’s Hitting
Redfish are the headline and they are everywhere — the interior marsh ponds, the drains and the outside shorelines all hold fish, and the schools are getting easier to find as the shrimp move. Speckled trout have shifted toward the outside islands and the beach fronts where salinity is higher, with good numbers over the shell. Tripletail are on the nearshore rigs, crab floats and any floating debris. Black drum and sheepshead are on the interior structure, and flounder are starting to show on the drains.
Where to Find Them
The Delacroix, Hopedale and Reggio marsh has been producing consistent redfish in the ponds and along the interior bayou banks. For trout, work the Biloxi Marsh outside shorelines, the Chandeleur side and the shell reefs in Black Bay. Tripletail are on the rigs and crab floats within a few miles of the beach out of Grand Isle and Venice. Venice-area anglers are also getting a mixed nearshore bag around the passes and the river mouths.
Tides & Conditions
Louisiana tidal range is small — a foot or less most days — so wind is the real driver of water level and clarity. This week’s pattern has light morning winds and a southerly filling by midday, which will dirty the outside shorelines by afternoon. Marsh water is 86 to 90 degrees. Afternoon thunderstorms are a daily certainty and can be severe; be off the water by two. Interior water clarity is fair to good on the calm mornings.
Tackle & Tactics
For marsh redfish, a 3000-size spinner with 20-pound braid and 25- to 30-pound fluorocarbon and a gold spoon, a weedless soft plastic or fresh market shrimp on a light jighead. In shallow ponds, cast well ahead of a wake and let the bait sit. Trout on the outside want a soft plastic under a popping cork over shell, or a live shrimp on a Carolina rig in the deeper cuts. For tripletail, idle the rigs and floats looking for a fish laying on its side just under the surface, then pitch a live shrimp on a 20-pound fluoro leader — one cast, no weight.
Local Intel This Week
The Sweetwater Marina ramp in Delacroix, the Campo’s Marina ramp in Shell Beach and the Venice Marina ramps are the standard access points, and the Grand Isle public ramps serve the beach and rig fishery. Fish are concentrating around moving water and bait — the drains, the shell edges and the floating structure. Louisiana redfish and speckled trout limits were revised in recent seasons and differ from neighboring states; check current Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries regulations before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
In a shallow marsh pond in this heat, the trolling motor is your biggest liability. Push-pole or drift the last hundred yards, and if you must use the motor, run it on a low steady setting rather than pulsing it. It is the change in sound that clears a pond, not the sound itself.
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