The Louisiana marsh is doing what it does in late July — hot, buggy, and full of redfish for anyone willing to get in early. The trout have moved out to the nearshore rigs and the deeper structure where the water is saltier and cooler, and the offshore tuna bite has been steady at the deepwater rigs.
What’s Hitting
Redfish are the constant, working the marsh ponds and shoreline grass on the higher tides. Speckled trout have shifted out of the interior marsh to the nearshore rigs, the barrier island passes, and the deeper bayou structure. Black drum are on the oyster reefs. Offshore, yellowfin tuna are the headline at the deepwater rigs, with blackfin, mahi, and wahoo in the mix. Flounder are around the pass edges, and there are tripletail on the crab trap floats.
Where to Find Them
Fish the ponds and interior bayous of Delacroix, Hopedale, and the Biloxi Marsh for reds on the flood. Trout are stacked at the nearshore rigs off Grand Isle and Fourchon, and around the passes at the barrier islands. Look for tripletail on the trap lines in the open bays on calm mornings. Offshore, the deepwater rigs south of the Mississippi River mouth are producing the tuna.
Tides & Conditions
Post-full-moon tides are moving well through midweek — important here, where a little tidal push makes the difference in the marsh. Water temps are 88 to 90 in the interior and mid-80s nearshore. Light southeast wind in the mornings, storms building inland by afternoon. Interior water is fresh-influenced from summer rain, so salinity edges matter.
Tackle & Tactics
Redfish in the marsh take a gold spoon, a weedless soft plastic, or cracked crab and market shrimp on the bottom. Keep it simple with 20- to 30-pound leader. Trout at the rigs want a live shrimp or croaker under a slip cork, or a soft plastic on a 3/8-ounce head fished down the rig legs. Tripletail need a live shrimp pitched quietly past a float. Tuna are a chunking or popping game at the rigs, best in the low light.
Local Intel This Week
The Delacroix launches, the Hopedale Marina ramp, and the Grand Isle public ramps are the main access points. Fish are concentrating on the salinity edges — where the fresher interior water meets the saltier bay water is where the reds and trout stack. Louisiana has generous but specific limits on reds and trout that have changed recently — check current Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries regulations and seasons before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
In the marsh in this heat, fish the first two hours and the last two hours of the flood and ignore the rest. Reds push into the ponds with the rising water and pull out fast when it drops. The middle of the tide in the middle of the day is the least productive combination there is.