One weird note about the fishing on Sunday: we were fishing shrimp under a cork in about 2-4 feet of water. One of us noticed their shrimp was on top of the water and jumping around. He decided to put some split shots about half way down the leader between cork and the hook. The theory was to keep the shrimp deeper in the water column and make it easier for the fish to get them instead of the shrimp being elusive on top of the water. That seemed to be the ticket because everyone switched to that and we were getting tons of hits after that. Never employed that tactic before.
Chandeleur Island Fishing Report 6/13: Nasty quartering sea on way to chandy, got beat up a bit. White caps all the way there. Had live shrimp but no croaker. When we got to the west side of the island it was pretty nasty still and white capping west to east into the island. Had west winds so the east/gulf side of island would be more protected but I wanted to get to some protected areas on west side of island with grassbeds and get at the trout and reds. I should have just gone straight to the protected east/surf side of the island. The east side is mostly just surf fishing in the breaking waves. All the grass beds and marshy areas are on the west side. Regardless, made it past “big island” and started fishing points and cuts around new harbor island and redfish point. We werent getting any bites or catching anything other than catfish. We saw a huge group of pelicans dive bombing so we ran along side them and cast where they were working. Picked up a 16 in trout but the birds were moving constantly and too difficult to fish that way. Thought about going further south to Monkey Bayou but decided with the time left we should start working our way back up north towards the northern tip. Worked our way north and drifted some grass flats but still didnt catch anything. We only had 2 hrs left of fishing so we decided to run around the northern tip and head to the gulf side of the island. Once we got around the tip to the east side we eased our way up to the beach where some waves were breaking. We started catching pompano with shrimp under cork. They were schooling, chasing bait, shrimp was jumping out of the water, and pompano were jumping out if the water and almost into the boat. In about 1.5 hrs we caught about 10 pompano and a 22 inch trout which saved the trip. I tried using matrix shad shrimp creole on the east side and didnt get any bites. I did catch some pompano on dead shrimp on a jig head. Ended the day with 10 pompano, and 2 trout. Much nicer run in. Following sea with mostly 1-1.5ft seas with occasional 2s. Ran a total of 93 miles
If the weather holds up I'm supposed to take my law partners out Friday on my boat out of Pascagoula for snapper fishing. It's about a 20 mile run to FH13 where there are a ton of artificial reefs full of snapper. You can only keep 2 per person so that's kinda lame. But if you can find some mangroves you can add to the meat haul. Also occasionally you'll pick up a cobia or other random fish that are keepers.
Tried my hand at this stream but a big thunderstorm popped up and ran me out after only 30 minutes. Had a ton of brookie splashes, but none hooked.
Shoal bass a buddy caught that had a large bullhead in its throat. Never underestimate how large of a food source a hungry fish will go after.
3 man limit of ARS and a lane snapper. ARS were all 16-18 inches so no pigs. Lane was 15-16 inches. Boat handled well . Ran 50 miles today.
Sat out on the beach for 4 hours this morning. Saw 6 tarpon Highlight was the boat ride back as it was only part I didn’t feel like I was melting
Went back out with the wife and the 2 boys. I'm now PE #1 after catching 3 to their 0. Only 1 worth a picture tho
Group of my friends has been going to Grand Isle almost every summer for a fishing weekend. This will be my 2nd year doing it. I'm going to trailer my boat down weekend of July 8 and fish 2 days. We'll mostly be going for ARS and Mangrove Snapper. Maybe get lucky and catch a cobia. Not sure if triggerfish is in season but they are all over those rigs.
Was looking at the midnight lumps out of Venice. I hear Tiger Pass and South Pass are very difficult to navigate if you have no experience , the river is super foggy, tons of boat traffic in the river with large commercial vessels etc. I've read running to midnight lumps out of Grand Isle is easier. It's about the same distance too. I've got the fuel range in my boat to do it. But I'd probably be on the small size at 23 feet of the boats that make that run. On a slick day with no bad weather I think it is doable. Sounds like you mostly catch yellowfin tuna, blackfin tuna, amberjack, and snapper. It's about 200 feet deep or 300 on the outside edges.
The Lumps are almost due south of Grand Isle. I wouldn’t run Venice if you don’t have experience - the place changes monthly. The Midnight Lumps is moreof a winter/spring fishery. That’s when there are tons of 200lb yellowfin and big wahoo. You will still have tons of great places to fish if it is calm.
119 today with some customers out of port sulphur. Fished with the same group back in college and we caught a bunch of redfish. According to the guides they just aren’t there like they used to be because of the marsh washing away and Bowfishing. Either that or they just bullshitted and didn’t want to hunt for them
You guys up on the coast need to be careful with your fishery. You aren’t going to get less pressure in the future. No where is. Trust me, things go south fast
It's just a Louisiana thing. They've been claiming fake news on the stock assessment that says the fishery is down and you literally only have a good day if you "filled your box." I had a CCA tag for a while and it was ripped off twice at LA launches. SW LA is a lot better and they have their own set of restrictions. They're basically Texans on the water and arent like SE LA anyway.
The fish we caught the most yeah probably was that. But we did catch a good bit more that we’re 18 than smaller
I was in Delacroix a few years back and there was this group of like 15 guys on three boats who’d go out and just fill coolers like that. They did it for the 4 days we were there and they stayed longer than us. Talked to them and they filet and freeze them. So many fish no way they were able to eat all of them. I’d keep a trout over a red, but there isn’t that much meat on a 14-15 inch trout. I guess what they were doing is legal but idk what they expect is going to happen
They justify their actions by saying they give them to people who want fish. Which is bs, they go in a freezer and then the trash after they’re freezer burned. The need to put their “box” on social media is a huge part of it. I tag most of my fish and will keep one or two for dinner when I know we are eating them that night or the next day. I get it if you are able to make it to a coast once a year and want some fish, but those people aren’t the problem. A guide being able to count 25 trout to the charters total is ridiculous too.
Went out in the keys this past weekend. Couldn’t find the Mahi but the Tuna were hitting really good. Sushi anyone?
Got 4 guys on my boat headed 38 miles south on the east side of Chandy to an arotifical reef for ARS. Hoping to get a quick limit then go 25 miles south east to MP108 rigs to catch as many mangrove snapper as possible. Bonus points if we catch any cobia or triple tail. Serious bonus points if there’s a weed line with mahi. Gonna be dodging thunder storms. Otherwise it is 1 foot or less and about 5mph winds.
Luckily work has been sending me to trout areas. Going to Pittsburgh next week but unfortunately not going to have time to fish any.
went hiking and stopped for a creekside picnic afterwards. threw on a dry fly for the first time in over a year.
i have not run that way since Ida hit last summer, but it was one of your safest bets heading out before that. Keep an eye out once you get past horn. Saw a nice tarpon chain out there last week and that is a trendy route for them.
Ran 117 miles today. About 55 miles south of Ocean Springs. That's the furthest we've been in my boat. Limited out on nice ARS that were around 10-15# on average. My friend had some crazy coordiantes in about 60-80 feet of water with natural bottom and some artifical reef where the snapper were swimming up to the boat without us chumming, just when we pulled up they came to check us out. They were everywhere. THey were huge. First time I've got to use my Reliable Fish Bag and it worked like a champ. Held all 8 snapper no problem, had room for more.
I caught a redfish with my barehands yesterday. Basically I went up a creek at low tide and found a school. They wouldn’t bite anything I threw at them so I got out my kayak and walked over and grabbed one. Was one of the wildest days. I was covered in mud as they flopped in the mud when I spooked them.
anyone here ever hired a redfish guide in tx? preferably to fly fish? will be in houston for a work conference in September and i'm going to look into hiring a guide. i threw a hail mary email at jt van zandt for shits and giggles.