UTERThe best time to fish the Louisiana marsh is October and November, when speckled trout and redfish feed on every marsh point and drain and birds dive over the shrimp in the bays. Each season has its own pattern. Winter puts clear-water redfish in the interior ponds, late spring and summer put spawning trout on the barrier islands, and September brings bull reds to the passes.
The Louisiana marsh runs from Sabine Pass and Calcasieu Lake (Big Lake) in the west to Hopedale and the Chandeleur Islands in the east: millions of acres of marsh, ponds and bayous through Barataria and Terrebonne, Lake Pontchartrain, the Breton and Chandeleur sounds, the barrier islands at Grand Isle and Elmer's, the Mississippi River passes at Venice, and thousands of oil and gas platforms from the beach to blue water. The months come from the Louisiana page of Fish Scouter's season calendar.
Louisiana marsh fishing calendar at a glance
| Month | Headline | Top targets |
|---|---|---|
| January | Clear-water reds in the ponds; trout in the deep bayous | Redfish, trout, black drum, sheepshead |
| February | Big drum spawn at the passes | Black drum, redfish, sheepshead |
| March | Transition: trout start moving out | Black drum, sheepshead, redfish |
| April | Reds on the points; cobia at the islands | Redfish, trout, cobia, flounder |
| May | Trout spawn on the barrier islands | Trout, redfish, cobia, red snapper |
| June | Island trout and platform snapper | Trout, mangrove snapper, tripletail |
| July | Tarpon off Grand Isle; tripletail on every float | Tarpon, tripletail, trout |
| August | Peak tarpon; bull reds start at the passes | Tarpon, redfish, jacks |
| September | Bull reds spawn at the passes | Redfish, trout, tarpon, flounder |
| October | Birds over trout; bulls on the islands | Trout, redfish, flounder |
| November | The best month | Trout, redfish, black drum, sheepshead |
| December | Trout to the trestles and Big Lake | Trout, redfish, black drum |
Winter: December to February
December and January
Cold fronts blow water out of the marsh and leave it low and clear, which makes it the best sight-fishing of the year. Redfish hold in the interior ponds and bayous from Lafitte to Hopedale. On calm, sunny days between fronts, pole or troll quietly through the ponds and cast a spinnerbait or a gold spoon to the fish you see.
Speckled trout drop into the deep bayous, the canals, and the Lake Pontchartrain trestles and bridges, and Calcasieu (Big Lake) has its trophy wading season. Fish slow plastics on the bottom, or a suspending twitchbait for the big fish on Big Lake. White trout school in the deep bayous and passes. Black drum school in the marsh and on the bridge pilings.
February
Big black drum spawn at the Mississippi River passes and the outer bays. Put cracked crab on the bottom. Sheepshead spawn on the rigs, jetties and outer reefs. Reds stay in the interior ponds, so slow down on the coldest days.
Spring: March to May
March
A transition month. Salinity rises in the outer bays as the trout start to leave the interior marsh. Fish the bayou mouths and the inside edges of the outer bays. Bull drum are still stacked in the passes, and sheepshead peak on the nearshore platforms on shrimp or fiddler crabs.
April
Reds move back to the marsh points and broken grass edges. Fish shrimp under a popping cork on the moving tide. Trout head for the outer bays and the barrier islands. The spring cobia run reaches the Chandeleurs and the barrier islands, and flounder sit on the marsh drains and bayou mouths. Pompano show on the Grand Isle and Elmer's beaches. Offshore, Venice yellowfin are some of the best tuna fishing in the Gulf, behind the shrimp boats and around the floaters.
May
Trout spawn on the barrier islands and the beaches at Grand Isle, Elmer's and the Chandeleurs. Wade or drift the islands at first light with live shrimp, croaker or a topwater. Reds work the outer marsh shorelines and oyster reefs from Delacroix to Cocodrie on spoons and paddletails. Cobia sit on the nearshore platforms and buoys, and red snapper are on every platform. Louisiana sets its own red snapper season, so check LDWF.
Summer: June to August
June
The trout spawn peaks on the outer islands and the nearshore rigs. Live shrimp or croaker on a Carolina rig is the go-to. Mangrove snapper stack on the platform legs, so chum and use a light leader. Tripletail start sitting under the crab-trap floats, and the first tarpon show off Grand Isle and the Barataria passes.
July
Tarpon roll off Grand Isle, Port Fourchon and the Mississippi River mouths. It's the month of the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo. Run the crab-trap lines from Grand Isle to Hopedale for tripletail, and drop a live shrimp under a cork beside each float that has a fish on it. Trout stay on the islands and rigs early, then move to the deeper water off the beaches in the heat. Offshore, blue marlin fishing gets going off Venice.
August
Peak tarpon off the barrier beaches and the river passes, on live mullet or pogies. Fish the marsh early in the morning. Bull reds and big jack crevalle start showing at the passes.
Fall: September to November
September: bull reds
Bull redfish school at the passes, the Chandeleurs and the Mississippi River mouths to spawn. Fish cracked crab or cut mullet on the bottom. Trout start moving back into the bays and the marsh, tarpon head south and west ahead of the first fronts, and jacks blow up bait at the passes. See redfish vs black drum for how to tell a bull red from a big drum.
October
The fall bite begins. Gulls dive on trout feeding on shrimp in the bays from Hopedale to Cocodrie. Run to the birds and cast a soft plastic under a cork. Bull reds stay on the outer islands and jetties, and slot reds blow up the marsh ponds as the fronts start. Flounder move to the passes and outer islands to head offshore and spawn. Louisiana has closed flounder harvest during this fall run in recent years, so check LDWF.
November: the best month
Fish every marsh drain on a falling tide pushed by a north wind. As the water drains out of the marsh, it carries shrimp and baitfish, and trout and reds wait at the mouths. Birds, slicks and trout show on every point. Black drum and sheepshead return to the structure, and offshore the fall yellowfin return to the rigs. Our fall fishing guide by region compares the Louisiana bite with the rest of the coast.
Tides, wind and the river
The Louisiana coast has a diurnal tide, one high and one low most days, with a range of only about half a foot to a foot and a half. In practice, wind and fronts move more water than the moon does:
- A north wind after a front pushes water out of the marsh. Low, falling water puts fish on the drains and cuts and clears the ponds for sight-fishing.
- A south wind stacks water into the marsh and spreads the fish into the grass.
- Any moving tide matters twice as much as it would on a big-tide coast, because there are so few of them.
The Mississippi and Atchafalaya push fresh, muddy water across the marsh. High river years push the trout out to saltier water and hurt the eastern marsh bite. Salinity and water color decide where the fish are as much as the calendar does. See the best tide for fishing for more on small-tide coasts.
Rules
Louisiana has changed its speckled trout, flounder and red snapper rules several times in recent years, and federal rules apply offshore. Read the current rules at LDWF seasons and regulations before you keep fish. You need a Louisiana fishing license, and offshore anglers need the free Louisiana Recreational Offshore Landing Permit. Both are on LDWF's license page.
Know where the water is moving
Fish Scouter puts this calendar together with the NOAA tide for the nearest station, the wind direction and speed, pressure, the nearest live water temperature and the seven-day outlook, and ranks every species for your spot hour by hour with the reasons in plain words. On a coast where the wind moves more water than the moon, we think that's the best way to call a marsh trip. Try Fish Scouter free.