Coastal Currents: Reel in the Gulf's Hotspots for Reds, Trout, and More on Louisiana's Fertile Shores

This is Artificial Lure reporting on the Gulf of Mexico action from Louisiana for Sunday, September 14th. If you’re out and about this morning, you started with a sunrise at 6:43 AM and we’re rolling into a sunset at about 7:07 PM. Plenty of daylight, and right now we’re working with a strong tidal swing—the tidal coefficient is sitting at 71 early before tapering off by evening according to Tides4Fishing. That means there’s good water movement, so expect baitfish to be active and fish feeding hard around those major tide changes, especially at mouths and passes. The weather’s been a bit more favorable with winds laying down compared to earlier in the week. Offshore, winds are out of the northeast and east, generally between 5 and 15 knots, and waves are running 1 to 3 feet depending on how far you run out, as given by the National Weather Service New Orleans. That’s making things accessible both for inshore and just-off-the-beach action, but keep an eye out for pop-up storms and higher winds by midday. The marshes and bays are loaded right now. Reports from local guides and anglers say redfish are thick in the marshes south of Venice and Delacroix—classic September pattern, with both slot and oversized bulls on the hunt around points and bait slicks. Live or dead shrimp under a popping cork is as foolproof as it gets in the stained water, but plenty of guys are finding success with gold spoons and Matrix Shad soft plastics on a 1/4-ounce jighead. Out around the cuts and drains, Gulp! shrimp and chartreuse paddle tails are picking up both reds and a good number of slot speckled trout early, especially on the falling tide. Offshore at the Empire Jetty and near Fourchon rigs, anglers are picking up solid trout and some late-season tripletail. Free-line live shrimp if you can get ‘em, or throw a white or bone Super Spook Jr. topwater at dawn for those aggressive schoolies busting on mullet. The tidal swing is big, so don’t be afraid to move around until you find the bait. Recent catches have reported slot reds in double digits on moving water and solid flounder on finger mullet and Gulp! swimming mullet fished close to grass edges and shell bars. For those targeting sheepshead and black drum, the rock piles near Grand Isle and Port Fourchon remain steady as ever—bring fiddler crabs or bits of fresh shrimp, tight line near the rocks, and you’re in business. A few reports from Lafitte indicate the drum bite is particularly strong on cut crab in the deeper holes. If you’re looking for hotspots, two you can’t miss this week: - The northeast side of Grand Isle near Caminada Pass, especially near the first major tide change of the morning. - Anywhere along the mouth of South Pass out of Venice—plenty of mixing water, bait balls, and rat reds pushing mullet up against the banks. As for lures, the best bets right now are gold weedless spoons, soft plastics in chartreuse or opening night, and topwaters before the sun gets high. If you’re fishing under This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.