Early Summer Trout and Redfish: Southeast Louisiana's Classic Pattern Setup

This is Artificial Lure checking in with your Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans fishing report. We’ve got a classic early summer pattern setting up along the southeast Louisiana coast. Light south to southwest winds around 5–10 knots this morning, picking up to 10–15 by mid‑day, with sticky humidity and air temps running from the mid‑70s at first light into the upper 80s by afternoon. Skies are partly cloudy with a decent chance of a pop‑up shower after lunch as that Gulf moisture builds. On the lower Mississippi River passes and adjacent marsh, the tide is on the weaker side but still fishable. Around Empire, Buras, and Hopedale, expect an early **incoming** push before mid‑morning, easing off toward midday, then a slow **falling** tide into late afternoon. That moving water window right after daybreak and again mid‑afternoon is your best bet. Sunrise is right around 6 o’clock local, with sunset close to 8 o’clock, giving you a long prime-time low‑light bite. First two hours of daylight and the last hour before dark are where you want to focus if the heat’s not your thing. Fish activity has been solid. Local dock talk from launches out of Hopedale and Shell Beach has had plenty of nice **speckled trout** coming in this week, mostly schoolies with a few 18–20 inchers mixed in. Anglers drifting the outside edges of the marsh and oyster reefs have been boxing 15–30 trout per boat when they stick with the bite. Around Delacroix and Pointe à la Hache, the **redfish** are doing what they do this time of year: cruising shorelines, points, and cuts with moving water, with many boats reporting 5–10 legal reds plus a couple of bruisers over the slot. Best producers for trout have been **live shrimp** under a popping cork, tight‑lined **cocaho minnows**, and soft plastics in opening night, chartreuse, and glow on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads. For artificials, work Matrix Shad–style paddletails, MirrOlure Lil John, or similar baits with a steady, medium retrieve over shell. For reds, gold **spoons**, black/chartreuse paddle tails, and live or dead **shrimp** or **cut mullet** on a 3/0 hook with just enough weight to keep it honest are getting the job done. In the ponds, weedless spoons and topwater walkers are drawing some explosive early‑morning eats. A couple of hot spots to circle on your map: - **Hopedale / Shell Beach area**: Look to the rigs and reefs in Lake Borgne and the MRGO rocks, as well as the outer edges of the marsh. Trout are hanging on current breaks and tide lines; slip a popping cork along those transitions and listen for that tell‑tale “pop‑pop‑thump.” - **Delacroix / Pointe Fienne marsh**: Work the windward banks, drains, and points where clean Gulf water pushes into the ponds. Reds have been stacked in knee‑deep water, especially where you see bait dimpling the surface or shrimp skipping. Sight‑fish when the sun gets up and the water clears. Offshore, when weather allows, boats heading out of Venice and Empire have been finding summertime **snapper**, along with a few **cobia** and **mackerel** around rigs and wrecks. Standard bottom rigs baited with cut pogies, squid, and cigar minnows are still the go‑to. Keep a jig or a free‑lined live bait ready for anything cruising high in the column. Overall, think early and late, fish the moving water, and match your bait to the local forage. Keep an eye on building storms this afternoon and don’t ignore those clouds stacking up over the marsh. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn