"Late Summer Sizzle: Reds, Specks, and More in the New Orleans Marshes"

Artificial Lure here, giving you the scoop for fishing in and around New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico on this Friday, September 12th, 2025. It’s shaping up to be a classic late-summer Louisiana day, and y’all better believe the bite’s heating up as fall creeps in. Sunrise hit at 6:38 AM, with sunset rolling in tonight at 7:13 PM. The tides are favorable—New Orleans area is working a solid mid-morning outgoing tide, peaking around 10 AM, so if you’re heading out, those moving waters early today are golden for most inshore species. According to the National Weather Service, winds are light northeast at 5–10 knots, seas around 2 feet, smooth inside and near the marsh edges, making for an easy and comfortable drift just the way locals like it. Storm chances are low today, but bring your slicker—late afternoon pop-up showers are always in play this time of year. Now to the fun part: the fish! The word from Louisiana Sportsman is that bull redfish are rampaging the marshes and passes from Shell Beach to the Chandeleur Sound. These bruisers are pushing inshore, so if you want to tangle with a big red, now’s the time. Folks are landing plenty of reds in the 27–36 inch range, especially around the edges of the Biloxi Marsh and on the oyster beds off Hopedale. Slot reds, puppy drum, and a steady run of speckled trout are holding on the deeper cuts and outer grass lines. Night fishermen working near the bridges have reported solid flounder catches, and there’s still a few sheepshead and black drum mixed in around the pilings. Best lures today: anything that mimics a mullet or shrimp is money. H&H Cocahoe Minnows in glow/chartreuse on 3/8 oz jigheads, Matrix Shad in “shrimp creole,” and classic gold spoons all drew bites this week. If you’re fishing the cleaner water on the rising tide, swim soft plastics slow; if it gets dirtier, swap to Gulp! swimming mullet or live shrimp under a popping cork. Bull reds have been hammering cut mullet and big menhaden chunks fished on the bottom near passes and channel mouths. For trout, live shrimp is king, but Berkley Gulp! and Vudu Shrimp under rattling corks are a close second. A couple of hot spots if you want to put fish in the box: - The mouth of the MRGO (Mississippi River Gulf Outlet) near the rocks is producing a mixed bag, especially for reds and trout on the edges of deeper water. - Breton Sound rigs and the shell humps southeast of Black Bay are loaded with specks in the early morning, especially if you beat the boat traffic. If you’ve got a kayak, the marsh drains off Delacroix and the Roseau cane edges near Pointe à la Hache are hard to beat for a mixed bag. Anchor up at an intersection with current, toss a popping cork, and hold on. Current catch reports around the area show lots of limits on reds, good numbers of specks up to 20 inches, and plenty of black drum. Sabiki rigs fished off deeper piers are picking up white trout, with a few Spanish mackerel mixed in at the mouth of Lake Borgne. The bit This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.