Louisiana Coastal Cracker: Halloween Trout, Reds, and Bulls Offshore

Happy Halloween from deep down in the Louisiana Gulf! This is Artificial Lure with your boots-on-the-ground fishing report for Friday, October 31st, 2025. If you’re chasing specks and reds from Grand Isle to Port Fourchon, or trying for big bull reds off Venice, you’re in for a classic autumn bite, so let’s dig in. Sun rose today at 7:12 a.m. and will set about 6:14 p.m. down this way, so you’ve got a good window of daylight to fill the box. Tides started out with a high early at 4:49 a.m. (1.2 ft) and you’ll see it drop through the day to a low at 3:45 p.m. (0.4 ft), according to Tides4Fishing for Grand Isle. Not a big swing, as today’s tidal coefficient is at 54—average, so currents won’t be too dramatic. That makes finesse all the more important. Weatherwise, it’s crisp and stable, a classic bluebird Louisiana fall with sunny skies and a light north-northeast breeze. Cocodrie is reporting clear conditions, and temperatures are hovering from the mid-60s at dawn and should flirt with the low 70s by afternoon. Water clarity’s holding strong in most inshore areas, though expect a little bit of chop down around the passes. Now to the fish: The marshes and bays are loaded with speckled trout chasing mullet and shrimp. Most reports from Barataria Bay, Caminada, and down around Fourchon have boxes brimming with “schoolies” in the 14–17 inch range, with plenty of keepers mixed in and limits possible on plastics and live bait. Redfish action is steady—gulps of 18–25” slot reds are hanging around duck ponds, grass edges, and the broken marsh between Leeville and Golden Meadow. Out at the passes—Empire Jetty and Caminada Pass—surf anglers are still wrangling some hefty bull reds, especially on cut mullet, crab, or big plastics. Best baits this week: For trout, you can’t beat a Matrix Shad or Vudu Shrimp under a popping cork, especially with clear water and low current. A smoke or opening night color will work the magic. For redfish, Gulp! swimming mullets on a quarter-ounce jighead, gold spoons, and shrimp-tipped spinnerbaits are all getting hit. If you want to tempt flounder—and a couple have been caught around Bayou Rigaud and Grand Isle bridges—try a chartreuse curly tail bounced slow as possible. If you’re itching to throw artificials, work the “midday major” bite, peaking right around the afternoon tide drop. Early risers are catching topwater action—think Spook Juniors or She Dogs—just after sunrise along the sheltered lee sides of the islands and the mouth of cuts. As for live bait lovers, live shrimp under a cork is an old standby, and finger mullet will tempt the bigger trout and slot reds. Hot spots right now: you can’t go wrong drifting the north end of Caminada Bay, or setting up shop near the oyster reefs along Barataria Pass. For bank and kayak folks, Grand Isle State Park’s surf is productive mornings and evenings, and Leeville’s bridge lights at night are still pulling in good numbers of specks and slot reds. Most boats talking on t This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.