New Orleans Fall Fishing: Specks, Reds, and Winter Bites

Specks and reds are waking up around New Orleans this morning, and if you time the moving water you can still put together a box even with the winter swings. Light north breeze, cool temps, and mixed clouds have the marsh draining just enough to line those fish up on the edges. ## Tide, sun, and weather We’re on a modest fall-and-rise pattern: low water mid to late morning, then a slow climb through the afternoon, so that dropping water right after daylight is the window to key on drains and points. Sunrise is right around seven o’clock with sunset just after five, which means a short feeding day and a strong push at first light and again late. Cooler, dry air behind recent fronts has the water clearing; that clarity is helping artificial baits and making fish a little line-shy in the ponds. ## What’s biting and how Speckled trout have been steady on the outer edges of Lake Borgne and along deeper shell in the MRGO and around Shell Beach, with most folks reporting good numbers of schoolies and a few solid keepers mixed in. Redfish are thick in the inside marsh – think bayou mouths, cuts off the Intracoastal, and broken ponds – with plenty of slot fish and the occasional bull cruising the deeper bayous. Flounder are still popping up as bycatch at the mouths of ditches and along hard-bottom shorelines when you keep a bait dragging slow on the bottom. ## Lures, bait, and tactics Early, work topwater or suspending twitchbaits for trout along riprap and shell; once the sun gets up, switch to 3–4 inch soft plastics on light jigheads or under a popping cork in 3–5 feet. For reds, gold or copper spoons, spinnerbaits with white or chartreuse plastics, and weedless paddletails pitched tight to grass and drains are doing damage. If you’re soaking bait, live or dead shrimp under a cork for trout and slot reds, and cut mullet or crab on the bottom for bulls around deeper bends and channel edges. ## Recent action and hotspots Reports from local guides and marinas have most recent catches coming as mixed boxes: two to three dozen trout for a three- or four-angler crew on good days, plus a handful of reds and the odd flounder or drum. Hot right now: the Shell Beach area – Breton Sound side, MRGO rocks, and nearby rigs – for trout and bonus reds when the tide’s moving. Closer to town, the Rigolets and Lake Pontchartrain bridges are worth a look for trout on the pilings and reds on the leeward banks, especially when the wind stacks bait on one side. Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure, your local Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans fishing report. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.