New Orleans Fishing Report: Fall Bite Heats Up with Bull Reds, Trout, and Offshore Possibilities

Artificial Lure here with your Saturday, October 18th report from in and around New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. The bite’s picking up after last week’s big fronts, and folks are seeing classic south Louisiana fall action—so grab your gear and hear what’s hot today. Sunrise kicked off at 7:02 this morning, sunset’s coming at 6:24 this evening, and we’ve got about 11 hours and 22 minutes of daylight. Over at Shell Beach, the moonset hit around 12:53 AM with the moon rising again this afternoon at 3:29, giving us some solid windows for those itching to fish both dawn and dusk. Tides are friendly: the tidal coefficient sits at 78, so you’ll see strong tidal movement all day around Grand Isle and Shell Beach—perfect for activity on the flats and near the passes, with low tide on Shell Beach coming up late morning and high tide following early evening, encouraging predator movement on the edges according to Tides4Fishing. The weather’s looking cooperative—National Weather Service puts us at south winds steady at 10 to 15 knots and seas running two to four feet, so you can get out there safely whether you’re running the marsh or making a short offshore hop. No big storms on the map for today, just remember to watch your wind angles around the bridges and inlets. Fish are showing up hungry. Captains and guides on Louisiana Sportsman report bull reds stacking up all over Grand Isle beaches and into the marsh, with several anglers landing big bulls (over 25 inches) right off the sand and deeper cuts. In the Biloxi Marsh, redfish have been tailing at sunrise and again about an hour before sunset. Trout are mixed in with a fair bite, with specks popping up near points with moving water and oyster beds—look for those clean water lines. According to reviews on Captain Experiences from mid-October, folks pulled in reds, sheepshead, whiting, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, and even the occasional bull shark in shallower passes east of New Orleans near Shell Beach and Hopedale. Inshore boats averaging limits of redfish and several decent trout per angler, with live shrimp and mullet under popping corks being the standout, but don’t overlook Matrix Shad, Vudu Shrimp, and gold spoons—the reds really hammered ‘em this week. Still, pay attention to flounder regs: Louisiana Sportsman reminds us the annual flounder closure is in effect from October 15 through November 30, so keep any flatfish out of the cooler—tag and photo-only, y’all. Bait shops are reporting solid supplies of live shrimp and mullet, but bringing your own dead bait isn’t a bad plan just in case the morning rush clears the tanks. For the hard lure crowd, gold spoons and chartreuse plastics are the ticket, especially when worked over grass lines and current rips. If you’re drifting the passes or the bridges, try Carolina rigs with cut mullet or Gulp! swimming mullet on a jighead—hits have been consistent. Offshore, snapper are spotty but worth a try in 40–70 feet, and the deeper rigs just south This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.