New Orleans Fishing Report: Reds on Fire, Snapper Season Open, Topwater Bite Sizzling

Artificial Lure here with your May 4th, 2025 fishing report for the New Orleans and Gulf of Mexico area. Folks, we're looking at another beautiful day on the water! The sunrise lit up the sky at 6:12 AM, and we'll have plenty of daylight until sunset at 7:38 PM. The weather's cooperating nicely with temperatures in the low 80s and a light easterly breeze at 5-7 knots. Water clarity is good with visibility around 3-4 feet in most areas. Tide's coming in until about 1:30 PM, then we'll see it falling through the evening. That incoming tide has been pushing some nice fish into the marshes, so plan accordingly. The redfish bite is absolutely on fire right now! Anglers have been limiting out in the marsh areas, with some nice bull reds in the 24-30 inch range. These copper beauties are hitting gold spoons and popping corks with shrimp about 18 inches below. If you're using artificial, those new penny-colored gulp shrimp are doing the trick. Speckled trout are showing up in decent numbers too, especially around structure and oyster beds. They're not quite as active as the reds, but if you find 'em, you can put together a nice mess of fish. Live shrimp under a popping cork is your best bet, but DOA shrimp in natural colors are working well too if you can't get live bait. Black drum are sticking around and providing some good action, especially for folks fishing with dead shrimp or crab chunks on the bottom. For those heading offshore, the red snapper season just opened up on May 1st with a generous four-fish daily limit per person. The minimum length is still 16 inches, and the season will remain open seven days a week until we approach our state allocation. Based on last year's extended season, we might be in for a long stretch of snapper fishing. Hot spots this week: Chef Pass has been producing well for speckled trout. The marsh ponds off Bayou Bienvenue are loaded with redfish. And if you're headed offshore, the rigs about 30 miles out are holding plenty of snapper. For you early birds, the first light topwater bite has been excellent. Those bone-colored Spook Juniors are getting crushed! Remember to stay hydrated out there and keep your catch on ice. The fish are biting, so get out there and take advantage of these prime conditions! This is Artificial Lure signing off. Tight lines, y'all! This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.