In this course you will gain the foundational knowledge needed to select the correct tackle, safely navigate the marsh, find your own fishing spots and put limits of specks and reds in the boat.
Course Instructor
Member Pricing
LAFB Elite members access this course for free. Are you a member? Enroll to add Inshore Fishing 101 to your Student Dashboard and start watching videos.
Introduction to Inshore Fishing 101
Understanding The Marsh
Understanding The Fish
Introduction to Google Earth Desktop
Fishing Spots For Speckled Trout and Redfish
Advanced Inshore Navigation
Fishing Tackle
Planning Your Fishing Trip
Create Routes & Upload to Your GPS
Executing Your Fishing Trip
Long Term Success
I like the name. Thats my sons name but its Devon and he is a fishing guide here in Calcasieu. Will you be doing more content on this side of the state? I am 54 years old and have fished all my life and never really paid much attention to the details you have set forth in the courses. If we didn’t catch fish that day, the fish just wasn’t there. As a kid my Dad would take me fishing and I can remember asking to move to another spot but he would always say, Boy, if the fish ain’t bitin here, they ain’t bitin over there. lol
Boy was he wrong. O well never too late to learn if you want to right! Anyway, I am going through your courses a little at a time. Thanks
Thanks for commenting!
IF101 *is* content for that side of the state. If I were going to fish it, how do you think I would begin? Some other process?
That and I would use the Community to help plan your trips. That’s not a resource I had in years past, but now it’s here and it’s a great thing to get feedback from like-minded anglers.
I would love to come fish Big Lake, Sabine, etc. and share what I learn, but unfortunately I’d have to drive past every other fish in the state in order to do that, and there’s just no incentive to burn that amount of time and effort.
It really doesn’t matter if it’s Lake Pontchartrain, Venice, Big Lake or somewhere else, it all boils down to the same thing: you’re gonna have to put together a plan, execute it, write a report, learn from it, then do it again. Rinse and repeat for long term success.
The “Get Started” button does not appear in Fishing Inshore 101 like it does in Fishing Inshore 201. I’ve looked all over the website and tried to start the course several ways, without success.
Yes, you are already enrolled. Please get started here at the first video lesson: https://www.lafbelite.com/lesson/if101-1-1/
I just finished your course . I watched a video you made a while back and was fascinated by a guy who fishes the Biloxi marsh with a bass boat and uses HumminBird electronics. So not saltwater at all. But after spending hours with you, so to speak, I now understand. That “bass” boat fits you perfectly and functionally the whole boat is your tackle box right down to rods strapped to the forward casting deck– not a single cup style rod holder in sight. HumminBird is waaaay better than my sucky Garmins. Wish I had done what you did I just didn’t have the cojones to stray from the saltwater pack. What bay boat do you know that has a transducer mounted in the hull up front? And who watches the chart plotter when fishing up front much less even has one? Steering pedal built into the deck? Lanyard style is too slow to respond. And shame on you for “graphing” an area. That is so tournament bass fishing. Just kidding of course. I think you are brilliant and your course if anything is sublime. Thank you for teaching an old dog some new tricks….
Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you enjoyed the course.
Like the you tube videos. I get to vicariously fish through them since I live in MGM I don’t get to LA more than once or twice a year. The 101 course has been very educational. Not done with it yet but am slogging through.
Doc
I know 101 is a lot, but that’s because it is that much more complete than anything else you’re going to find.
Thank you so much for taking the time to get through it. Be sure that you do, so you have a good understanding as what to do when it comes time to make a trip to Louisiana. Definitely leverage the Community with a planning post.
Where can I get a catfish flipper like the one you use?
Well, you can find them on Amazon, but I would recommend going to a local store like Gus’s Tackle in Slidell or Chag’s in Metairie, if those locations are near you.
I finished Understanding the Marsh and took the test; can you check Question #9. Thanks.
Will do, thank you for letting me know.
Hey Capt,
I have a question. Why is it that sometimes when I go out to the Biloxi Marshes, I see no one out there and even birds are not active. What do the other fisherman and birds know that I don’t?
Saturday as an example. I just applied much of what you teach in Inshore 101 and was very optimistic about catching lots of trout. I live in Long Beach and keep a boat in Pass Harbor. On Saturday, Tides4Fishing showed an outstanding report (using Cat Island data) for about two hours beginning at 06:30. On Friday, I had studied the Google Earth photos for the Biloxi Marsh developed a game plan of where to fish on Saturday morning given a falling tide, white shrimp coming out of the marshes, and the trout returning from their spawn.
I was in my boat at 06:10 and hit the first spot at 06:45ish. I was surprised that while some boats were going out, the ramp parking lot was no where close to being full and I saw almost no boats on the water fishing or even birds. We hit about 5 spots working our way along the East side of the marsh down to the south side. Tide was still pretty high when we started, so after no luck south, we tried each spot in reverse looking for greater outflow. The first and last spot was a broad street, deep on one side, shallow on the other, connecting to a sizable pond. Current was flowing pretty good there later in the morning and I used my sonar to confirm active shrimp and the best location showing fish. In all, we caught only two specs, and one white trout. There were two of us, and we used a variety of lures including DOA and Voodoo shrimp, (white or speckled with chartreuse tails), chartreuse and silver jerk bait, and even a top water plug.
Coming back around mid day we saw virtually no birds or boats.
Hey, thanks for commenting. I think this would be a good conversation for the LAFB Elite Community, but I can tell you what I think here:
“On Saturday, Tides4Fishing showed an outstanding report (using Cat Island data) for about two hours beginning at 06:30”
I don’t know what that means. I can give you better feedback if you’re more specific as to what a “good report” is.
“I was surprised that while some boats were going out, the ramp parking lot was no where close to being full and I saw almost no boats on the water fishing”
Good. Great. What’s wrong with that? I don’t give a rusty duck fart what other people on the water are doing (or not) so long as they’re being courteous. No people = more fishing for you.
What did you see out on the water? Was it ripping out on a hard falling tide? How many spots total did you fish? Did you see any jumping shrimp at all? Did you fish the bottom at all?
Thanks, I look forward to hearing back from you!
I’m just starting fishing for Spec and Red, my main place is Cypremont Point. I’m a kayak angler. Would this course work for me?. Thank you!
Yes, because it’s the foundational knowledge needed to understand and fish Louisiana’s coast. Everything else builds on top of it.
Additionally, Cypremort Point is one of the more challenging locations to fish. It’s directly affected by nearby river water and features lots of open water, forcing you to choose your wind.
The Cove gets loaded with boats when the fishing gets good, too.
I’d suggest making the longer drive to somewhere more protected, like Pointe aux Chene Marina. They’re also kayak friendly.
I know that’s a drive, but it’s hell of a lot better than getting your ass kicked in V-Bay all day. If you’re just starting out and wanting to catch fish I’d strongly recommend only fishing V-Bay when the conditions are good (low river, strong tide and low wind).
i am in eastern nc can this info help me
Things are a little different around there, there’s certainly a taller tide and more exposure to wind, but I think that IF101 will give you a good foundation of knowledge with which to work with.
Do you address how to determine when very low tides are likely to occur? Specifically, if I am planning a trip two or three weeks ahead of time?
Hey Jeffrey, thanks for asking.
Yes, that exact thing is covered in detail inside Inshore Fishing 101, specifically inside the Master The Tide section.
In it I cover how there’s more to water levels than just the predicted tide, such as wind velocity, false neap tides, the influence of large rivers such as the Mississippi River and how the shape of Louisiana’s coast causes water levels to vary with the wind.
However I would like to note that it’s virtually impossible to know what the exact water level would be 2-3 weeks ahead of time. A more realistic time table would be 2-3 days. The closer you get to the day of fishing, the more accurate your forecast would be.
Hope that helps, and please don’t hesitate to reach out again.
Tight lines!
Learning more each time from you thanks for the help
You’re welcome! Please comment anytime.