Inshore Fishing 101

Welcome to IF101 and thank you for supporting a veteran-owned business!

This course isn’t a magic pill, but you will get the skills and knowledge you need to catch fish on your own in the marsh.

It’s fair you get to know your instructor for this course.

In case you’re not familiar, here’s a breakdown on what LAFB is.

The biggest mistake you can make with IF101 is assuming you know what’s in a lesson based off the title (to include this one).

Melissa is a bonafide angler who has been there since the beginning. Thank you, Melissa!

All the good reasons why IF101 has a focus on Louisiana’s inshore waters.

Why is Louisiana’s coast so vast? This breaks it down.

Louisiana has great fishing because of these factors.

The answer isn’t what you think.

There are so many inshore species to pursue, so why these two?

He’s not called the “Jig Master” for nothin’!

Getting to know speckled trout biology is key to understanding them.

They have their own unique life cycle that dictates their movement and feeding pattern.

Know what speckled trout are doing at any time of the year.

Speckled trout are a schooling species. It’s their instinct to hang out in numbers and for a couple different reasons.

If anything at all, it’s critical you understand these things about speckled trout.

What makes redfish different from speckled trout? Why does it matter?

Their life cycle is somewhat similar to that of trout, except for one key detail.

While juveniles are resilient, the seasons affect bull reds more.

Redfish also school but how they patrol for forage is unique.

These are the key details to know about redfish.

What fishing tackle is best? Well, that’s not the question to be asking.

Learn fishing rod specifications so you always get exactly what you need.

Just like rod specs, knowing exactly what makes a reel a good fit or not is key to selecting the best one for you.

There’s a lot to choose from, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s narrow it down to *one* kind.

There are a lot of lures for you to choose from, so here in IF101 we’ll narrow it down to what works and is worth your dollar.

Rigging soft plastics correctly not only catches you more fish but also shows others you know what you’re talking about.

Again, we’re narrowing down hook selection to get you started with what is proven and worth your dollar.

If you enjoy knot tying, then you’ll enjoy this. If you’re not quite the knot nerd, then that’s okay because these will get you by just fine.

This knot is my all-time favorite, mostly because it is the first knot I learned to tie and I am very good at tying it quickly. I have used it for all kinds of lines and found it to retain 90%+ of the line’s tensile strength.

This knot is key to tie leader lines directly to your main line without the use of a swivel.

This is the knot used to tie fishing line to the spool. Be sure to pull tightly so the line properly grips the spool!

Here is another video of tying the Arbor Knot. It can be a difficult knot, but this GoPro vid ought to help.

Shot on the GoPro, so you see it from the perspective as if you were doing it yourself.

Years of trying different tackle combinations have revealed this rig to be a great fit for trout and reds.

Fish hold at different depths of the water column and the Inshore Rig can be adapted to fish all of them.

A hallmark of a successful fishing trip includes catching trout two at a time, but the Double Rig has other advantages as well.

This rig really wins when it comes to color experimentation and putting more bait in the water.

Also known as a SeaBrook Rig, this rig became famous because it was used successfully by inshore angler John Rucker to win the STAR Rodeo.

Another great rig for fishing the bottom.

This lesson will help shed light on what’s really inside tackle stores and save you a lot of money.

A few extra things that will make your fishing experience more enjoyable.

Catching fish builds confidence and it is that confidence that will get you to new levels of fishing skill.

There are many different kinds of live bait inshore anglers use and, while live shrimp is the most common, there are other types you should be aware of.

The biggest problem with live bait, especially shrimp, is keeping them alive. Here are some tips.

There are a lot of ways to rig live bait. Here are the proven methods of doing so.

This lesson is pretty straightforward, but has good tips if you don’t have a lot of experience using dead bait.

The key to successfully catching limits of speckled trout and redfish is moving efficiently and purposefully, and these tips help you do that.

Used to, it took years to gain this knowledge. Now it is right here in one spot for you to learn.

Now that we have gone over everything we have, we can finally move on to finding biting fish!

If you don’t have these three things you are not going to have a successful fishing trip.

You are virtually guaranteed to limit out if you can find it.

This is the best tool you can use as an inshore angler, for finding fish and safely running your boat.

Let’s describe exactly what this tool is and why it’s important to you as an inshore angler.

We MUST be *very clear* on this distinction.

Some tips to get your hands on this valuable planning and research tool.

Let’s go over this step by step.

Let me show you around and point out what’s useful and what should be ignored.

The upcoming lectures I cover the different kinds of spots that are great for catching limits of speckled and redfish.

Learn why these are important to speckled trout and redfish.

I show you what tidelines look like and where we usually find them.

Here are a couple methods to determine if a tideline you see on satellite imagery is rising or falling.

I show you what these look like on Google Earth and which ones you want to fish.

There is no magic bullet for identifying which part of a specific tideline is “best”, but this lesson gives you a good idea where to begin.

Before we go into how to find these flats, ledges and reefs on Google Earth, let’s go over what they are exactly.

Ledges are underwater and can be difficult to detect using satellite imagery, but there are some tricks.

When a point of land or island erodes it will leave an underwater “hump” that fish like to use as an ambush point. Here’s how to find them.

Oyster reefs are great to fish, but how can we find them before launching the boat?

Here’s what natural gas platforms look like on satellite imagery.

Some gas rigs are no longer in operation and have been removed, but their shell pad still remains. Here’s what to look for.

Bridges are obvious to find, but still productive to fish.

Weirs create current that fish like to use. Here are examples on Google Earth.

The Great Wall of Chalmette is an excellent ample.

Also known as rip rap, these man-made structures are what you need to be considering.

Remember the Big Three! This is how you can easily find the very first one.