[Devin]

Okay, there’s a few glaring things here that need to be addressed.

First, why are people not fully reading/comprehending your post. The mission is redfish, clearly.

Second, all that marsh around Lena gets handled by the multiple bow fishing outfits that operate out of Hopedale Marina. I would not be optimistic fishing redfish over there.

Third, you’re not quite hitting the mark on judging the tide. Yes, you want water to be moving and yes, you would be waiting for it to move at Shell Beach. But, you are not stuck with fishing just the Shell Beach tide. Water does not move the same everywhere at once. If you fished more toward Mississippi Sound, you’ll see that high tide is at ~3:30am. By the time you get out there it will be moving and the morning bite will be on. Then, later in the day you can fish Shell Beach stuff and still enjoy a good falling tide.

As for redfish, they have been scarce. I really don’t have any great advice for them other than to fish dead shrimp under a cork against a shoreline very patiently. If I had to go catch them like that, I’d focus on points with moving water along big bodies of water like Lake Eugene, Lake Robin, Lake of Two Trees, MRGO south of the dam, etc.

[Devin]

What’s “reasonably priced”?

Some rods and reels I’ve had for ~8 years, I’d say they have paid for themselves. The St. Croix Avid-X was $250 and the assorted reels that have been on them ~$180

[Devin]

And you should have something that looks like this if you are seriously planning to succeed:

[Devin]

I’m assuming you’re going with @Bryon ? Which boat are you taking?

The thing you really have going for you is that you’re going to get some back-to-back TOW in to figure out where they are.

I’m assuming you can fish all day on the 8th. The wind is laying down then and you’ll have a chance to run around unimpeded by wind. Great day to learn where they ain’t.

I can tell you that the redfish have not been a slam dunk in Delacroix. I’m not really sure they have been anywhere. For reference, a guide buddy of mine fished over the weekend and caught anywhere from 5-11 slot redfish for 3-4 clients in the boat. Lots of throwbacks and some bulls. I’m just helping you manage expectations right now.

Let’s take a look at what you’ve got planned.

“Top water early and wake baits

transition to Spinner baits and paddletails”

I think you’re wasting time doing this. All those are just gonna get hung up in the aquatic grass you’re going to find across Delacroix. A Texas rigged craw, like a Netbait Baby Paca Craw is what you’ll want to use. Or anything that’s weedless and will pull through the grass without catching it.

After that, I think you would really benefit from just securing a win. You really ought to throw dead shrimp under a cork. Or at least have one angler in the boat who’s doing that while the other chunks and winds.

“Plan is to fish for Reds starting the morning running south to Petain Lagoon and moving into mouth of Bayou J L Robin and fishing Bayou to mouth of Lake Robin.”

What if you destroy them in Lery the day before? You’re just gonna leave those fish to go somewhere else?

I’m trying to get you to think critically about this. Fact of the matter is that if you have the whole day to fish on the 8th, you can fish Lery and a slew of other spots to find “where they ain’t”. Lost Lake is right there, you don’t need to wait three days to hit it up.

To grind out Lery all day, then go grind another spot all day is a recipe to not catch squat. That is not what I teach or recommend.

In fact, I would just do what I teach: which is pick out ~12 spots based upon the conditions (and a safe route to them) and then go fish those using a process of elimination until you find the mother lode.

I think you can be more ambitious in your planning.

If it were me, I’d pick out a bunch of places that are most likely to have clear water and run them until I find a giant school of redfish. That would equate to a lot of not-fishing and burning gas, but a whole day of that would help me find the clearest/prettiest water a whole lot faster than grinding out one spot.

So, you can fish easily fish everything you listed in one or two days. And if those spots don’t work out then you can do a big area change. Go to the MRGO south of the Rock Dam to fish points/coves there for trout and reds. The south side of the Rock Dam can be productive as well.

I would also consider running toward the river to fish around Francis Martin Bayou, Wreck Bay and Baker’s Bay. Be warned: that area has a hard bottom and a lot has silted in. There is zero room for f*ckups in a big, fiberglass bay boat down there. You had better have Sea Tow and a way to contact them because you will get stuck if you didn’t do any navigational homework. The tradeoff is that this area has the potential to be more productive than anywhere else.

If you knock out some routes and share them here, I can tell you if they’re good or not.

[Devin]

Biloxi Lagoon is highly specific, any reason why?

Me, I’d just go to Delacroix and target redfish.

Have you read the latest reports? If so, why would you target speckled trout?

[Devin]

Welcome to the forum! You’re in the right place, and we’re all just waiting on the water temp to fall. Then things will really kick off.

Thanks for posting an intro!

[Devin]

Have you looked at the wind forecast? It’s looking a lot better! And I was mistaken: there is no cold front to drop water temps. I think you have a good stab at redfish, and I’d look for them anywhere from Grand Lake down Bay Law.

[Devin]

EDIT: I saw the thumbnail and thought you circled some other area, I was mistaken. I think you could fish that area, too. But I’m not jumping up and down excited for it.

• This reply was modified 4 days, 7 hours ago by  Devin.

[Devin]

“pool noodle medium fast”

Then it’s not a medium fast. It may say “fast”, but if it’s whippy at all then it’s a regular or moderate.

[Devin]

That’s pretty good given how the fishing has been going. I’d pat myself on the back if I were you.

How was the wind out there?

[Devin]

+1 on this

[Devin]

THAT makes sense. Someone should go fish that, too. lol

[Devin]

Yeah, I did hear a birdie on a branch say that some fish have shown up in The Jump. Someone should definitely try it. lol

[Devin]

Wow, that says it all right there.

[Devin]

I don’t recall off the top of my head, but it gave us just enough time to get to our A spot, catch a few reds and get back. IIRC, we actually staged gas somewhere along the way and I refueled the boat as we ran back. Or maybe that was another time.

One event out of Grand Isle we ran to north side of PAC. It was pretty normal to make long runs to the good stuff.