[Devin]

You mean to tell me that they call you even after you complete the survey?

[Devin]

***WHAT I WOULD DO***

Now, let’s go over what I would do if I were you.

I would take all your spots except for Martello Castle, Bayou Thomas and Chef Pass and throw them in the trash (or at least save them for the next 30 days).

And I would only fish those spots once the tide has had time to start falling and the shrimp have had time to realize that and start swimming with it. That’s probably gonna be around 10am to noon. It is definitely not first thing in the morning at high tide.

So, wouldn’t it be nice to fish somewhere the tide is ripping already at first light? Where do you think that is? Is this place accessible with a 24ft bay boat?

I’m tempted to leave you with those questions to make you think practically/critically about your own fishing trip (I mean, don’t you want to catch fish?) but I realize it’s hard enough to get members to post planning posts like yours. So, you’re off the hook. lol

Yeah, this magical place where the tide moves first is called the Gulf of America, and the closer you get to it at any given time, the further down the tidal timeline you’ll be.

So, if it were me on Saturday, I’d scream across Lake Borgne (because the wind allows it) go to the Biloxi Marsh and fish Lakes of Bayou Marron, Bob’s Lakes, Lake Eugenie, like those big lakes on the eastern side. Those bayous that drain out into those lakes, and the passes between them, I’d fish those. It’s gonna be the same thing as Martello and Thomas: diving birds will probably be a dead giveaway.

And high tide over there is closer to 2am, hours before sunrise.

Then, once 9am rolls around, I’d scream down the east shoreline of Lake Borgne while looking for diving birds on that falling tide out of bayous, and hit Doulut’s Canal. Then I’d scream over to fish Martello Castle. If you’re running late, go straight to Martello.

I feel that I would catch my limit of trout somewhere in there.

[Devin]

“From what I’ve heard, this spot can get pretty crowded quick.”

It can, but it’s early for the Armada. You legit have a shot at fishing it without every one and their mom ruining it.

“Then I plan on fishing the scoops found at Trout 2 and Trout 3.”

You will know they’re on when there are birds diving, going nuts, shrimp jumping and trout biting. Same for Martello. If the tide is ripping and you don’t see these things, then it’s probably not “on”.

“I have two friends coming with me who are not experienced inshore, but very seasoned bass anglers.”

bass fishing skill > inshore fishing skill

I’m about to piss off a lot of people: The absolute worst anglers I’ve ever taken fishing are local Louisiana inshore anglers. They categorically suck balls. No sonar awareness, no idea if their lure is on the bottom or not, no concept of structure/cover, I could go on and on.

The best were always bass anglers, especially bass anglers from out of state versed in all the disciplines: deep cranking, ledge fishing, flipping, etc. (I am not referring to farmboy pond bass fishing here) It’s not even close. It’s like comparing boy scouts to special forces.

Your buddies are gonna do great.

“The plan is to fish natural looking DOA shrimp and a variety of matrix shad colors to start.”

Great. But do not get sucked into the inescapable vortex of lure colors, profile, etc. It’s mostly bullshit. What will matter the most this weekend is:

1. Finding biting fish to begin with
2. Putting a lure in front of them

THAT’S IT!! Don’t make it harder than that!! A cork and HDS will do that very well. The rest of the lures you have rigged aren’t really necessary. The Double Rig could come in handy if they are biting fast and furious.

Think about the stakes in my YouTube videos: I have to find and catch fish, so don’t you think I’m going to tie on the best lure to that end? And what do you mostly see? Yeah, a chartreuse sparkle beetle. If you find yourself experimenting with lure color on the white shrimp pattern….well, that’s harder than what’s necessary.

These are speckled trout on the fall pattern you’re trying to catch, not bass on day three of the Bassmaster Classic in Lake Conroe. These are literally the dumbest fish you can possibly catch. You just have to find them!

[Devin]

Okay, your plan overall isn’t bad, I would more or less do something similar.

I do think it’s entirely too early to fish the majority of what you have listed. So I’ll go over what you have planned and give you my two cents based upon my years of experience professionally fishing those exact spots making a living with LAFB. Then I’ll give you an idea as to what I would do instead.

This is all predicated on the idea of finding the mother lode of trout. Not catching a few, or whatever bites, or a “bad day on the water is better than a good day at work”. No, the advice below is plutonium grade, “let’s whack limits” kinda stuff.

“I plan to start at the castle first thing in the morning (Labeled Trout 1).”

Eh, not bad. You could do that and there could be a morning bite there and some moving water, but I bet it will be mostly slack. That’s now when you want to be casting a line there. You want to be casting a line there when the tide is ripping out.

I would fish Martello Castle as early as 9am then no later than noon to 1pm. Have you seen this YouTube video fishing Martello Castle on September 30th, 2021? What do I explain in the very beginning of the video? Yeah, fishing the hard falling tide.

But let’s look at all those other spots. Yeah, they’re all too early. A lot of them I have checked in September over the last five years and it was always dinks and ladyfish. F that.

I just don’t have reason to believe that there are so many redfish in on that shoreline between Bayous Lacombe and Liberty that it’s worth your time. That’s just me, I’d rather try for them somewhere else. In fact, I’d just focus on the trout.

Trout 2 (Bayou Thomas) could be on and fished in the same way you would Martello Castle. These are both community holes and worth hitting now before every troglodyte in the Greater NOLA Armada spams it on FaceCrap.

It’s entirely too early for MRGO Flat. That’s a non-shrimp spot and right now shrimp are running. You could maybe possibly catch a few, but you do want to catch a few or a limit? Yeah, don’t go there.

So, fish Martello and Thomas. Everything else is probably going to suck. After that, throw in Mud Lake (also called Little Lake, by the CSX Bridge).

[Devin]

F*ck yeah!! This is what I’m talking about. Do your dang homework and show it off. Okay, let me go over this and I’ll give you my full-blown, unfiltered two cents.

[Devin]

What boat are you going in?

It’s not gonna be flat calm, unless the forecast changes. But, depending on the boat you’re in, you can give Bay Eloi a try.

I do think you’d be running past a lot of fish, and you wouldn’t be capitalizing on the falling tide. Are you familiar with the white shrimp run during fall?

[Devin]

Can you break this down for me a little more? So you started at the south end of Doulut’s and trolled down the shoreline throwing a gold spoon at the shoreline, correct?

Did you ever cast into open water when you caught the trout? Did you focus on trout once you caught a couple?

[Devin]

Do you have sonar and, if so, do you monitor it wile fishing?

[Devin]

Will you have the chance to scout at all? That would be ace.

[Devin]

+1 on this

[Devin]

Doulut’s Canal is the bayou east of Bayou Yscloskey and it dumps into Lake Borgne.

Now, with that said, I couldn’t help myself and wanted to go look today. I had to run the boat anyway, so it worked out.

I fished Bayou Thomas, Martello Castle when the tide was falling out and there were no speckled trout. Just gafftops and some white trout. It was hard overcast today, too. So that’s about perfect conditions, save for one thing: the water temperature was 83-85 degrees. That’s kinda warm. I definitely overlooked that when giving the above advice.

So if I were you, I’d fish the stuff in Biloxi Marsh that I detailed. You can just cross Lake Borgne. Then, if the trout/shrimp don’t work out, go fish the shorelines of Magill Lagoon and Bayou Magill for redfish. Just hammer them out with weedless spoons. Use dead shrimp under a cork if you really wanna slum it.

Good luck!

[Devin]

That’s great. That way you can learn “where they ain’t”. But I do think that sticking it out at Belle Pass and grinding that bad boy out can land you a couple 20″ speckled trout. It will be a grind, but it’s possible.

[Devin]

Okay, I see. We’re not on the same sheet of music. So, lets implement a short term solution and a long term, permanent solution.

Your short term solution is “you should go fish the big passes draining into Lake Borgne”. Martello Castle, Doulut’s Canal, Bayou Thomas and Chef Pass, all off of Lake Borgne. You can fish Bay Eloi if that’s what makes you happy, but you sure would be driving past a lot of fish just to get there.

Those are all community holes you can find some fish at on Friday and Saturday. But, they will get crowded, over fished and are not fishable under all conditions. You will be stuck in a loop and never really branch out to find biting fish in new spots.

The permanent solution is to learn how to find your own fish. That’s what I teach inside Inshore Fishing 101 and (relevant to this time of year) Fall Fish Location. Once you have that knowledge then you can make solid planning posts here because you’ll know what we’re talking about.

I bring this up because you haven’t completed either course.

All the context, related information, etc. are in those courses. That’s why I went to the trouble of making them, and there’s really no point in re-typing out everything here that’s already made in video format there. That makes sense, right?

If I were you, I’d go so far as to skip those fishing trips and learn my process to finding fish so you’re not learning it all the hard way when the fishing is really good (like it will be here in the next 30 days).

[Devin]

The fancy sonar stuff is not necessary at all. It’s just good to monitor depth. I wouldn’t look for redfish in a spot like that, I’d 1,000% expect there to be trout (this time of year). If you accidentally caught that many with a gold spoon, then there were probably a lot more chewing in that spot.

I mention a cork because the trout were probably in that deeper water feeding toward the surface. If they’re not, then an HDS will solve that (because then they’d be at the bottom of that deeper water).

Doulut’s is more like a pass than a bayou, with two big bodies of water on either side. It sets up a lot like Martello and Bayou Thomas, and tends to move a lot of water and (consequently) a lot of shrimp. Trout stack up there as a result.

Where you fished works, but a little further out into the scoop can be more productive. Gonna need a danforth anchor out there.

Thanks for getting back to me, this sheds a lot of light as to what’s going on out there.

[Devin]

Okay, this is more like it.

Good boat to be in. You can definitely deal with more chop in that thing.

I think the spots you picked out are a good start, but if I were you I would be looking hard at rocks in deep water (at least 10-12ft).

So I’d consider fishing the sunk rocks at Timbalier, Belle Pass and even Fourchon Barges. The rock jetty at Caminada is worth trying as well, there will just be other boats on it because it’s right there and well known.

Of course, this will all depend on what the wind allows you to do.