# DIY Louisiana Trip



## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

I am thinking about planning a trip to Louisiana in late November or early December. Any advice on what area to fish, what tides to fish, where to stay (wouldn't mind camping) and what ramp to use. I have been fishing down there one time but it was several years ago, so for all intensive purposes this is my first trip. I will be towing my Native 17 down and would like to do some poling and sight fishing. I have a 25 on it so it isn't super fast so the shorter the runs the better. Also, I have had no luck finding a good map or chart. Does anyone know where I could find one?


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

If you hire a guide for the first day, you will be set for the second, third, and ...days. There is a lot of water there, and some it is still shown as land on many gps maps.

I grew up there and was taught very early that you never tell anybody where you catch fish. You show them, then they return the favor, and life goes on. Laissez les bons temps rouller!

Gd spell check doesn't know Cajun French.

This is why you don't tell.


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## disporks (Jan 19, 2011)

There are many places to fish over here. Being that you are in Georgia the New Orleans area would be closest to you and there is alot of marsh to cover there. For sight fishing that may be your best bet. I am from Lake Charles on the southwest side and the fishing is great here also. What species are you mainly trying to catch? I would find some members on here from the southeast LA area and hook up with them for your trip. Delacroix, Grand Isle, Lake P just depends on what you want to plan...no matter where you are in LA you can definitely find some fish...Get an out of state license and go at it (which is sadly somewhat expensive compared to our 15$ yearly fresh/saltwater license).

If you make your way to this side of the state feel free to hit me up, I'm always willing to get out on the water!


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> There are many places to fish over here. Being that you are in Georgia the New Orleans area would be closest to you and there is alot of marsh to cover there. For sight fishing that may be your best bet. I am from Lake Charles on the southwest side and the fishing is great here also. What species are you mainly trying to catch? I would find some members on here from the southeast LA area and hook up with them for your trip. Delacroix, Grand Isle, Lake P just depends on what you want to plan...no matter where you are in LA you can definitely find some fish...Get an out of state license and go at it (which is sadly somewhat expensive compared to our 15$ yearly fresh/saltwater license).
> 
> If you make your way to this side of the state feel free to hit me up, I'm always willing to get out on the water!


What does that out of state license cost? Been thinking about heading over at some point soon.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

Non-resident license fees are $60/yr fishing, $30/yr SW fishing, $17.50/day fishing


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## Taterides (Nov 10, 2008)

I went last year and hired a guide. I used Capt TD on this forum. He was very helpful and we used my boat. He is based out of Slidell. Louisiana is not a place to run around with little local knowledge. Lots of underwater challenges.
A day of guide fees is less than damages to your boat. He will put you on the fish and show you around some.
The bummer of the license is it runs June to June, not one year from purchase. 

Good Luck. I hope to return the week of Thanksgiving.


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## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

Great info, please keep it coming! I was thinking Delta Marina in Empire, Breton Sound in Hopedale or Grand Isle Suites in Grand Isle. Would any of these be better for poling and sight fishing? Is a rising tide or falling tide best? 

I know getting a guide one day would be beneficial so I will probably do that.


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## disporks (Jan 19, 2011)

Like others have said, Hire a guide for your first day and you wont regret it. You can also get on Louisianasportsman.com and find a list of guides and many guides reporting. I would look for a guide that spends more time in the marsh if you plan on doing alot of sightfishing.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

my buddy lives out there and fishes regularly. so I plan on fishing with him.


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## GoldSpoon (Jun 14, 2012)

Questions.

1.What species would you like to catch?

Around Novemeber is when the redfish start to slack off in the marsh ponds but that depends on the weather.  If it's about 75 they will still bite in the ponds.  December it will fall off a bit moreas it gets colder.

In the winter months is when speckled trout start moving into the marsh, you can fish deep canals with soft plastics bounced off the bottom to catch them.

This is also a good time to fresh water fish if you interested, Sac Aux Lait (Crappie) and marsh bass really get exciting.

It's also duck hunting season so you may want to watch where you hunting, a ******* will not take it to well if you come poling through his duck pond.

2. Will you be alone?

3. Any kids?

4. What kind of Camping you talking about?


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## cutrunner (Jun 8, 2010)

> This is why you don't tell.


I bet that took ten hours to fillet all those fish


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

If you go the guide route, be sure to let him know that you plan on running his routes and fishing his water, before you leave the dock.


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## lodaddyo (Jun 22, 2011)

> my buddy lives out there and fishes regularly. so I plan on fishing with him.


Whos your buddy?


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## lodaddyo (Jun 22, 2011)

> If you go the guide route, be sure to let him know that you plan on running his routes and fishing his water, before you leave the dock.



Yeah that ought to go over well ;D


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## GoldSpoon (Jun 14, 2012)

> > If you go the guide route, be sure to let him know that you plan on running his routes and fishing his water, before you leave the dock.
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah that ought to go over well ;D


With most guides it wouldn't be a problem.

Look into fishing Point Aux Chene, Port Sulphur, Cocodrie, Leeville, 

If you want to stay in close to NOLA another option would be Lafitte, you could do a Saltwater trip in the Morning and fish Lake Cataouchie (freshwater where KVD won the bassmasters classic) in the afternoon, Bourbon ST at night.


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## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

> Questions.
> 
> 1.What species would you like to catch?
> 
> ...


No kids just and buddy and myself. 

I had heard that the big reds move into the ponds in the winter time. Is this not true? I really like the idea of the "pond" fishing so I would prefer to go during a time when I could do that.

I will probably scratch the camping idea, seems like you can get a decent place to stay for $100 a night so I will go that route. 

I am on a pretty tight budget, so hiring a guide for one day would be the most I could do.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

One day with a guide and you will see how the fish are behaving. Its pretty simple though. In the fall, deep bayous between big lakes will hold trout at either intrance. Smaller dead end ponds will be clear and hold reds. The futher you get from the ramp the stupider the fish get. If you arent seeing stingrays and crabs you wont see any reds and must get closer to the gulf.

Also Standard Mapping makes great maps of LA.


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## kurtloup (Jul 16, 2009)

I fish the LA1 corridor from Galliano south to Grand Isle. If I fish the Galliano area I'll stay at Galliano Inn or Boudreaux's Condos. If I fish the Leeville area, I stay at Boudreaux's Hotel. This is the place I recommend. They have a launch and you can keep your boat in the water next to your room. If you use live bait, there are three places you can walk to. I typically fish out of a canoe so I launch off the side of the road. You really don't have to run far at all to catch fish. I also have a 13' Gheenoe that will get me anywhere I want to go.


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## hshaffett (Jul 18, 2012)

I guided for a few years out of Cocodrie Louisiana... If you wanna come fish there PM me.. I know where the reds in the flats will be and then we can run to islands and catch trout...


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Don't be nervous about blundering around until you find fish. It isn't too hard in November. I'd find a natural bayou that drains to the gulf and run the boat south fishing the mouths that drain into the bayou. If the tide is moving and some nasty cold front hasn't stalled on top of you, the fish will be biting at those mouths or up on the flats they drain sometime during the day. In the summer you have to find the saltier water further south, but once it cools off, the fish will move inshore to more brackish water, so you'll find them much further north, ie a shorter boat ride. I fished Big Bayou Blue out of Larose or Bayou Barre out of Montegut, but there are many others.

Nate


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## hshaffett (Jul 18, 2012)

Jams just sent ou a pm... Will be happy to put you on the fish and show you around Cocodrie... Some of the best flats fishing in the south... Sight casting is what we do here... We can kill the reds in the grass then head to the island to catch specks...


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## GoldSpoon (Jun 14, 2012)

> Jams just sent ou a pm... Will be happy to put you on the fish and show you around Cocodrie... Some of the best flats fishing in the south... Sight casting is what we do here... We can kill the reds in the grass then head to the island to catch specks...



Sometimes you gotta do that vice versa depending on how cool it is, the red don't get up on the flats till later in the day when the ponds warm up from the sun.


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## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks for all the info! It is very much appreciated.


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## DavidIvey (Nov 26, 2011)

Let me know when you head this way!


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## Paul_Barnard (Oct 28, 2011)

That time of year is the perfect time to fish the interior marsh around Hopedale and Delacroix. Redfish and Specks are plentiful and in many areas you catch bass too. If you decide to fish the area east of NOLA, let me know, I'll show you around.


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## kylepyro (Oct 27, 2010)

I just got back from 3 days at Delacroix. Fish are in Grand Lake at the moment, holding in fairly predictable places like points and drains. Water clarity isn't great, still stirred up from the storm I guess, even outside. LOTS of bait around. 

Sight fishing with "the floppy rod" (fly rod) as Brett the local game warden calls them can be tough. Seeing fish in the water is REALLY tough unless you've got really good experience at it. (I don't) 

We saw lots more tails outside than inside. We ran the channel alllllllll the way out to the channel marker (15+ miles) and then headed back West, fishing all the ponds along the way. The first two were the best sight fishing though even there, one good red just sunk into the mud 15 feet from the boat and just freakin disappeared.

You can fish your way back in via Lake Campo, Pato Caballo, Cuatro Caballo, etc or any other of a hundred possibilities.

Hope that's of use. Google Earth will give you a general sense of layout. Its super easy to get turned around out there so keep that in mind as you head out.

tight lines.


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## hshaffett (Jul 18, 2012)

Three days of fishing in Cocodrie with my guys from WI.. Limited out everyone morning in the flats... Reds caught on swim baits and top water... 

Trout or in lake B stacked up.. Ended up with 89 trout out of two days of trout fishing... Will Load pics tomorrow when downloaded


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## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks Bone Head. Great Info, lets see those pictures.


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## Pmn000 (Aug 24, 2011)

Just spent a couple of days fishing there last weekend. Report and pics here : http://www.skinnywaterculture.com/blog/a-14-hour-drive/


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## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

> Just spent a couple of days fishing there last weekend.


Cool report and pictures. Where did you stay and have you ever fished there before?


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## Pmn000 (Aug 24, 2011)

> > Just spent a couple of days fishing there last weekend.
> 
> 
> Cool report and pictures. Where did you stay and have you ever fished there before?


We stayed at the sweet water marina in Delacroix. And no i had never fished there before.


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## ugaflats (Jan 13, 2008)

Bump for the Delacroix area


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