# DIY May Louisiana Redfish Trip



## beauhill (Feb 1, 2013)

Hi all!

My brother and myself are headed down to Louisiana for a week in mid-May to chase redfish with a fly rod for his bachelor party.  Right now, we're looking at staying in the Cocodrie area, but we're open to other suggestions.  I'm driving down from Colorado and he's coming down from Wyoming.  I'll be towing down an LT25 with poling platform, 25 hp Yamaha, and a 12 gallon fuel tank - so I can do some running around and stalking.

My question - how difficult is it to get into redfish without a guide, and being new to the area?  I've fished the Gulf Coast around Port O'Connor several times, but this is my first trip to LA.  Is Cocodrie the place to go, or would you recommend somewhere else?

Can anyone provide some pointers and tips for what I can expect?  Also, if anyone would let me buy them some beer while we're down there maybe we can meet up for some tips, I'd be glad to!  And lastly, if anyone was willing to trade some knowledge of the marsh for a trip in Colorado or Wyoming for some of those cold-water trout, I have a fishing raft setup and would be more than willing to do some swapping.  

(If anyone is interested in a decked out 2013 LT25, I would love to sell it to one of you fine folks when I'm down in May.  It doesn't get much use up here in the Rockies  )


----------



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I used to fish out of Montegut and Larose to the east of Cocodrie, but the fish should behave similarly throughout the area. I found Texas fishing to be a little tougher than Louisiana, but what you learned there should translate. Cocodrie has great fishing by all the reports I've seen. The main problen with learning any marsh is that everything looks fishy, so finding the good spots can be tough. 

We used a run and gun style. I wouldn't advise campin out on one spot for longer than it takes to cover it. Find the channels where the tide drains off the mudflats. On the incoming tide, follow those channels in to the mudflats, but on a falling tide, just fish the mouths of those channels until you find the fish. Tide flowing across submerged gas pipes between islands will also hold reds. At dead low tide, run around looking for exposed oysters along the main bayous so you can fish them and the trough between them and the grass once the tide comes in. Weirs that are in good condition will sometimes hold specks by concentrating the bait, but old weirs that have fallen apart or old camp pylons along the bayous seem to hold more reds as it takes time to leach out enough creosote for the barnicles and oysters to take hold.

It should be warming by May.  Over the late spring to late summer, the fish liked more salt (or cooler water?) and were generally further out on the edge of the marsh along the bays.  I'd start by trying the flats and cuts along Lake Pelto and Terrebonne Bay and would move inshore along the main bayous until you find the fish. The deep channels will generally have crab trap bouys on both sides. If you find inshore open water with no bouys, it is generally not deep enough to run a boat.

The gnats will likely try to carry you away that time of year.  Stock up on Avon Skin-so-soft and hose down any exposed skin.  You'll smell like a whorehouse and the resultant greasy hands will make holding your fly rod a conscious effort, but SSS protects against gnats much better than Off.

I'd suggest Larose since I might be able to give better advice, but the accomidations in Cocodrie are better from what I've seen. Some are right on the water. I wish I was close enough to be more help. You might conside placing an add for your boat in Louisiana Sportsman.

Nate 

PS since it is a bachelor party, consider yourself warned to stay away from any strip club in Houma.


----------



## scissorhands (Apr 8, 2012)

just study google earth and go for it and buy a standard map when you get there.  The catching fish should be the easy part. Ditto on the Skin-so-soft.


----------



## fishicaltherapist (Mar 9, 2013)

Buy a box of throwaway medical gloves to apply the SSS and you have solved the slick and greasy problem plus, the bugs will not BUG you! Good luck !


----------



## CedarCreek (Nov 23, 2012)

Hey Laramie, I went to Wyo for grad school way back in the late 80s. I'm back on the east coast now. I 'll be taking a 16 hour road trip to the LA marsh this Thursday to meet up with my brother for a wintertime DIY trip. I think we are fishing Delacroix, Lafitte, or Venice. I'll post a report assuming I have something to post. I miss fishing for those Goldens.


----------



## pt448 (Mar 22, 2014)

Nate has some good advice.  You can definitely catch some reds without a guide, but fishing in the spring, especially flyfishing, can be a bit of a challenge.  It can get pretty breezy that time of year, which muddies up the water and makes it hard to fish without anything without scent.  Have some spin gear, and scented plastics or some dead shrimp (bait shrimp) as a backup.  If y'all can swing getting a guide, even for one day and then go on your own the rest of the time, it'll help.

May can be a transition month, but the way the weather's going this year we'll probably get into the summer pattern early which'll be good.  Get out on the water early and if the wind is calm follow Nate's advice and you'll do fine.

The Cocodrie/Dularge area is a great fishery close to Houma and New Orleans.  Other notable areas are along Hwy. 1 from Golden Meadow to Grand Isle and Delacroix/Hopedale.  Larose/Pointe Aux Cheine is a good spot and I fish there often.  I find it's better in the fall/winter, but the reds are always there.  Just be careful if the wind is up at any location.  Chop in any open water gets nasty.  It's easy to get lost anywhere in the marsh too, so a good GPS is highly recommended, but you shouldn't have to go far to find fish.  It'll also be hot as hell and humid so stay hydrated (especially after those long nights of partying  ) 

And don't throw all those fish back, yeah.  Throw some on the grill.  Daily limit for reds is 5 per person 16"-27" and 1 of the 5 can be over 27" (not worth keeping the big ones unless you're making a courtboulion [pronouced "koo be yon"]

If you have any specific questions, just let me know.


----------



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I didn't mention the muddy water, but everything PT said is true. Louisiana in that area is going to have 24" of clarity on a good day, so it will likely be murkier than you saw in Texas. A southly wind can really muddy up the incoming tides. I never had much luck with reds if the water was really muddy, but I sometimes found tailing black drum when the mud was thick. Muddy water doesn't seem to bother black drum. I read that when they are tailing like that, they are grubbing out polychaete worms and stirring up a lot of mud in the process, so they rely on feel, smell and taste more than sight. If I could pull a jig right in front of their noses (1-4") without draping the line across their backs or hitting them in the head, I could get strikes. You could get within 30' because they couldn't see you. I am not much of a fly guy (yet), but I'd suspect based on what I've heard that something like a big, brass headed black wooly bugger would be a good place to start in that scenario. 

Nate


----------



## beauhill (Feb 1, 2013)

Thanks Nate and everyone else for the advice.  

I was tossing around the idea of going with a guide the first day to get acquainted.  Do you guys have any recommendations for a fly fishing guide in Cocodrie, Leeville, or Venice or any places in that general region?  I've gone with Greg Dini's outfit for a half day a couple of years ago, but he recommended we cut our day short due to wind, clouds, and rain - and that's the extent of my fishing in LA.

It doesn't sound like the conditions will be much different than what it was in TX the few trips I made down there.  It was frequently choppy, and muddy with poor visibility.  I'll take 24" of visibility if we can get it; I think I've seen that once or twice around Port O'Connor in the 12-15 days I spent on the water there.  And I agree on the fishing being tougher in TX.  Those redfish can be spooky!  The extremely short amount of time I spent in the LA marsh, the fish were much easier to get within casting range.

Duly noted on the gnats and SSS.  

Good to know on the chop in open water, I almost learned the hard way in TX that the Gheenoe can't handle windy, open water real well.  

CedarCreek - good to see another UW alum on here!  I spent 8 yrs in Laramie, and I get up there pretty frequently now that I'm in Denver.  It's a great place to fish away from the crowds of the Front Range.  Please let me know how the trip goes!

We'll make sure we avoid strip clubs in Houma!  We'll save the strip club visits for when head to New Orleans for the weekend after fishing.


----------



## rhettstark (Aug 13, 2014)

I am from houma and fish the cocodrie area almost every weekend, send me a pm and maybe I can show you some places that I usually fish


----------



## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

I fish the eastern side of the missisippi. The Army Corps run the diversions pretty hard in the spring so simulate the "natural flooding of the marsh"  I always struggle to find good water March through May.   Study the USGS site before you come and find the diversions.  If they are running high then stay away from them.  Too much fresh water.


----------



## CedarCreek (Nov 23, 2012)

Just got back from my February DIY trip to the LA Marsh. Considering we fished out of my brother's fish and ski bass boat we did pretty well. Got 6 reds, a load of trout (no real big ones), and several largemouth. I caught most of my fish on fly. My brother used soft plastics. The reds were caught out of the Delacroix area and most of the trout were over in Lafitte. If I would have taken my skiff along we would have done much better on the reds. Only so many places you can access with a trolling motor and bass boat. Here are a couple pics.


----------



## ShallowLA (Jul 14, 2012)

Sent you a PM.

Capt. Brandon Keck
Southern Fly Expeditions
New Orleans, LA
southernflyexpeditions.com


----------



## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

Just got back from 2 days of La fishing.  Friday in Venice and sat in Lafitte.  My employer and the GC on one of my construction projects set it up.  6 of us went, 3 boats ea day.   It was 28 degrees at the dock fri am, warmed up to 42 degrees, wind blew 20 all day.  Saturday was about 10 degrees warmer, no wind.  Boats were all 24 - 25 ft bay boats with 200 to 300hp.


----------



## marshman (Feb 9, 2007)

Just my 2 cents.... Refine your target area a little more... On a map cocodrie doesn't look far from leeville or Venice but there's a vast amount of water between the 3 and they are very far by car and not close by water in a small boat..... But any of the 3 have redfish within a very short boat ride.... Venice is king but you really need a bigger boat... Not so much for fishing but to get to fishing areas, you have tiger pass and it has some monster crew boats that run it regular... It's a 10-15 minute run to wagon wheel and you will pass at least one crew boat and several oilfield boats... They do slow down for small craft but the swells they produce follow them for a ways, so even after you pass them you've got rough water to traverse.... 

Cocodrie is much more suited to small boats... Theriot/du large is another area that is good... Leeville has a little more open water but manageable.... 

As far as finding redfish, it appears the basics have been covered already.. Redfish are fairly easy to find and pattern and very plentiful in south Louisiana marshes....


----------



## marshman (Feb 9, 2007)

For reference, running tiger pass to wagon wheel this past summer in my 16' flat with a 25, I got a very wet butt to say the least.... I even actually crossed the river to baptiste Colette pass which is only about 1/2 mile.. Took 15-20 minutes and I will never do that again....


----------



## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

Hey Devrep…not such a shabby way to fly to a fishing destination huh? After you fly corporate, it spoils you for life.

I was lucky to fly pretty often with a lot of the top Pharmaceutical Execs in their G4s, G5s and Citations. Even 1st class commercial sucks after all that!


----------



## spottail1588 (Feb 17, 2013)

I was expecting to see a hells bay come out the back of the jet.  only kidding. Sure beats spirit airlines


----------



## CoolRunnings (Oct 18, 2012)

Laramie, for a first timer the golden meadow/leevile area can be very forgiving. Great place to fish from a small boat and close to Grand Isle as well. Hopedale/Delacroix would be another good area. Can fish Biloxi Marsh from Hopedale, great fishing but vast marsh.


----------



## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

DEV , Chartered plane and guided trip on the boss? What do you do and how do I do it?


----------



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

> For reference, running tiger pass to wagon wheel this past summer in my 16' flat with a 25, I got a very wet butt to say the least....  I even actually crossed the river to baptiste Colette pass which is only about 1/2 mile..   Took 15-20 minutes and I will never do that again....


I hear you.  I saw lots of little john boats with 9.9 go-Devils make that crossing to Delta during duck season back when I last hunted down there.  They are gutsy.  I felt severely under-gunned with a 17 mod-vee and a 70 HP.  The river is freaky as heck down there.  That area has a lot of seiche waves from the ship wakes reverberating in the channel.  There wouldn't be a ship within a mile of you and suddenly you'd run up on an 8' deep trough.  The guys that hunted the area exclusively usually had a 20+' boat (big enough to haul pirogues to Pass a Loutre) with a Lowrance on the T-top. We didn't, so we just didn't go out until the fog cleared. 

Nate


----------



## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

Just working my ass off    Actually he hates to fly, won't get on a commercial plane unless he has to so he joined NetJets, I get to reap the benefits occasionally.   
The bad news is that while we were there we looked at a piece of land he has a contract on in Baton Rouge that I will probably have to fly to bi weekly for a year or so while it's under construction ):

I told him the only way he was going to get me to do that was if he buys me a new Hells Bay for my bonus when it's done.  He said maybe a used one. 



> DEV , Chartered plane and guided trip on the boss? What do you do and how do I do it?


----------



## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

Yup, show up 5 minutes before take off, taxi out and hit the throttle. Beats 2 hours at the airport.



> Hey Devrep…not such a shabby way to fly to a fishing destination huh?  After you fly corporate, it spoils you for life.
> 
> I was lucky to fly pretty often with a lot of the top Pharmaceutical Execs in their G4s, G5s and Citations.  Even 1st class commercial sucks after all that!


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

I've fished the Port Fourchon area a decent amount but always in winter. You can find really clear water when the wind/tides are right. Not sure if it muddies up a lot when warmer. We stay in Grand Isle but launch in Fourchon about 10 minutes away.

I took an old Aggie buddy of mine the weekend of 2/20-2/22. He's a newbie to saltwater fishing, never done any sight-casting, and a gear-chunker to boot. But he's a damn good Ag and we've been friends for nearly 20 years. 

Conditions Saturday were rough. Cloudy with winds blowing 25+ all morning so we didn't get on the water until 11 or so. I caught a puppy drum on conventional when the wind was howling and I couldn't fly cast. Late in the day I got my one and only shot of the day and stuck this 31# black drum. 










But by late Saturday afternoon the winds died and were almost nonexistent in the morning on Sunday and we found some protected water that cleared up overnight and clear skies helped the cause. 

My good buddy was giddy as a schoolboy watching these 16# and 20# reds inhale a well-placed soft plastic (he is a bass guy so he can cast accurately) but his monster was a 34# black drum that damn near ran off 200 yards of 20# PowerPro on his spinning rig. 
































































Stocker:










This little bastard went about 6# and robbed me of my best shot at a big ass red. We were poling a shoreline and big honking red was kind of waking along a drop-off about 6' out from shore and I drop the fly a couple feet in front of him and maybe 18" to one side. He swirls and is about to eat when this little drum races up out of the deeper water where I never saw him and slammed my fly, taking it from the big red.


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

One further thing on the water between Port Fourchon and Golden Meadow is that you can pretty well hide from anything but a due-west wind.


----------



## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

That's probably the cleanest water I've ever see that close to the port. Wow.


----------

