Chandelier Island Trip Advise Needes

both
putt putt the bay side and wade fish the surf

I was out at Gossier last weekend. Fish were on both the outside and inside of the islands. Biggest issue is that there was so much activity out there it was hard to wade through everything. At times it was hits on every cast. But it was bluefish, bull red, trout, bluefish, shark, lady fish, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, trout, sting ray, etc etc. Lots of cut offs and break offs.

The best bait by far was the Marker 54 shrimp baits.

Also the trout were all borderline overs. Huge fish in the 18 to 22" range. Beautiful trout but not the best eating.

My trip there was one of the best fishing trips of my life. I want to go back so bad. Our crew caught fish three ways. You can find the longest cut and cross the island to fish in the surf. I never caught it right, but the guys that did killed the trout.

On some maps, you can see the old island to the west that looks like a sand bar. Drifting over that always produced at least some fish.

We had a lot of red action close to the bank in the cuts, and some of them held a good bit of trout. We mostly anchored and waded. My best day of shallow fishing was when we followed redfish point up into the shallows. There were trout in water that looked like i should be throwing a frog for bass.

Almost all my fish were caught on either Matrix Shad in opening night or Salt Assassins in a similar color. The guy I fished with was throwing some horrible reddish pink and caught, so I don't think color mattered much.

Oh, forgot...while not a lot of fish, the 5 biggest came from a little cut in the islands by the jackup. if you catch the water running through one for those, stay there a while.

Say hello to the giant rays and aggressive bull sharks for me

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I thought Rigolets but that is a roughly 60mi trip one way. Pass Christian or Gulfport is only about 35mi. but it is open water for about 12-15mi and that would be the only part that would remotely concern me even though I have farther across open water fishing out of Theriot. The submerged islands is the real concern out there.

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Rigolets is a 13 mi open water stretch across Lake Borgne and then a 25 mi stretch from what’s left of the Biloxi Marsh to the Chandeliers.

Launch from LB and run between Ship and Cat. Matrix shad and adjust jig head weight based on current. You'll have to try hard not to catch. Watch the weather, but there's a few spots to run for safety if you're really in a bind.

Closest run is to launch at pass Christian, you don’t need a Mississippi license as long as you don’t fish Mississippi’s barrier islands. The later in the summer it gets the worse the “trash” fish become. Make sure the weather is good before you go as there’s a good bit of open water to run. Good luck !

Good info Alx. Thanks!

Drive fast
Don't look
Steer far around any floating debris

My buddies and me always have to have a heart to heart with each other about not doing things that we shouldn't do. There's strength in numbers. Key is, you have to have those talks and make those pacts BEFORE the temptation presents itself.

Did you fish under a cork or free line the artificial baits?

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Did you fish under a cork or free line the artificial baits?

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Free line/tight line mostly. 1/4-1/8oz jig heads. You will want to bring along a weedless option if the grass gets too much. Jig heads that have a weed guard or can be rigged weedless, spoons (silver), switch treble hooks to single inlines.