Hopedale fishing saturday

Havent found many keepers east of MRGO inside the marsh the past few weekends but plenty bait around. Have seen plenty of boats heading out through the canals to Lake Ameda. Could all be different this weekend with the front that came through. Give us an update after you fish.

Check out some of the latest Marsh Man Masson videos. He's been doing well and he tells you generally where he's fishing.

South of the dam in the MRGO has been good

I went Tuesday to Shell Beach and blasted the specks. The shrimp/fish were loaded in the cuts off Lake Borgne. The wind has been blowing like crazy the last few days so I don’t know how that will affect everything but the fish want to be there gorging on shrimp. The wind should be ok Saturday but the tide is a little wonky. You won’t need live shrimp if you find the fish, they are hungry and will eat plastics just fine.

We fished really hard from dawn till 130 down south near the end of MRGO and Lake Athanasio. 3 specks, 5 sheepshead, and a pompano. Water was clear, but was not moving at all.

Same! Well we fished different area. I went in all the cuts off borgne and looked for deep water. Couple of specks and sheep head in the box. About 15 12”. When I got back to campos it was a mixed bag. Charter captains didn’t have limits but definitely more than we did.

The poster who said go east of MRGO may have been right. That should have been the move but I don’t know that area very well.

Curious to see if anyone else did any good.

The wind report was completely wrong as well. It was 11-13 knots minimum after 9 am. No surprise there.

We fished with a guide
None of their guide buddies did much
East/north east wind was blustery
Very little tidal movement

Went to Delacroix yesterday. I guess that north wind pushed all the saltwater out? Worked south to Oak River all the way to Bay La Fourche. Water tasted like you just took it out the bathtub. Caught freshwater catfish all day, could have filled the boat with them. Water muddy everywhere from the wind, very little tide but wind blown moving water. Kept some of the nicer blue and channel cats, 1 flounder and a red. The only shrimp we saw jumping was when we worked up deep into some ponds up in the day. Eh, weather was pretty, not too cold. Better than being lazy on the couch I guess.

3 of us went Wednesday the 5th. Fished the marsh not too far from Hopedale marina. 8:30 - 2:30 Ended up with 28 keeper trout. Not that many throw backs. Caught on live shrimp and marker 54 shrimp. The fish are inside. You just have to pick your days to fish.

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The fish are inside. You just have to pick your days to fish.

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Have noticed this trend slowly but surely getting better over the last month, specks increasingly moving inside. Partner and I almost caught our limits yesterday the 6th, and all the white trout you'd like, they do fight like hell and good eating if done within a few days of catching.

Used live shrimp to search then switched to Matrix Shrimp Creole. One of us fished on top, the other drop shot on bottom to find them. Where they bite varies by location.

For the OP unfamiliar with the area, a few spots worth trying tomorrow if you go, tide is good, falling all morning.

Any of the deeper cuts from Lake Borgne on the northeast side of the MRGO, from Shell Beach to the Violet Canal have been productive.

Further south, cuts on the north side of Lena Lagoon, Bayou Alphonse and St Malo.

Engineers Canal, the entrance from La Loutre looks fishy but continue to the duck pond on the north side and start on bottom. It's about 15 feet deep just south of the pond and can be a speck hotel on a falling tide.

As usual, by 1000 a.m. they simply quit but some can feed to 1100, cloud cover helps.

I would stay out of Stump Lagoon and especially Magnolia until you learn how to safely navigate them. Generally, I rarely go into Magnolia, too many stumps.

Launching at Shell Beach ask Robby Campo, or at Hopedale Marina ask Pat, they'll straight up tell you where the bite has been this week.

Hope that helps a bit, tight lines.