Louisiana’s Redfish Population Has Collapsed

Step 1: eliminate pogy boats now

The popularity of nighttime bow fishing has also put a dent in redfish populations, I would think. But shooting "fish in a barrel" isn't that easy. But it's still more pressure.

I also think it's hurt duck populations. No where to roost if constantly being ran off by nighttime bow fishers.

Just my uneducated opinion.

I wouldn't go that hard but definitely reduce limits for guides and the days of the week they can go out.

Redfish probably moved just like the trout now that we have had some decently consistent salt water in the "old" areas that had been super fresh for the past few years. They only need saltwater to breed and what they really need is the higher calcium levels, not the salt. What is great for trout fishing has limited redfish some, but we still encounter them pretty regularly. Flounder are also making a good come back in the salt marshes.

Poggie boats are certainly a problem, and so are Asian "shrimp" boats that target flounder with trawls during migration. Hopefully the closed season on flounder eliminates the "shrimp" boat problem, but they really don't care about the law anyhow...

Yeah this has been brewing for a while.

I used to limit out on the kayak just a half mile from the boat ramp at Lake Hermitage, now I don't even see spooked redfish.

The same can be said of fishing the pontchartrain basin, or areas around hopedale.

The changes I've noticed that correspond to this are:

1. Pogie boats.
2. Way more people fishing. Pre-covid I would almost never see another boat, now it's any day of the week and marinas are full.
3. Surprised no one ever mentions this but hurricanes. The LA coast has been absolutely hammered by major storms almost every year for the last 5 years.

We can't do anything immediately to address mother nature and the changes it introduces. Likewise, redfish evolved in this type of ecosystem which has always seen changes.

What we can do is curtail harvests and curtail the pogie boats. Those pogies boats don't just take the bait fish, they kill breeding redfish indiscriminately.

We also should go to a TX or FL style limiting system. 3 per person, only one over slot.

The last thing we can do is decrease what we take in ourselves. Especially those of us who fish all the time. We do not need to keep fish that are only going to go in the freezer. Keep only what you can eat while it's fresh and release the rest.

We have seen very recently with the pogie boats that our regulators will not act fast enough or with enough force. So it falls on us to be stewards of our environment and set the example ourselves.

Close fishing in canals where the redfish stack up in the winter. You can just dip a net in and catch redfish.

quote:

---

decrease what we take in ourselves

---

While the charter boats and bowfishermen continue to lay waste to the coast?

The few I catch a year don't have shite to do with this problem.

Hard to catch a limit right now anyway.

I've struggled mightt finding redfish in places that were dang near guaranteed before

Why I agree that pogie boats and fishing pressure hasn’t helped the population, it’s also some of the hottest months which also doesn’t help.

Others have mentioned hurricanes, which I agree has decimated the coastline and hasn’t helped either.

I think areas are changing and the fish are adjusting.

There are still a massive amount of breeding redfish in the gulf and I honestly doubt the population has crashed

Why all the hate for bowfishing? What does it matter the method the fish are taken as long as you follow limit/size regulations