During the heat of summer, redfish can push deep into the marsh around Jean Lafitte. There may be plenty of smaller fish mixed in, especially when using live bait, but the area can still produce a solid box of slot-sized reds when you find the right water.
The heat is part of the challenge. In June and July, an early start can make the trip much more comfortable and may also put you on active fish before the middle of the day.
Our First Redfish Limit Without a Captain
Our first redfish limit without a captain came during a summer trip out of Jean Lafitte, although we did get a little help from one. At the time, Captain Mike was one of our early clients. We handled his website, and in return we sometimes joined his scouting trips or got a phone call when he had found fish.
One day he told us to head toward the top of Bayou Perot, find schools of bait, and throw spoons around them. His message was basically: if you cannot fill the cooler today, maybe it is time to sell the boat and just fish with me.
That kind of advice is hard to beat. Finding bait, current, and active fish is often more important than blindly running to the same waypoint every trip.
Summer Heat Lessons
We have also had trips where the reds were everywhere but the smaller fish burned through the bait before we could put many keepers in the boat. That is South Louisiana fishing: sometimes the action is constant and the cooler is still not as full as you expected.