WHAT'S BITING?
We generally fish in and around Barataria Bay in Southeast Louisiana. Redfish and Speckled Trout are the primary target, but we really can catch a wide variety of gamefish. Here are a few of the types of fish that we can catch on a typical fishing trip.
Redfish
Common Names: Red Drum, Redfish, Red, Spottail, Channel Bass, Poisson Rouge
Redfish can be readily found from 1-10 pounds in the waters around the Gulf of Mexico. Redfish in the Gulf itself are aptly nicknamed “Bull Reds”, and are usually 10-30+ pounds. Smaller fish being considered better table fare than larger fish.
Red drum can be silvery-gray with a copper cast or bright copper colored with an iridescent gray cast. The belly is typically white. Most fish will have a single ocellated spot located just ahead of the tail fin. Occasionally, more than one spot can be found.
Blue crabs make up a large part of their diet, but fish and shrimp are also eaten. Although red drum have been known to come to the surface to take topwater artificial baits, they are typically bottom feeders.
Speckled Trout
Common Names: Speckled Trout, Speck, Yellowmouth, Spotted Sea Trout
The Speckled (or Spotted) Seatrout might just be America’s favorite light tackle game fish and Louisiana’s coastal waters are one of the best places to find them. Specks reach a maximum length of about 40” and can grow up to around 18lbs, however, most catches will be up to 6lbs.
Speckled Trout have a streamlined body that is dark silvery gray on the back, shading to white below. The upper parts of the fish have an iridescent sheen and have a few to many black spots. The dorsal and tail fin are always spotted. Their mouth is often, but not always, splashed with yellow pigment on the edges and interiors, and 1 or 2 large sharp canine teeth are located at the front of the upper jaw.
Speckled trout eat shrimp, crabs and smaller fish, though their eating habits change as their size does.
We clean what YOU CATCH!
Black Drum
Common Names: Drum, Tambour
Black drum from 1 to 10 pounds are very common and often referred to as “puppy drum.” Larger fish, called “bull drum”, are not uncommon to 40 pounds and are occasionally even larger.
Black drum are heavy-bodied fish with large heads. Fish up to about 15 pounds have 4 or 5 wide vertical black bars set on a silver-gray body. The bars fade as the fish grow larger, eventually disappearing. All sizes of black drum can be identified by the whisker-like barbels under their chin.
Black drum have large heavy pharyngeal teeth in the back of their throat that they use to crush mollusk shells. Young black drum under 8 inches long feed mostly on marine worms and small fish. After 8 inches, they switch to eating oysters, clams, and mussels.
Flounder
Common Names: Flounder
Size: Up to 3 feet in length and 20 pounds, but most fish caught are 1-5 pounds.
The body is very compressed laterally and right side is white and eyeless. The left side has both eyes and is olive brown in color with dark and white spots.
Flounder are well adapted for ambushing quick-moving prey such as fish or shrimp. Their flattened shape allows them to become nearly invisible on the bottom. Typically, they remain motionless on the bottom and wait for their prey to come within striking distance before attacking. While waiting, flounder show rapid eye movements as they track their prey.
Southern flounders eat a wide variety of food items, including shrimp, mullet, anchovies, croakers, and menhaden (pogies).
Sheepshead
Common Names: Convict Fish, Baitstealer, Sheephead
Size: Sheepshead are common at 2-8 pounds, but can reach 20 pounds.
The Sheepshead is deep and compressed in body shape, with five or six dark bars on the side of the body over a gray background. It has sharp dorsal spines. Its diet consists of oysters, clams, barnacles, fiddler crabs, and other crustaceans. It has a hard mouth, with several rows of stubby teeth – the frontal ones closely resembling human teeth – which help crush the shells of prey.