• Hire a guide to learn the area the first time you fish it.
• Keep your equipment working, and check it each time before a trip, including the line. Nothing is worse than losing a big fish because of equipment.
• If you have four people with lines in the water, move to a new spot after fishing 10 minutes without a bite.
• Fish the area often to get experience. Fish the spots that you have caught fish in before, but try new spots to get experience.
• Be flexible. If conditions don’t look right for a spot after starting, change your destination.
• Get a map that shows channels and obstructions.
• The beach is a good starting point. There are really no set spots on the beach; just pick a spot. Look for the presence of bait.
• You can’t go wrong fishing the rocks off of the Grand Isle beach or the barges off of Fourchon. The rocks in both places hold fish.
• You can’t go wrong with live bait.
• Fishing under diving birds produces small trout — lots of trout, but small trout.
