• People new to the island should fish the beach and the rocks (breakwaters on the Gulf side of the island). Then venture farther from the island if the weather is good. A variety of fish can be caught at the rocks.
• When more than one person is in the boat, they should rig differently and use different baits to find a feeding pattern.
• Have patience. Give a spot some time — 30 minutes or so — to allow the fish to settle down. Trout move a lot.
• Start trout fishing as soon as cold fronts stop coming in the spring. The Grand Isle trout fishery is not a winter fishery.
• Evening fishing is nice to try. It’s cooler, and the bite can be good, if not quite as good as in the morning.
• Fishing is best under good tide ranges — .8-foot and larger — although it is possible to have tides that are too strong.
• It is best to have a GPS, but you should always have maps. She likes Standard Mapping Services maps.
• Use live bait. You will catch more. Those double shad rig days were wonderful, but most of the fish were too small to keep legally now.
• Watch where other fishermen’s boats are anchored, and make a note to come back and check the spots out. A lot of these areas are submerged reefs.
• Hop from (oil and gas) platform to platform in Barataria Bay until you find fish.
• On what islands are left, fish near their points.
• If west wind conditions are predicted, be aware that they are the hardest to fish successfully.
