In early May 2026, a late-season cold front roared through Venice, complete with downpours and brutal chilling winds, followed by a high-pressure system. Still, the weather didn’t deter the anglers gathered at Mike Frenette’s Redfish Lodge of Louisiana in Venice Marina.
Columbia Sportswear (www.columbia.com) and Performance Fishing Gear (www.columbia.com/pfg) invited several writers from across the country to test their products. Fortunately, the gear included Dry Tortugas deck boots and Force XII rain gear.
Despite the weather, everyone caught fish. We landed many bull redfish in the 30-pound range. The largest measured 46.5 inches with a 27-inch girth that hit the 40-pound range.
“We caught all our fish on ¾-ounce Strike King Red Eye Shad (www.strikeking.com) lipless crankbaits,” Frenette said. “Unless the weather gives us problems, I expect the rest of the month to be consistent for both slot reds and bulls. We’ve also seen some nice speckled trout this spring. Many big tripletail already showed up.”
With the Mississippi River running high, we looked for pockets of clean water draining out of the marsh on a falling tide. Redfish congregate at the mouths of cuts waiting for the flow to bring them bait. Some of our group visited ponds holding clear water to sight-fish for reds with fly tackle.
“The redfish are all over,” Frenette said. “Brown shrimp are moving in, but the marshes still hold quite a lot of white shrimp. I like to fish with artificials, but people can catch reds and trout with shrimp or a Strike King soft-plastic Rage Swimmer under a cork. Put the cork next to the canes. Also fish artificials off sandbars or drop-offs.”
Heading offshore
On our first day, opening day of red snapper season, some boats ventured offshore. Snapper snatchers did well, even close to the river mouth.
“We went out of Southwest Pass and stopped about 1.5 miles from the mouth of the pass,” said Jordan Roque, who guides for Redfish Lodge of Louisiana. “We fished a natural hard bottom in 114 feet of water. We marked good fish and picked up the biggest one of the day on the first drop, an 18-pounder. We caught our limit in 30 minutes.”
The snapper Roque’s party caught averaged about 24 inches long, weighing 4 to 6 pounds. They used speckled trout bellies for bait.
“The first week of snapper season was good,” said Roman Tujague, who fishes for Chad Pique of Southern Pro Charters (www.southernprocharters.com) out of Venice. “We caught snapper about 10 miles out in 160 feet of water. Most ranged from four to 10 pounds. After we caught our snapper, we went about 30 miles to a shelf rig and caught blackfin tuna.”
Tujague also chases swordfish. Most swordies range from 80 to 152 pounds. Offshore, anglers might also find some wahoo and other species.
“Swordfishing has been good,” Tujague said. “We use squid or eel for bait and add lights dropped about 1,500 feet down. During the day, swordfish usually stay close to the bottom but come up near the surface at night.”
To book a trip with Frenette and the Redfish Lodge of Louisiana, call 504-782-0924. Online, see Laredfish.com.
