Whether you’ve lived in the Sportsman’s Paradise for a lifetime or you’re a visitor with dreams of striking that postcard-worthy bull redfish off your bucket list, Lafitte is a great choice for turning fantasies into photographic evidence.
For one thing, Lafitte is easy to get to. It’s hard to beat a 40-minute drive from downtown New Orleans, or an even shorter drive from the airport.
But even if time and distance are not considerations, the fact that Lafitte is at the northernmost point of the Barataria estuary, one of the most productive estuaries in the United States for redfish, should point you in that direction.
When people talk about fishing in Lafitte, they mean the waters, roughly, from Barataria Bay to Lake Salvador, a huge geographical area full of great places to fish.
August can be a deceptively tricky month to target trophy fish, however, and even if you are targeting eating-size redfish, you’ll need to know where to find them.
August is a time when concerns about water temperature come to the forefront. Late-summer, prespawn, redfish are drawn to cool, deep water during long, hot days, but they will venture out of these areas during cooler hours to feed.
It follows that in August, you’ll find redfish in or near the coolest available water most of the time.
Summer spots
The pros at Griffin Fishing Charters in Barataria explained how they handle the unique challenges that August brings.
“The fish in August typically hang in the deeper areas with moving water,” said guide Colby Creppel, who recommends fishing the deeper waters of the Pen, Little Lake, Lake Salvador and the Rigolets.
Think of cool, deep, water as an essential resource in August. The more resources a given area offers in addition to deep water, the greater the likelihood of a strong redfish presence. But you’ve got to account for the variables that affect water temperature, because conditions change throughout the day. The time of day and tidal ebb and flow are crucial considerations.
“The key to summertime fishing is to get out on the water early morning or late evening,” Creppel said. “Typically, the bite is for 1 to 2 hours in the morning, or right before dark in the evening.”
“And always look for tide movement, especially in the summer,” he said. “It’s hot, and the fish are hot, too; moving water (is cooler water), and that’s where the fish will tend to be.”
Creppel recommends-tried and-true baits for August redfish: dead shrimp and a gold spoon.
Use “dead shrimp for fishing the bottom or gold spoons for sight-fishing the marsh,” Creppel said.
