On the west side of the Mississippi River, Bourgeois has many options, with some good walkable islands with either shells or a hard sand bottom scattered from Barataria Bay to Timbalier Bay.
“Old Chenier (Island) is a good shell island and a good stop by seaplane, as is Bassa Bassa and Grand Isle Point,” he said. “Twenty minutes from Bassa Bassa and I’m landing in the Timbalier Island chain, and can land anywhere from Raccoon Point to Last Island.
“There’s good, hard sand, and it’s all very walkable and fishable.”
One of Bourgeois’ favorites in this area is North Island.
“Both the east and west side of North Island is excellent for wade-fishing,” he said. “I walk the back side or the Gulf side and cast those same baits: darker-colored soft plastics and Badonk-A-Donks in the bone color.
“Starting this month we’ll begin to see big schools of reds move along these islands, sometimes hundreds of big reds in a school — and they’ll crush anything you toss in the water.”
