Shore Thing Fishing Report, 5/20/2026

May 20, 2026

Great spring weather, plentiful fish, and the availability of live bait equals a great day on the water!

- by Sonny Schindler, Shore Thing Fishing Charters

It is full-on springtime fishin' and catchin'! Speckled trout have been the focus of all our trips, in every direction. I’m happy to report that all of the bait shops have worked very hard to keep us supplied with live shrimp and croakers.
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JP, Brayden, and Bayor Bowlin from Greenwood, MS, with a nice shark they caught near Cat Island.

 
We’re still getting some windy days, but the nearshore fishing remains very consistent. Yes, the Louisiana marsh is teeming with speckled trout, but the nearshore reefs are also producing extremely well. Since we are working on another year without a spillway opening and a bit of a drought, the salinity is high and the fishing incredible.
 

Steve and Lauri with a nice bull red they tagged and released near Bayou Caddy.

 
We are starting to see gulls diving throughout the Louisiana marsh. As always, we try to find birds feeding on shrimp in the shallowest water possible. It’s almost always true that the shallower the water the birds are working in, the bigger the trout – not every time, but often.
 

Capt. Sonny and Capt. Hunter Caballero from Paradise Outfitters in Venice, LA, with some of the nice trout from last week.

 
We are picking off a few bull reds, and that is a welcome treat. Every year it seems like huge schools show up to the west at the same time the big schools of pogies arrive. We have not seen many tripletails over the last several days, but seas have been choppy, and we haven’t invested a lot of time looking for them . Our guides have been focused on the incredible springtime speckled trout fishing off the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
 
Marker 54 Shrimp has been a dynamite artificial lure. You can find them at Shore Thing Outdoors, the new tackle shop in Waveland.
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