Shore Thing Fishing Report, 7/19/23

July 19, 2023

While high water salinity has turned the fishing up to 11, the blazing sun and hot temps mean you have to get out early and take precautions.
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- by Sonny Schindler, Shore Thing Fishing Charters

Left: Sydney and Deacon Guice with a huge black drum caught near Lake Borgne (Released). Right: A massive tripletail caught fishing with Capt. Paul Leoni of Shore Thing Charters near Pass Christian.

The temperatures have been extremely warm, and so has the fishing. As the kiddos are getting ready to head back to school, our boats have been running pretty much nonstop the last several days. This has got to be one of my favorite times of the year. Almost every trip we are running is with the youngsters getting in one last cast before they go back to school. 

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The coolest thing about this time of year has got to be the big fish—they are everywhere!!!
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The Bankston family with a double on black and red drum near Bayou Caddy.

 
Just about every spot we fish for speckled trout is covered with bait, and with that comes the bull reds, sharks, Jack Crevalles, even black drum. A few of our boats have been seeing tarpon and have jumped a couple this past week. Some of these fish are easily the biggest things we see all year long. I was in a school of red minnows this week that had gigantic Jack Crevalles and some of the biggest bull sharks I have ever seen, right at the surface!
 

Parker Weeks with a big blacktip shark caught and released near Isle Au Pitre in the Louisiana Marsh.

 
With the temperatures, we are leaving the dock as soon as we can safely navigate. The trout fishing is at its best that first hour or so of daylight, and it tapers off as the morning goes on. Usually by about 9:30 or 10 o’clock it is just sweltering. We are spending most of our late morning finishing up tangling with the big fish or cruising around looking for triple tail. The water is some of the saltiest we have had in years and with that comes great fishing from right off the beach, and way down south in the Louisiana Marsh. The area around Cat Island is absolutely gorgeous, with pretty green water.

 The lady fish have been just about in every area of the Mississippi Sound. If you can get on the outskirts of them, that’s usually where your best trout fishing will be. However, some days they just take over everything.
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Joe Joe Kuhner with a big trout on his birthday trip near Bay St. Louis.

 
This heat is no joke – you have to be very careful in it. Force yourself to drink water and sports drinks the entire time you’re out. Have a snack every once in a while, and when it gets uncomfortable, start heading home.
 

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