Doctrine · not a honey-hole list

Seasonal fundamentals

When a coast, a type of water, and a fish actually line up. If you elected Texas on the list, this page opens on Texas — Seychelles stays off the board until you ask for it. Filter by region, method or habitat, and species. The year bar is peak versus present. Limits cite TPWD and FWC — verify before you keep one.

Louisiana

Louisiana — river, marsh, and the birdfoot

Wind and the Mississippi move more water than the printed tide.

Venice is the birdfoot — South and Southwest Pass, ponds on the west bank, bulls in the throats, school reds and trout inside, tarpon in the heat on the south passes. Grand Isle is a different desk: one inhabited barrier island, Caminada, Barataria, a state-park surf. Calcasieu is the Texas-border cousin under LDWF rules — same fish, different bag, not Sabine Lake. Reds are 4 a day, 18–27, none over 27. Trout are a slot. Flounder typically close Oct 15–Nov 30. Do not put a Texas tag on a Cameron fish.

September. The marsh exhales. Reds and trout come back up. Flounder start to think about the passes.

Type

Spin

Spin is not a consolation prize. It is what you do when the wind, the depth, or the fish does not allow the fly. Gold spoon in grass. Soft plastic when they will not come up. Live crab for a Keys permit that has refused every merkin. A 30-pound black drum in a Galveston channel is a day that does not owe you a strip-set. Carry both. Decide on the water.

Venice Grand Isle Calcasieu

September · peak

What is actually on

Redfish

Mangrove / gray snapper

Cobia

Tripletail

King mackerel

Spanish mackerel

Peak Present Off

Closures

No coast-wide harvest closure on the board. Still verify before you keep a fish.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

Peak SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

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52–88°F · best 62–82°F

Texas and Louisiana main event. Tails in flooded grass, wakes on shell, winter schools on mud, bulls in the passes. Keys: backcountry only, not oceanside. Boca Harbor yes. Jupiter is a snook desk.

Fly. 8-weight. Crab or shrimp on bead-chain for tailers. Gold spoon when the wind wrecks the fly. 20 lb near oyster.

Spin. Weedless gold spoon, paddle, or soft plastic. Heavy spoon or big paddle for the fall jetty bulls.

Leads the brief on Venice, Grand Isle, Calcasieu.

Louisiana. Louisiana: 4/day, 18–27 in slot. None over 27. No harvest in federal waters. Charter captain/crew bag is zero. Verify LDWF.

Official source

Speckled trout

Cynoscion nebulosus

Present SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

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48–86°F · best 62–78°F

Same bays as the red, a foot deeper. Birds are GPS. Heat drives them off the flat at midday. Cold drives them to guts and mud. Louisiana lives on this fish.

Fly. 7–8 wt. Baitfish and shrimp. Gurgler when they are up. Soft mouth — strip-set, do not trout-set a trout.

Spin. Topwater at dawn. Soft plastic on a light jig the rest of the day. Slow down after a front.

Leads the brief on Venice, Grand Isle, Calcasieu.

Louisiana. Louisiana: 15/day, 13–20 in slot, no more than two over 20. Charter captain/crew bag is zero. Verify LDWF.

Official source

Southern flounder

Paralichthys lethostigma

Present SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

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50–84°F · best 58–74°F

Fall migration to the Gulf when water drops a few degrees. Males leave first. Spring return. Texas closed Nov 1–Dec 14. Louisiana typically closed Oct 15–Nov 30 — verify LDWF.

Fly. Clouser or shrimp on the bottom. Slow. The eat is a weight, not a tap.

Spin. Gulp or soft plastic hopped on sand drains and jetty guts. Fall nights at the passes are the run.

Leads the brief on Calcasieu.

Louisiana. Louisiana: typically 10/day. Recreational harvest usually closed Oct 15–Nov 30 — verify LDWF the week you keep one.

Official source

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

Present SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

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72–90°F · best 76–86°F

Keys migratory peak Apr–May. Boca Grande Pass is the spring stack. Jupiter inlet and beach. Texas beach/passes mid-summer. Venice south passes in the heat. Bahamas: resident fish in bights Apr–Oct.

Fly. 10–12 wt. Cockroach, toad, or baitfish. Bow to the king on the jump. 40–60 lb shock.

Spin. Live crab or large swimbaits at passes. Texas beachfront July–early fall is a bay-boat game, not the skinny skiff.

Leads the brief on Venice.

Louisiana. Louisiana: treat as catch-and-release.

Official source

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

Peak SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

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68–88°F · best 74–84°F

The snapper that will live in a Texas jetty and a Keys creek. Schoolies on structure. Bigger fish on the wrecks. Not a yellowtail.

Fly. 7–8 wt. Small baitfish along the shade line. 16–20 lb near the roots.

Spin. Live shrimp or a small jig under the mangroves and on the rocks. Night on the lights is legal.

Louisiana. Louisiana: verify LDWF snapper rules. Not a Texas bag.

Official source

Cobia

Rachycentron canadum

Peak SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

—

68–86°F · best 72–82°F

Gulf spring run. Texas and Florida beaches, then the wrecks. Not a trout. Not a permit.

Fly. 10–12 wt. A big baitfish on a crab-trap float or a ray. He will eat. Then he will go to the wreck.

Spin. Jigs and live bait around rays, traps, and the first wrecks. Spring migration along the beach.

Louisiana. Louisiana: verify LDWF cobia. Not a Texas number.

Official source

Florida pompano

Trachinotus carolinus

Present SeptemberLouisiana

Thermal window

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62–82°F · best 66–76°F

Surf and clean sand. Texas and Florida beaches in the cool months. Not a permit. Not a jack.

Fly. 8 wt. A small crab or Clouser in the wash. He wants sand, not grass.

Spin. Jig in the surf and on the first bar. The honest pompano tool is a pompano jig.

Louisiana. Louisiana: verify LDWF.

Official source

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