The Saturday Letter · Vol. 1 · No. 29
July 13 – July 19, 2026 · July fundamentals · Louisiana · 3 of 3 desks · frozen Saturday issue
Permalink: /newsletter/2026-07-18
This week on your coast
Birdfoot tarpon if you already know the water. Night and first-light reds. Trout in the lakes.
This edition is Louisiana only — Venice, Grand Isle, Calcasieu. The Saturday letter still writes from Venice. Coasts you did not elect stay off this letter. Scores are 1–10. They are not bite guarantees. Read this month’s seasonal fundamentals.
3 waters · Louisiana
Louisiana desk
River is the tide
Today
medium
Redfish should be the day — flood the west-bank ponds, then the south passes if the bulls are in.
Birdfoot tarpon if you already know the water. Night and first-light reds. Trout in the lakes.
4 mph NNE · 9% rain · incoming · -0.2 ft vs the table
Window. First light · incoming — First light on incoming water.
From NNE · gust 7
Waxing gibbous
spring range · 97%
Today or tomorrow
8.5 today · 4.6 tomorrow
Venice is 8.5 this morning, 4.6 tomorrow. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
Thunderstorms tomorrow. Today is the cleaner clock.
Open Thursday, August 27— Tide is incoming from NOAA 8760721 Pilottown.
— Observed water is close to the astronomical prediction — the table is telling the truth today.
Open the Venice briefLouisiana water
Louisiana’s inhabited barrier island
Today
medium
Speckled trout should be the day — push Barataria and the bayside grass — trout first, reds on the drain later.
Birdfoot tarpon if you already know the water. Night and first-light reds. Trout in the lakes.
7 mph NNW · incoming
Window. Incoming water — Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
From NNW · gust 7
Waxing crescent
mid range · 15%
— Tide is incoming from NOAA 8761724 Grand Isle.
— Overcast. Sky is workable.
Open the Grand Isle briefLouisiana water
Southwest Louisiana
Today
medium
Redfish are the hunt — wait; this pass wants moving water.
Birdfoot tarpon if you already know the water. Night and first-light reds. Trout in the lakes.
5 mph SW · high slack
Window. Outgoing water — Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
From SW · gust 11
Waxing crescent
mid range · 15%
— Tide is high slack from NOAA 8768094 Calcasieu Pass.
— Clear. Sky is workable.
Open the Calcasieu briefBox score · July
Tarpon
Louisiana
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.
Mangrove / gray snapper
Louisiana
The snapper that will live in a Texas jetty and a Keys creek. Schoolies on structure. Bigger fish on the wrecks. Not a yellowtail.
Red snapper
Louisiana
Gulf wrecks and snapper banks. Texas and Louisiana live on this fish in a short federal window. Not a Galveston grass headline. Not a Keys yellowtail.
Tripletail
Louisiana
Summer Gulf. Traps, weed, and channel markers. Texas and Louisiana live on this fish. Not a wreck grouper.
King mackerel
Louisiana
Texas and Florida summer kings. The beach and the first wrecks. Not a trout. Not a wahoo.
Noise, not the headline: Jack crevalle.
Rules
No coast-wide harvest closure is on the board this week. Still verify before you keep a fish.
July by region, type, and speciesRegs citedLDWF recreational saltwater · current LDWF coastal finfish · rolls in 7 days. Louisiana flounder is typically closed Oct 15–Nov 30. Verify LDWF the week you keep one.