Where the Biggest Fish Are Hiding In Louisiana?
The one thing that you can say about fishing in Louisiana is that there are plenty of watering holes for the fish to hide. Whether spending the day with the charter boat fishing Louisiana team or fishing alone in the numerous bayous and estuaries, there are literally hundreds of rivers, lakes, streams, plus the Mighty Mississippi to search for the biggest fish.
There is a reason Louisiana is considered the best fishing location in all the United States, and today we are going to reveal where to go if you want your chance of catching your own record trophy fish.
Catfish in the Great Mississippi River
If you are looking for the biggest catfish, the ones you can barely pick up, then you want to be fishing near the mouth of the Mississippi River. There are catfish in every river, bayou, and estuary in Louisiana, but the monster catfish are hiding in the Mississippi. The record trophy catfish are lurking in the deeper water near the mouth of the Mississippi River, so big that you will need help hauling them into your boat.
One of the advantages to heading out with the charter boat fishing Louisiana captain is that they can bring you to the big catfish, and you can also find channel, blue catfish, and flathead, all in the same location. Perhaps today is the day you break the Louisiana record of 110 pounds for a blue catfish, caught 13 years ago in these deeper waters.
Tarpon Fishing in Venice
The reason anglers love tarpon fishing is because they can be enormous in size and put up a huge fight when they take the bait. Even the small tarpon are not going to go easily, they simply make every catch something the fishermen have to work for. Tarpon in the 200-pound range can be found everywhere in the Delta, but the hotbed for the big ones is around the shoreline near Venice. The huge tarpon love this area because they feel safe, and some can grow to gigantic sizes before getting hooked. If this sounds exciting to you, be sure you are using the right artificial baits designed for this specific occasion.
This unique bait is something the tarpon love, and you are less likely to have a different species of fish trying to steal the bait while you’re waiting for the monster to show himself.
Finding Redfish in the Louisiana Delta
The charter boat fishing Louisiana crew will tell you that even though bass dominate the basin, redfish are the preferred target of anglers in the Louisiana Delta. Not only are the redfish in this area in abundance, they are resilient and can grow very large in size too. Many fishermen prefer the southern coast for easy pickings, but the big redfish are hiding where the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
The charter boat captains will tell you how the redfish congregate in record numbers near the marshes of this region. If you want to land your own record redfish, be sure to use spinner-baits or surface baits.
Spotted Seatrout Hiding in Calcasieu Lake
Those who want to get in the record books for the largest spotted seatrout in Louisiana need to fish in the Calcasieu Lake located close to the Texas border. This is where many records have been set and broken, and where the giant trout seen to love to hide. This lake is not your average estuary, this is a twelve-mile stretch that is also nine miles wide, with depths averaging nearly six feet.
If you want to creep up on your own record seatrout, best to get fishing in late spring, when migration is at its peak for this species. The more south you go in the lake, the bigger the fish seem to be, and they love jigs with soft plastics. Just remember, the more south you go, the harder it will be to find these elusive monsters.
Numerous Hot Spots for Catching Big Bass
Louisiana is a haven for bass, with a few places in the region hiding monsters of record size. This entire article could have been devoted entirely to the hot spots for catching the big bass.
1. Caney Lake
Caney Lake may be small in size, but back in the early 1990’s you could catch a monster bass with very little effort in this body of water. Although many of the big fish have been caught, if you’re patient, you could easily reel in a fifteen pound bass and be quite satisfied. Even today, this lake is brimming with decent size bass for all level experience fishermen.
2. Red River
All you need to know about Red River is that it was recently chosen to be the host for the Bassmaster Classic. Enough said, this river has been the spot for championship caliber tournaments for years, and the bass are still hiding here in record numbers. The Red River actually is a combination of five different pools, and bass can be found in every inch of all five pools. If you are here fishing around the time the bass are spawning, you may hook a double-digit monster all your own.
3. Toledo Bend
Finally, if you are looking for the king when it comes to bass fishing locations in all of Louisiana, then you need to make your way to Toledo Bend. This gigantic reservoir is actually in excess of 180,000 acres of the largest quality of bass anywhere. The south waters have the monster bass, but hard to find. The north waters have bass that are average in size but in abundance.
Venice Fishing
If you are looking at doing some offshore fishing for the big fish – Venice LA is the ultimate fishing spot. With mulitple fishing charters going out daily to catch tuna, mahi mahi and other large species of fish, its hard to NOT catch fish out of Venice.As you can see, you don’t need to spend all your time with charter boat fishing Louisiana captains to reel in a monster fish in this region. There are countless giant fish swimming all around Louisiana today waiting to jump on your hook if you know where to look.