Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your fresh fishing report for Wednesday, May 7th, covering the waters in and around New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.
We greeted the day with a soft sunrise around 6:11 AM, and you can expect sunset to roll in just after 7:40 PM. Today’s weather stays classic spring—mild in the morning with some cloud cover, a light breeze turning up by midday, and highs topping out in the upper 70s. A little chop on the water, but nothing to keep you off the bite.
The tide’s been on the move all morning, with a strong incoming push that’s really turned on inshore activity, especially through late morning into mid-afternoon. These conditions are perfect for finding hungry fish along marsh edges, cuts, and drains. Speckled trout have been thick in the passes and deeper bayous, running larger than usual this week. Redfish are a bit spotty, but when you find them, they’re quality fish.
Reports from the last few days show anglers landing solid stringers of speckled trout and slot reds, with some nice black drum mixed in for good measure. Offshore, the bluewater crowd is celebrating steady action on mahi-mahi and a few football-sized yellowfin tuna just beyond the rigs.
If you’re looking to join the fun, tie on a chartreuse or opening night soft plastic under a popping cork for trout—these have been absolute killers lately, especially during a moving tide. For redfish, gold spoons and live shrimp under a cork have outperformed everything else near the grass and broken marsh. Offshore, trolling ballyhoo and bright skirted jigs are putting fish in the box.
Hot spots today include Shell Beach for easy trout limits, and the south side of Lake Borgne if you want to tangle with reds. Down in Lafitte, work the cuts near Bayou Perot for mixed bags—if you’ve got a little patience, this spot has been red-hot as the tide dumps out.
In summary, spring fishing is firing on all cylinders. Whether you’re after specks, reds, drum, or heading offshore for a shot at mahi and tuna, today’s conditions are about as good as it gets. Grab your license, pack plenty of water, and make sure you’ve got those popping corks and soft plastics ready.
That’s it for today’s report. Tight lines and good luck out there from Artificial Lure—see you on the water!