Louisiana is the best first saltwater trip for a trout angler: redfish live in the marsh year-round, murky water forgives an imperfect cast, and one fish can give you several shots. Bull redfish migrate mid-August to mid-October, winter brings shallow sight fishing, and since June 2024 every redfish over 27 inches goes back. Fly into New Orleans.

I made the trout-to-saltwater jump myself, and Louisiana is where I tell everyone to start. Not Belize, not the Keys: Louisiana. The reasoning is unglamorous and completely practical. In clear Caribbean water a bonefish gives you one shot and leaves. In the Louisiana marsh a redfish will often give you several chances, and it will forgive a cast that lands harder than it should have.

This page is the Louisiana map: where the fly water is, when the redfish are shallow and when the bull redfish push, the rules that changed in 2024, the captain we certify outside New Orleans, and what our guests have said about this marsh on the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast. For the deep version of one marsh, read our Biloxi Marsh redfish guide.

The sharpest Louisiana insight in our archive came from Javier Fabrega, the Northeast Florida angler and photographer behind Marsh Sessions, on the episode we published to YouTube on July 9, 2024. He fishes his home Florida marsh with a 6-weight and expects one shot per fish. In Louisiana he picks up a 9, 10 or 11-weight, and a single redfish can give him eight to a dozen chances. His more surprising point was about the fish guides run past: the hardest eat in the Louisiana marsh is not the redfish but the big black drum, which is lazy enough that the fly has to land on its nose and the fish has to already be facing it. If you have done Louisiana once and want a harder version, he said, that is it. I have fished this marsh with Capt. Miles at Skiff Supply myself, and there is a seafood boil for the group one night, which is relevant information whatever your rod weight.

Where to Fly Fish in Louisiana

• Biloxi Marsh, St. Bernard Parish: a maze of shallow ponds, cuts and grass east of New Orleans. The water is not clear, and that is the point: a redfish cannot inspect your fly the way a bonefish can on white sand, and it cannot see you nearly as well. Full breakdown in our Biloxi Marsh guide.
• Lake Borgne and Breton Sound: the open water that feeds the Biloxi Marsh, reached from launches at Hopedale and Shell Beach, with Slidell giving access to Lake Borgne.
• Nearshore waters and the Gulf passes: where Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries records adult red drum moving from mid-August to mid-October on their spawning migration. Bull redfish water, and since 2024 strictly release water.
• Marsh ponds in winter: on warm winter days redfish, being hardier than speckled trout, slide onto shallow flats to feed. That is the classic sight-fishing window for tailing fish.
• From a paddleboard or kayak: Phillip Logan built a whole approach around stalking Louisiana redfish from a stand up paddleboard or kayak, and the stealth lessons carry straight over to a poled skiff.

When to Go Fly Fishing in Louisiana

Two windows. The agency-documented one is the fall spawning migration, when LDWF records adult red drum moving to the Gulf passes and nearshore waters from mid-August to mid-October. The other is winter, November through January, when redfish push shallow on warming days. Redfish are in the marsh year-round, so there is no closed season; the table below is about how good the shallow sight fishing is, and only the bull redfish row is an agency fact.

Intensity:LightModerateHeavy

Summer heat and afternoon storms shorten the day rather than end the fishing; plan early starts from May through August.

Book a Local Pro in Louisiana

Shallow South Fly Fishing, with its Skiff Supply lodge and shop in St. Bernard Parish, is the FFIP Certified operator in Louisiana. You book direct with Capt. Miles LaRose, and FFIP takes no commission.

See all Louisiana pros in the FFIP Certified directory, or browse every certified guide, lodge and outfitter by region.

Custom Flies and Rods from Louisiana

Louisiana Tips from Podcast Guests

• Land your fly on the fish's outside eye and match its energy
  Presentation beats pattern on redfish. Put the fly where the fish can see it and move it the way the fish is moving.
  Lucas Largel, redfish flats guide
• Drill your strip-set with a surprise tug before you fish saltwater
  Have a partner yank your line without warning while you practice strip-sets with the rod tip at the water. The trout set is the habit Louisiana punishes first.
  Lucas Largel, redfish flats guide
• Strip-set instead of trout-setting to keep fish hooked
  Keep the rod tip down, strip long until the line comes tight, then hold steady pressure.
  Bruce Chard, flats guide and fly line designer
• Scout deep-water channels with mixed habitat
  Pick shallow water close to a deep channel with a mix of grass, oyster and structure. Anything that breaks up the shoreline is a good starting spot.
  Jake Oliver, Gulf Coast DIY saltwater angler
• Build your own stepped fluorocarbon leader
  A simple 9 to 10 foot leader in halves or thirds of fluorocarbon gives better turnover and strength than an old tapered leader.
  Josh Hutchins, flats guide and filmmaker

Want more? Browse every tip in the Fly Fishing Tips Library, sorted by region, water type, species and skill.

Hear Louisiana on the Podcast

Shop the Water: Flies and Gear for Louisiana

Dark, weedless flies for murky marsh water, a line that turns them over, and a heavy rod for the wind. Everything below is in stock in the FFIP shop. Leading off: gear from Moonlit Fly Fishing and NIRVANA, our featured supplier.

Louisiana Fly Fishing Questions, Answered

Fly Fishing Insider Podcast has a referral partnership with Frontiers International Travel. If you book after being introduced through us, we may receive compensation at no additional cost to you.

Tight lines, everyone!

By Christian Bacasa, host of the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast. Last reviewed October 2026.

Prices, availability, flight routing and entry requirements change. Every figure on this page is the starting rate published by the lodge or by Frontiers International Travel at the time of writing, per angler, and is a starting point for a quote, not a quote. Seasons, lodge capacity, charter schedules, visa and passport rules and licence requirements can all change without notice. Confirm current pricing, availability and entry requirements with your Frontiers specialist before you book anything.

Sources: Red drum slot, bag limit, the June 2024 change and the for-hire rule: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the 2026 Louisiana Recreational Fishing Regulations. Licences and the charter passenger licence: LDWF recreational licences. Spawning migration timing: LDWF red drum. Winter marsh window: Louisiana Sportsman. Guide rates: Shallow South Fly Fishing / Skiff Supply. Rod weights, shot counts and black drum: Javier Fabrega; paddleboard and kayak approach: Phillip Logan; both on the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast.