Louisiana Delta: better trout at Grand Isle; shrimp-driven reds in the marsh

Fall is showing up on the Louisiana Delta before the air feels like it. Andre’ Savoie’s Great Days Outdoors report for the week of Sept. 11–17, 2026 — posted Sept. 10 — has Capt. Joey Lemoine of Cast on the Other Side saying the Grand Isle bite is getting better as the water cools. After the recent full moon he is seeing better-quality speckled trout, not just the smaller summer fish. He is rotating beaches, bays, artificial and oyster reefs, rock, and current. The artificial he is leaning on is a Four Horsemen popping cork with a Marker 54 shrimp-style bait or a Matrix Shad; live croakers are optional, not required.

The nearshore side of that same Grand Isle report is loud. Lemoine is finding plenty of good-sized mangrove snapper and an unusually strong cobia bite on the 3- to 10-mile rigs. September and October, he says, can be some of the best fishing of the year as boat traffic thins toward hunting and football.

Farther east, Capt. Shawn Mitchell of SaltyFrog is already in a fall pattern around Hopedale, Delacroix, and the Biloxi Marsh. White shrimp are leaving the interior ponds. Trout are sliding closer to the inside. Redfish are on the drains, shorelines, and lagoons where that bait is moving. His fall trout setup is a small shrimp profile — Mojo Shrimp or Marker 54 Shrimplets — under a cork. High salinity has also pushed mangrove snapper and tripletail farther into the marsh than usual. The first cold front that drops the water 4 to 5°F, he says, can accelerate the whole move if the cool-down sticks.

Photo: Capt. Joey Lemoine / Cast on the Other Side via Great Days Outdoors (Grand Isle Marina, Louisiana Delta report for Sept. 11–17, 2026).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Great Days Outdoors — Louisiana Delta Fishing Report for September 11–17, 2026 (Andre’ Savoie, posted Sept. 10, 2026).