We finally had a really good stretch of weather this past week, the winds were down with calm seas, and plenty of fish came back to the dock. All the speckled trout we have caught this week came off of live shrimp, mixed with plastics, but they are starting to Keen in on live, bait and not so much plastics anymore. the first big spawn is happening now and the big female trout have started to show up on the shallow flats. Keying in on hard bottom is your best bet to target these spawning females. 


The red fishing has been off the charts all week!  limits of fish almost every day before 9 o’clock. All of our redfish have come off of live shrimp rigged under a popping cork. They are moving fast through the marsh making their migration so stick and move has been the key to success. If the weather stays stable, it looks like we’re gonna have a really good couple of weeks ahead. The water still remains cool the bait finally fish and shrimp have starting to show up and there are plenty of fish and all sections of the marsh. If the fishing continues on this pace we will have great  summer of fishing from what we’ve seen just the last two months. We still have a few dates remaining if you’d like to book a trip with us and come experience Louisiana fishing!! We have multiple guides that are license and insured ready to take you and your guests on a fishing trip of a lifetime! Also don’t forget our 5 star lodge!! One of the nicest lodge’s in the hopedale area!! Give us a call 985-259-1801

This past week was a perfect storm weather week and weekend! We had two major fronts back to back that had high winds and very cold temperatures!! The 40 degrees air temperature drop and 25 degrees water drop put the fish in dormant mode. We canceled all of our trips for the week and started back as soon as the weather cleared. Due to the weather we had no live bait so artificial lures were the flavor the fish had to eat!

It took us a few stops to figure where the fish relocated to but once we figured out the pattern and what to look for we got on steady bites. You had to fish slow and be very patient. Ten to fifteen minutes each spot until you got a bite, if you got one to eat you would catch plenty more with it. The trick was a very subtle pop of the cork, almost a tick and the corks would slowly sink or move to one side or the other. Once you got the bite just reel and lift the rod and fish on!! If you set the hook you would miss the bite every time. After two days of the finicky fishing it was like the flood gates open and the fishing went crazy! We had a 3 boat trip with almost 200 trout and 45 reds hit the dock!! 

The fishing is at a big peak with the big warm up and is only going to get better! If you want to come join the fun give us a call!! The Captains at the Big Outdoors Charters are top notch professional guides that will put you on a trip of a lifetime! Come down to the bayou and let us take you fish catching not fishing!!! 

We had another banner week in Hopedale, Louisiana!! Our charter captains had a pretty easy week this past week due to very cooperative fish!! We got very early starts everyday this week and limits were filled everyday before 7:30!! The fastest limit was 6:37 with 100 trout!! The fishing has been incredible the last few weeks and it looks to keep going strong!

Again just like last week the trick is get out early and catch that early bite. Most of our fish are coming in the first hour of daylight, once the sun gets up high the fish are almost dormant. A lot  of our fish actually came off artificial baits this week but we did mix in some live shrimp to keep the frenzy going! Our bays are full of bait right now so if you find the concentration of bait you will find plenty of hungry fish! 

If you would like to come and join us on this crazy action give us a call! We still have some dates available for inshore fishing or snapper fishing. Come join us for a day on the water and let us show you what Louisiana fishing is all about! 

The fishing has been as hot as the weather this week! Plenty of trout, redfish, and snapper limits have hit the dock this week. The key has been get out early as possible to catch plenty of fish and beat the heat! The fish have been feeding very early and shut down by 10 AM. Live shrimp has been the key for almost all species of fish this week, with rising water temperatures the fish are now keying in on live baits. 

We are just 20 days into our 79 day snapper season and it’s been very easy pickings on snapper and other species of fish. We have some dates available for offshore fishing or inshore, give us a call for a fishing trip in sportsman’s paradise! 

What a week in Hopedale Louisiana!! We had a phenomenal week of fishing, calm seas, great weather and the fish lived it!! We finally got our new 27’ encore catamaran boat this past week and we broke it in just right!! Opening day of snapper season was off the charts with a four man limit at the first spot and 28 giant mangrove snapper to top off the day! 

Inshore fishing was fabulous, limits of Trout and redfish were a daily occurrence. We are still fighting the river water but there are a few small pockets of clean saltwater that are holding some fish. It took us a couple of trips to locate the clean water but now we have a good idea where it should be each day. The key this week was finding clean water and using live shrimp to help locate the the schools of fish. Hopefully the river continues to drop and the weather continues to calm down and we should have another great week of fishing. 

Capt. Britt Ordes
 Hopedale Louisiana Fishing Charters

We had a very interesting week in Hopedale Louisiana! What was suppose to be a light rain and wind 20-25 mph turned into a massive rain storm with winds 30-40 mph for 3 days!! One of the days we managed to get out and get a few hours of fishing which turned out to be incredible two clients caught 42 redfish in one day, all released! Another day was a complete washout! On the third day we waited until 9 in the morning to let the rain pass and we had an opportunity to go out and fished in 30-40 mph winds and a almost 5 foot tidel surge! We came back to the dock with water on top the dock and hwy, but we did manage to have a decent day of fishing! This weather has been relentless the last few weeks and not the norm for us this time of year, but next week looks to have very calm seas and beautiful weather on the horizon! We still have a few dates available coming up, with no pressure on the trout in almost a week and half I foresee a phenomenal few weeks ahead of us. 

We have had a challenging week on the bayou this week!! The weather here in Hopedale, Louisiana has been as crazy as the fishing was last week! Unfortunately the weather has not been in our favor. Multiple cold fronts have pushed down this week with lots of rain and winds. We had to cancel a good number of trips and was also able to squeeze some trips in between the storms! If the wind let us get out and do our job we caught plenty of fish on the outside, if the winds were up we stayed in the marsh and picked at easy limits of redfish.

The fishing has stayed good on the up side even with the weather, on the down side with all the rain and change of winds the MS river has rose and we are seeing the start of river water flooding parts of our estuary. It amazing how fast things change in south LA, one week we are excited about lower river water and plenty of good health salty water and just a week later we are dealing with flooding rain and high river water. The future forecast is predicting a quick river drop so I expect in the next week or so when the weather settles down the river will recede and we should be back to our post storm fishing pattern. 

We still have a few days available for the up coming months if you would like to fish with Hopedale most experienced guide service and stay at our first class lodge give us a call!! We guarantee plenty of fishing catching and a great time while doing it!! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, LA Fishing Charters

We have had an exceptional April in Hopedale, Louisiana as fishing goes!! A lot of fish have been caught this week even with the strong southern winds we’ve had all week. Most fish have been caught on live shrimp and multiple plastic baits in the shrimp colors. The big key to success has been zero effect from river water in our marsh estuary. Normally this time of the year we are battling the river water from the mighty Mississippi, but since we had very little snow fall up north this winter and minimal rainfall the river stage has been very low all winter. If the river stage stays low I predict an off the chart year of fishing for south Louisiana. We have been on a 5 year spans with high river water from March until mid July but if it keeps this course you will see unbelievable fish catch numbers this summer!

Capt. Britt Ordes

We have finally started back fishing for the first time this past week since the pandemic in Hopedale, Louisiana. The fishing has been phenomenal all week. Limits of trout are coming pretty easy, even with the high winds we have had all week. Redfish on the other hand have been somewhat tough. Some days you can catch redfish pretty easy some days it’s an all day grind. One plus is we are not experiencing the river water invasion as bad as it’s been the last few years. I feel we will have a very successful trout year if the river water continues to drop at the rate it’s going. I think the redfish in the Hopedale, Louisiana area will have a late migration and will start to make a big push into the marsh any day now. All the stars are lining up for us to have a great year fishing and my gut is telling me June, July, and August will be incredible fishing. 

If you are looking to get away from the craziness and enjoy a day social distancing on the water now the perfect opportunity!! The fish are biting and the weather is beautiful!!! Give us a call and let us show you want sportsman's paradise is all about!  

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters

Although the coronavirus has affected everyone at this time, we still have had a few customers come down and fish to somewhat relax and enjoy a day in paradise! As I had mentioned before the fishing has been a reflection of the weather, when the weather is good the fishing is dynamite, when the weather turns bad it’s been pretty tough! We have been blessed with over a week of picture perfect weather and the fishing has been more than spectacular! I had the opportunity to take some friends sight fishing the last few days and it was nothing short of epic! Each day we sight fished hundreds of redfish in crystal clear water in the back marshes of south Louisiana! It was incredible to see the marsh take a complete 360 degree turn for the better in a weeks time! The bait and fish have finally made their migration into the marsh and from what I seen the last few days this summer is going to be a special year for our fishery! In the mean time we will still continue our practice of social distancing on the water in Hopedale, LA, our governor has granted charter captains as essential businesses and we remain open for business!