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! 

Where do we start! It has been a busy month and a half for us and by no means fishing busy! Unfortunately I pulled my boat from Hopedale and have not fished in over a month. Four years of brutal wear and tear guiding in my boat has finally caught up, and some much needed repair and TLC have been in the works. I have about another week worth of work and the boat will be back in hopedale for the 2020 fishing season.

We have also been working on the lodge and dock repairing, painting, staining, and adding a few extras to make our work a little easier. It’s not always sunshine and play day as everyone thinks the guide life is! Many days of hard work and preparation go into making our customers as happy as possible while fishing and staying in hopedale. We have about two to three more weeks of work on the lodge and docks and we should have that project finished.

As for fishing Capt. Justin and Capt. Gene have been fishing for me here and there and the fishing has been about like the weather, good on pretty weather days and horrible on bad weather days. It really has no in between. We are experiencing way above average rain fall and plenty of winds with the passing fronts. I expect the fishing to get better as the weather starts to cooperate and get somewhat stable but as for now the fishing seems to match the weather on that particular day you fish. We have a jam pack couple of months of fishing coming this spring and summer and I’m excited to get these projects over and start fishing again! Can’t wait to see everyone this year! 

Tight lines! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
The Big Outdoors Charters, LLC
Big O Properties, LLC
985-259-1801
WWW.LAFISHIN.COM

We had a pretty good week down on the bayou this week! Red fishing has been steady all winter with limits on every trip. Trout fishing has been slower than normal but we finally found a consistent pattern this week on speckled trout. Our duck hunting has finally made a positive turn, ducks are finally migrating south and we are seeing the migration daily. We had 6 guided hunts out this weekend and everyone averaged 12 ducks a blind, some had limits both days some just shy of limits. We have three weeks left of duck season with a few opening left. If you want o come down to Hopedale and experience sportsman’s paradise now is the time! Give us a call and come see why we are one of the top guide services in south Louisiana!!

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters

This past week the fishing has been tough to our standards. September is the month of the transition phase. During this phase the speckled are on the move! They are transitioning from the gulf follow the white shrimp into the marsh. It is very hard to stay on a consistent bite due to the fact that the trout are moving miles day in and day out. They will be on the move the entire month and should start to show signs of entering the marsh the last week in September or the first week in October. Cooler weather can speed up the process and hotter weather can pro long the migration.

As far as redfish we have been on a somewhat consistent bite but it too has slowed down significantly. Usually the bulls have finished breeding about this time and are following the pogies to the edge of the marsh and gulf. We have checked a few times this week and no show for the bulls just yet. Hopefully any day they make an appearance. 

We are in the process of gearing up for the summer teal season and the fall fishing. We have a few days left in October, November and December so if you plan on fishing with us or making a duck hunt please call for dates ASAP! The books are filling up fast! 

The Mississippi River is at the lowest stage it’s been in two years and the saltwater is coming into the marsh as we speak. It’s setting up to be an incredible fall plenty of shrimp already in the marsh. I’ve checked all of our duck leases and we are covered in feed, if we do not have a hurricane we should have a great duck season too! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters, Hunting & Lodging

This past week was the week of the west winds! A big high pressure settled in over our area and produced strong west winds all week. On top of small daily tides we had a west wind which is one of the worst winds to fish in our area. West wind will dirty the water and can also cause us to  have huge tides drops. We battled the elements all week and did our best to put our clients on the fish of their choice. We had great success despite the conditions. One good day of redfishing and multiple days with 60 plus trout. Next week we have a full moon with a big tide range, I foresee some big trout being caught with lots of them making an appearance for the full moon spawn. Hopefully the full moon will bring in some better weather too! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters and Lodging

What a week in hopedale, Louisiana!! We finally got a week of calms winds and no rain and were able to put a solid week of fishing in. With big tides and some decent salinity we managed to get on a fantastic trout bite this week. Almost 600 speckled trout came back to the dock this week on just one boat! Solid 2-3 lbs fish with a couple of 4 and 5 lbs trout caught and released. I’m predicting a late summer bite this year due to the high river and fresh water intrusion we had all summer. A big push of trout finally showed up and I have a feeling they will be sticking around for some time. Hopefully my prediction is right and this action stays hot! If your looking for your next fishing adventure give us a call! We are one of the top guide services in hopedale LA with over 25 years of experience in the business! We have the best accommodations available in the area! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters and Lodging

Post hurricane Barry report! The fishing has been unbelievable since hurricane Barry, it took a few days for the water to settle but once it did mayhem took place! The redfish bite has been out of control, limiting before 7:40 AM and catching close to 100 fish a day! Speckled trout on the other hand finally appeared in big numbers! The storm surge brought in some saltier water, but it’s still not completely rid of all the fresh water coming from the Mississippi River. The new dose of somewhat saltier water brought a whole new crop of fish along with a ton of bait!! And as fisherman know if you have plenty of bait the fish follow. Limits of trout came in all week this week and plenty of redfish too! We are booked for the rest of July but do have a few dates open for charter fishing and lodging for August. This hot bite should last a few more weeks, if you want to come down to south Louisiana and experience this crazy action give us a call! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters & Lodging

Another challenging but successful week here in Hopedale, LA with The Big Outdoors Charters. We had a full schedule this week with 3 to 4 boats out everyday, everyone caught plenty of fish but had to work for them with the big south winds this past week. With the full moon in full swing big tides drained our marsh creating very low tides and high winds. This changed the pattern of our fish but once we figured the pattern out it was nonstop action the rest of the week. Some groups opted to target the redfish this week and some targeted trout. The trout fishing was the best bite we’ve seen yet this year, the spawning females showed up in big numbers during the full moon and made for some awesome trips. On the other hand the redfishing was a little slower than the norm but every group landed 30-50 redfish per trip. Hopefully this week we can get back to the easterly winds with normal tides and get some of our water back to make for better fishing. 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana fishing c harters

Epic week here in hopedale with The Big Outdoors Charters! We finally had a week with incredible weather and the fished loved it!! Very     hot temperatures in the upper 90's all week but the fishing was fast and furious so we beat the heat everyday!! Some of the river water from the Mississippi River has started to be overtaken by the saltwater, which has allowed the brown shrimp to move into our outer bays and the trout have finally started to show up in big numbers. They trout are not easy to find being that they are moving so fast everyday with very little pattern to stay on a steady bite, but with our hard working and determined guides we are finding they pretty steady. 

In the flip side the redfishing has been incredible! We are still on track to have one of our best redfish seasons ever. They are not big by any means but the perfect 16-19" fish for grilling or frying! 

The fishing in general is getting better everyday, from a somewhat slow start to our standards, I see the next few months getting back to some serious fish catching!! If you would like to come down and experience sportsman's paradise with one of the top guide services on the east side of the MS river give us a call and let us make memories of a lifetime!!! 

Capt. Britt Ordes

The fishing still remains spectacular in Hopedale! The redfishing has still been steady day in and day out. Our guides have been catching limits of redfish everyday! Our trout fishing has taken a plummet, its day to day depending on the weather. This time of year the speckled trout move to the outer edges of the marsh and in the gulf. With very high river water and record amounts of rain we are covered with fresh water throughout our outer bays and parts of the gulf. This has made speckled trout fishing tough so far this year. The fish are moving very fast each day to escape the fresh water, making it very hard to stay on a consistent trout bite. Hopefully in the coming weeks we can get a big push of saltwater to help flush some of the river water to allow our trout to move back in. All in all it has been a great start to the summer fishing and should only get better with the months to come! If you want in on some spectacular inshore fishing give us a call and see why we are one of the top guide services on the east side of the MS river! 

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Inshore Fishing Charters