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