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 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

Everyone is asking me how the fishing has been! Well I’d say 1300 trout hitting my dock this week will answer that question! Team work is dream work!! A big shout out to all of our captains that work so hard day in and day out to keep our clients on the fish!! We will take a short break to let this tropical storm pass by and we will be back on the grind next week!!

Capt. Britt Ordes
Hopedale, Louisiana Fishing Charters

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! 

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