Weekend Warrior: Gulf Coast Fishing Heats Up for Trout, Reds, and Offshore Snapper

Morning y’all, this is Artificial Lure with your Friday, June 13, 2025 Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana coastal fishing report.

We’re kicking off the weekend with plenty of daylight—sunrise hit at 5:48AM and sunset will stretch all the way to 7:53PM according to Tide-Forecast.com. Over in Grand Isle, we’re looking at 13 hours and 53 minutes of sun, with the solar peak at 12:57PM, so there’s time to chase the bite from sun-up to sun-down. The weather this morning is mild, with light southern breezes and air temps already creeping into the low 80s and humidity rising, so hydrate and load up on sunscreen.

The tides today are moving on a steady schedule: we had a low tide early, around 12:42AM, and our high tide rolls in at 1:19PM, coming up about 1.44 feet. The tidal coefficient is middling at 60 and trending down by evening, which means currents are moderate and fish should be actively feeding along current seams around midday. The best bite windows will be mid to late morning and through the afternoon slack before the tide turns[8][6].

Reports from Louisiana Sportsman and Captain Experiences say inshore action is hot right now, especially for speckled trout and redfish. Limits of trout are coming in from Shell Beach and Hopedale—June is prime time for these areas, with kayak anglers and boaters picking up solid stringers on moving tides. Over in Lake Charles, Cat 5 Fishing Charters are landing everything from slot reds to big drum and an absolute run of sheepshead. Sheepshead, in fact, are on fire—especially around pilings and bridges[2][3].

Offshore, the red snapper bite is just heating up. Anglers are pulling in limits, and there’s a good mix of Vermilion snapper, mangrove snapper, plus the odd Spanish mackerel and blackfin tuna in deeper water. If you’re venturing out, now’s the time to bottom fish those reefs and rigs—stick with cut pogies or squid for the best shot.

Now, let’s talk lures and bait. For inshore trout and reds, Matrix Shads in lemonhead and shrimp creole colors are the local standby, suspended under a popping cork. Live shrimp and croaker are money, but if you’re tossing artificials, stick with swimbaits in pearl or chartreuse. Topwaters are working at sunrise—think Heddon Super Spook Jrs. Offshore, heavy jigs tipped with squid or big soft plastics like Gulp! bring the snapper up fast.

Hot spots today:
- Shell Beach and Hopedale marsh edges on the outgoing tide for trout and reds.
- Grand Isle bridges and pilings for sheepshead and drum.
- Close-in rigs south of Port Fourchon for the first rush of red snapper.

According to local anglers on LouisianaSportsman.com, kayak fishermen are even pulling cobia and black drum inshore—testament to the variety on offer right now.

Thanks for tuning in to the morning report—be sure to subscribe so you never miss the tides or the bite. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.