Crooked Bayou Fishing Guides
A marsh bayou in the Delacroix country of St. Bernard Parish, winding through the Breton Sound interior and holding redfish and speckled trout within sight of New Orleans.
Guides on the Crooked Bayou
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About the Crooked Bayou
Crooked Bayou threads the broken marsh northwest of Lake Cuatro Caballo, deep in the Delacroix country of St. Bernard Parish. This is the interior of the Breton Sound estuary, a landscape of small lakes, connecting bayous and grass islands that changes shape from one decade to the next as the marsh erodes and is rebuilt. It lies less than an hour from downtown New Orleans, which is why Delacroix has supported guides and weekend anglers for generations, and why a bayou with no particular fame still sees skiffs on it most weeks of the year.
What makes this water worth a page is that it fishes across the whole salinity range. On a normal year it is brackish and produces redfish along every grass edge and point, with speckled trout in the deeper cuts and over any shell. After a wet spring, or when river diversions push fresh water through the basin, the same bayou will hold largemouth bass in the upper reaches while redfish drop toward the lakes. Guided trips work it with light spinning tackle and fly rods, poling the shallow edges for sighted redfish when the water is clean and switching to the deeper bends and junctions when wind or runoff takes the clarity away.
The gauge near Delacroix reports water temperature, stage, specific conductance and salinity, and in this part of the estuary the salinity reading is the single most useful number available to an angler. It tells you directly whether you are fishing a redfish-and-trout bayou or a bass-and-redfish bayou on any given week, and it moves considerably more than a newcomer expects. Stage matters too, because these marsh bayous are wind-driven rather than strictly tidal: a hard north wind in winter will pull water out of the marsh and strand the shallow routes, while a sustained south wind pushes it in and floods the grass. Read both before committing to a route.
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Access
Delacroix - the end-of-the-road community and the traditional launch for this marsh.
Reggio - a St. Bernard Parish settlement upstream along the highway with additional access.
St. Bernard - the parish seat area, with lodging, fuel and services on the way down.
Lake Cuatro Caballo - the interior lake immediately southeast, fished on the same trip.
Lake Lery - a larger lake north of the bayou, reached through the same marsh.
New Orleans - under an hour northwest, and where most visiting anglers stay.
Breton Sound - the open estuary to the southeast that this marsh drains into.
Seasons
Spring: warming water and spreading redfish, with bass often present in the fresher upper reaches after a wet winter.
Summer: speckled trout move into the deeper cuts and open lakes while redfish work the grass early and late.
Fall: the strongest season, with clean water, schooling redfish on the shorelines and comfortable weather between fronts.
Winter: fish hold in the deepest bends and interior ponds, and strong north winds can empty the shallow marsh for days at a time.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Crooked Bayou?
Anglers target Black Drum, Blue Crab, Largemouth Bass, Red Drum, Sheepshead, Southern Flounder, Spotted Seatrout, Striped Mullet on the Crooked Bayou in Louisiana.
Where can you access the Crooked Bayou?
Delacroix - the end-of-the-road community and the traditional launch for this marsh. Reggio - a St. Bernard Parish settlement upstream along the highway with additional access. St. Bernard - the parish seat area, with lodging, fuel and services on the way down. Lake Cuatro Caballo - the interior lake immediately southeast, fished on the same trip. Lake Lery - a larger lake north of the bayou, reached through the same marsh. New Orleans - under an hour northwest, and where most visiting anglers stay. Breton Sound - the open estuary to the southeast that this marsh drains into.
When is the best time to fish the Crooked Bayou?
Spring: warming water and spreading redfish, with bass often present in the fresher upper reaches after a wet winter. Summer: speckled trout move into the deeper cuts and open lakes while redfish work the grass early and late. Fall: the strongest season, with clean water, schooling redfish on the shorelines and comfortable weather between fronts. Winter: fish hold in the deepest bends and interior ponds, and strong north winds can empty the shallow marsh for days at a time.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Crooked Bayou?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Louisiana agency site: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/fishing-regulations