Northeast Bay Gardene Fishing Guides
A Breton Sound marsh bay east of Point a la Hache, redfish water first and foremost, with a gauge reporting stage and water temperature.
Guides on the Northeast Bay Gardene
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About the Northeast Bay Gardene
Bay Gardene sits in the Breton Sound marsh east of Point a la Hache, on the east bank of the lower Mississippi where the river’s old delta lobes have been slowly giving way to open water for a century. The northeast corner of the bay, where the gauge sits, is the shallow end, fringed with marsh shoreline, cuts and dead-end ponds. It is redfish country before it is anything else.
The gauge reports stage and water temperature. As on every bay in this marsh, stage is a record of tide and wind rather than of flow, and wind is the stronger of the two influences on water this shallow. A hard north wind in autumn or winter will pull water out of the ponds and leave fish concentrated in the cuts and the deeper edges, which is the condition most sight-fishing guides hope for. A sustained southeast wind does the opposite and pushes fish far back into grass that a boat cannot follow. Water temperature is the other reading that earns attention, because the shallow ponds swing further and faster than the sound outside and the fish move between the two on those swings.
Redfish hold here year round and are the reason most anglers come. Speckled trout move in over the shell and the deeper middle of the bay as the water warms, black drum and sheepshead work the harder bottom, and flounder show along the cuts in autumn. This is a boat fishery with essentially no bank access, launched out of Point a la Hache or one of the marinas further up the east bank. Breton Sound has lost a great deal of marsh in the last few decades, and the fishing here is genuinely different water from what the charts of a generation ago show. Cuts that were narrow passes are now open bay, and locals navigate by memory and GPS track as much as by what is printed.
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Access
Point a la Hache - the parish seat on the east bank, the nearest launch and the usual starting point for the bay.
Breton Sound - the larger open sound outside the bay, with reefs and islands holding trout through the summer.
Belle Chasse - the town up the west bank, with full services, tackle and the nearest concentration of guides.
Pointe a la Hache ferry - the Mississippi River crossing, the practical link from the west bank to the east-bank launches.
Marsh cuts and ponds - the dead-end water behind the bay shoreline, the best redfish habitat and the target on low winter tides.
Black Bay - the adjoining bay to the north, the usual alternative when wind makes this one unworkable.
Oyster reefs - scattered shell through the middle of the bay, the structure that holds trout in the warmer months.
Seasons
Spring: redfish spread through the ponds and cuts as the water warms and the first trout move onto the shell.
Summer: trout fishing is at its best over the reefs, worked early before the wind builds, with redfish along the shoreline all day.
Fall: the strongest stretch of the year, bait leaving the marsh on falling tides and flounder moving through the cuts.
Winter: low tides and clear water make this prime sight-fishing for schooled redfish, weather permitting.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Northeast Bay Gardene?
Anglers target Black Drum, Blue Crab, Gafftopsail Catfish, Red Drum, Sheepshead, Southern Flounder, Spotted Seatrout, Striped Mullet on the Northeast Bay Gardene in Louisiana.
Where can you access the Northeast Bay Gardene?
Point a la Hache - the parish seat on the east bank, the nearest launch and the usual starting point for the bay. Breton Sound - the larger open sound outside the bay, with reefs and islands holding trout through the summer. Belle Chasse - the town up the west bank, with full services, tackle and the nearest concentration of guides. Pointe a la Hache ferry - the Mississippi River crossing, the practical link from the west bank to the east-bank launches. Marsh cuts and ponds - the dead-end water behind the bay shoreline, the best redfish habitat and the target on low winter tides. Black Bay - t...
When is the best time to fish the Northeast Bay Gardene?
Spring: redfish spread through the ponds and cuts as the water warms and the first trout move onto the shell. Summer: trout fishing is at its best over the reefs, worked early before the wind builds, with redfish along the shoreline all day. Fall: the strongest stretch of the year, bait leaving the marsh on falling tides and flounder moving through the cuts. Winter: low tides and clear water make this prime sight-fishing for schooled redfish, weather permitting.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Northeast Bay Gardene?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Louisiana agency site: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/saltwater-sport-fishing-regulations