Venice Summer Speckled Trout Spots You Need To Fish

What are some good Venice summer speckled trout fishing spots worth trying? That and more is what you and I will explore in this guide. 

We will also look at why Venice, Louisiana stands out from other places along Louisiana's coast, and the reasons as to why. If you can understand these reasons, then you'd have a better understanding as how to tackle this amazing fishery.

So, in order to do that, we must look at what makes Venice, Louisiana such a great inshore fishing destination to begin with.

We'll start with an anecdotal experience I've had (just one of many):

The Best Inshore Fishing In The World Is Happening In Venice, Louisiana

If you're like me, then you follow fishing reports all along the Boot State's coast and — if you read my last blog post about Grand Isle — you'd know that the quality of fishing is not universally the same everywhere redfish and speckled trout can swim.

For example, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin is indeed yielding fish, here is an October 2023 fishing trip for your perusal:

A buddy and I fished out of Slidell all day to grind out a box of 25 speckled trout. We must have had another 50 or so throwbacks. So, we are looking at a ten hour fishing trip to not even limit out.

Now, that's a good day of fishing and any one of us would be stoked to have enjoyed it. But it does somewhat pale in comparison to this fishing trip the following month in Venice:

We caught a limit of speckled trout for 8am, then rolled out to flip bass then find more speckled trout spots. Overall, we caught a limit of speckled trout, bass and redfish. Just unreal.

But there's more! We caught and released another 81 speckled trout, totaling 111 for the day.

Which is important to bring up because during the Slidell trip the limit for speckled trout was 25 per angler, whereas during the Venice trip it had changed to 15 per angler.

I know! It sucks that happened, but I have some good thoughts about it in this blog post.

It's obvious that the fishing in Venice is superior. Of course, it's good to remember that some days are better than others but — if you're still not sure — try comparing contemporary fishing reports between guides in <insert some place that's not-Venice> to that of Venice guides.

Look at their Facebook posts and it will be clear that Venice is having something of a hey-day right now. Why is this the case?

What Makes Venice So Special?

Two things:

Venice has the life-giving Mississippi River and the salty Gulf of Mexico shouldering against it; they combine to create one of the best fisheries in the world. 

Now, the Pearl River and Mississippi Sound are somewhat similar: this area has a freshwater and saltwater input. But the key difference is that there is not much river water and — most important — the Mississippi Sound is not as deep or as salty as the immediate Gulf of Mexico just outside of Venice.

That this water is deep is what makes the difference, otherwise we would see a similar fishery at the mouth of the Atchafalaya River and we do not.

It’s very important that you look at a depth chart like Navionics to understand this key difference. Look at places like the Atchafalaya and Pearl Rivers and you will not see consistent depths beyond 12ft, but if you look at Venice you will see depths of 50 to 100 feet and more.

So, it is in Venice where most everything in the inshore food chain can live its entire life cycle and, as a result, there’s great fishing there.

We know fish will swim far to reach better feeding grounds, like this big speckled trout did in 2017:

I cannot say for certain that speckled trout swim to Venice because there's more feeding opportunities there. But I am saying that if that one swam 75 miles to Pascagoula, then others very well could make their way down the Lake Pontchartrain Basin to the fertile feeding grounds near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

When The River Goes Down…

Something else to keep in mind is that Venice fishes a lot better when the river gets low and it greens up. The lower it is, the easier it will be for you to fish without already knowing the area and how to fish it.

I like fishing the surrounding marsh when the river gets below 10ft at the Carrollton Gauge for redfish, especially sight fishing them in crystal clear water, though they can be had in deeper, dirtier water, too.

When the river is below 5ft , I have found that it gets clean and green and fishing the river itself for redfish is much easier to do. Once the speckled trout come inside it’s pretty easy to catch them in the river, too.

Other Things To Consider About Venice

Venice plays well with the wind. There’s a lot out there to block strong wind, unlike some place that is wide open like the East Biloxi Marsh. There’s plenty of roseau cane and spoil to hide behind.

If the wind is really ripping you can still get behind something or at least choose a side of the river that won’t be affected as much.

So why don’t more anglers fish for Venice summer speckled trout?

I feel the first reason why so many don’t fish Venice is because it’s a long drive and, once you get there, the only thing you can really do is outdoorsy, fishing stuff.

Which is great if fishing is all you do and you don’t have a family to prioritize but, for many people living in the greater New Orleans area, this is not the case.

A similar drive in the opposite direction puts them in the beaches of Florida, which plays better with kids and families, even though the fishing is nowhere as good.

So Venice is kind of like a hardcore destination! Secondly, there’s plenty of things that inshore anglers find daunting about Venice:

All these challenges keep people from going there in the first place or — if they’re unlucky enough to become the victim of one — never go back.

I’ve had more than my fair share of navigational mishaps in Venice, to include this time the lower unit got ripped off, not to mention numerous groundings and another time I got stuck so bad an airboat had to pull me out.

Fortunately, I learned from my mistakes, applied those lessons to fish the area even better, and compiled everything I've learned to safely navigate Louisiana's coast in the Advanced Inshore Navigation module of Inshore Fishing 101.

Inshore Fishing 101 is my flagship course that details the foundational knowledge of successful inshore fishing in Louisiana. Do not let the name fool you. This is not a "beginner's course", but rather has three types of fishing knowledge inside of it:

You will find some of the first and second kind but, most important, an amount of the third kind that will save your ass and transform your fishing trips.

So you know, Inshore Fishing 101 is only available inside LAFB Elite, my membership granting access to all of my courses.

Venice Summer Speckled Trout Fishing Spots That You Should Try

By this point in time you understand why Venice, Louisiana is so good for inshore fishing as well as some precautions you should take fishing the area. Now let's look at some fishing spots and areas worth your while. This is not a complete list of every fishing spot in Venice, but this will certainly get you started in the right direction:

Keep reading and I'll detail each one.

Breton Island

This island is a "go to" and the first one I want to detail here. It's about an 11 mile run out of Baptiste Collette, so that's a lot of open water to cover.

In fact, any time you're chasing speckled trout during the summer, you can count on making long runs across open water.

A great way to ensure it will be calm is to make a good wind call, and for that I really recommend using this guide about Windfinder.

Anyway, I've had a lot of success wade fishing this location, on either the inside of the island or the outside, depending on wind and sea state.

Natural Gas & Oil Platforms

The oil field is prolific in Louisiana and — unbeknownst to many people outside the realm of inshore fishing — a boon for speckled trout, redfish and more.

This is because these structures provide habitat through the entire water column, rather than just part of it.

They're also incredibly easy to find, as they stand tens of feet above the water's surface, are easily identified on satellite imagery such as what you find on Google Earth Desktop, and marked on mapping software such as Navionics.

Natural gas and oil platforms ring the entire Birdfoot Delta from Breton Sound in a clockwise direction all the way to Sandy Point.

Any one of these, especially those in the 12 to 25 foot depth, stand to be excellent Venice summer fishing spots for speckled trout, redfish, triple tail and more.

With time you will discover that some are more consistent than others, but if you are starting out fishing this area, then any one of them are worth trying.

Various Beaches

One kind of fishing spot most anglers don't think of when considering Venice are the numerous beaches to be had there. Beaches are great habitat for speckled trout because they're a hard bottom, and hard bottoms tend to be more consistently clean than seafloors that are easily disturbed.

Take a look at historical imagery on Google Earth Desktop and you'll see that there are a plethora of beaches worth fishing, ranging from South Pass to Southwest Pass to Sandy Point.

That's enough real estate to keep you busy during the hunt for Venice summer fishing spots.

Southwest Pass

Southwest Pass itself can really turn on, especially when the river gets low and it "greens up".

What makes this pass different from others is that it's rocked off on the shoreline, and those rocks extend many yards out from the shoreline, making habitat for bait that speckled trout like to eat.

Furthermore, there are weirs on either side of the pass that break the current that fish use to feed.

South Pass Rocks

This is another location that sets up nicely for catching redfish, sheepshead and other species. Speckled trout can be had here as well, but I would focus my efforts on the rigs, islands and beaches mentioned earlier when fishing for summer specks.

However, if the wind is blowing and crossing open water isn't an option, fishing South Pass could be a good choice if it's sitting in the lee of the land.

Just be careful! Some of the rocks at South Pass have sunk below the surface. This is very easy to see in historical aerial imagery. 

You want to fish these sunken rocks, not put your boat on them and become stranded!

Additional Considerations For Fishing Venice

Perhaps by now you're ready to speed down LA-23 to get to the Inshore Fishing Capital of The World and try your hand at the great fishing that's down there. That's great, and I love the enthusiasm! However, there are a couple more things you should know so that your trip goes smoothly.

Venture Global LNG Plant Traffic

There’s a new, massive liquefied natural gas plant being built in Port Sulphur on LA-23 between Belle Chasse and Venice.

If you are going to fish Venice understand that there could be some traffic here. You probably won’t hit it first thing in the morning, but most assuredly will on your ride back in the afternoon.

For this reason, it could be a good idea to source lodging in Venice and stay the night there. Plus, Venice Marina is a cool place to grab some grub, cold beer and talk fishing with other anglers!

Live Bait Availability & Location

If you’re the type of inshore angler who enjoys fishing with live bait, then there’s at least a couple places in either Venice or Grand Isle to get live shrimp from.

For Venice there’s Cypress Cove Marina and Venice Marina, both places you can launch and get live bait. Then there are a couple places I've noticed on LA-23 on my way down: Frelich Bait Shop and We Dat Bait & Tackle.

However, I honestly do not know the quality or consistency of these places because I do not fish with live bait due to these 11 reasons.

But if you are absolutely geared to fish this way and if the success of your fishing trip depends on availability then I would call ahead to either of these locations and ask.

Of course, if I missed a good provider then please mention it in the comments below.

Tight lines, and thanks for reading!