Breton Sound Kicked My Ass On The Worst Fishing Trip Of My Life

Breton Sound is a big place to catch a lot of big speckled trout. I know this from experience, having taken friends, family and customers on the kinds of fishing trips you dream about.

You know what I’m talking about: the majestic early-morning sunrises and the run out to the middle of nowhere. It’s almost like you’re visiting an alien planet where speckled trout civilization thrives.

Before The Freshening the speckled trout fishing was so good that I had a twenty fish guarantee. I’m not sure too many guides do that these days (though I know some who certainly can).

So given the years of success, it just seemed like it would be easy to replicate that success and make an epic fishing trip happen all over again.

But not on this particular trip.

Breton Sound Speckled Trout Aren’t Always Guaranteed, And This Fishing Report Proves That Reality

What I am going to share with you is a particularly bad fishing trip that I’ve recently not-enjoyed. You and I will benefit from this for several reasons, but I’m not fleshing that out here because they are so deep. The fishing report below is already lengthy as it is.

Those reasons are what you and I dive into for the next blog post. On top of that deep dive, we’ll take a look at:

And not just this one fishing trip (hindsight is 20/20, after all) but all the future fishing trips, to include your very own.

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Or just check back in a week or so. Maybe bookmark this blog or add it to your reading list inside your browser, whatever works best for you.

Why I Wanted To Target Speckled Trout In Breton Sound In The First Place

If it’s not obvious, I spend a lot of time on a computer, writing and editing video for this website and LAFB Elite.

But, because I’m completely obsessed with inshore fishing, I have a habit of checking the current and predicted conditions to see when it’s good to go fishing. Reading fishing reports is pretty helpful, too!

So I read this one particular fishing report from a member of LAFB Elite, where he fished Breton Sound based off his previous experience there, and using the .kml file from the Breton Sound Beatdown post.

If you’re a member of LAFB Elite, you can find that fishing report at this link. You will be asked to login if you are not already.

John reported that fishing the rigs in the Sound was pretty rough— they were not producing any specks — but he was able to eventually find the "Mother Lode" at one spot and quickly caught a limit of speckled trout. Here’s an excerpt:

But that wasn't the only Breton Sound fishing report that had me excited...

There was another fishing report posted by Levi for a fishing trip on 7/28/2024 that pretty much sealed the deal on making the decision to go. Here's a portion of it:

This was encouraging for me! I have a lot of experience fishing Breton Sound, plus we are in the midst of a Saltening, and — even though there’s an obvious “most water, least fish” scenario — I’m no stranger to running & gunning, embracing the grind and putting in my time on water.

To top it off, the wind was predicted to lay down and there was plenty of tide. Finding the mother lode of trout and crushing them seemed inevitable. There was no way I could screw this up!

So I got my boat ready, op-checked all of my equipment, prepped fishing tackle, loaded waypoints and safe routes into the GPS, and had the boat hooked up in the driveway. All I had to do was get up early, get dressed and roll out.

Yes, I am a practitioner of the Six P’s: Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance, which this blog post really fleshes that out. It's my method to ensure nothing goes wrong.

But, some things are inevitable and do not discriminate. I’ll let my fishing report originally posted inside the LAFB Elite Community tell the story:

8/12/24 Breton Sound Speckled Trout Fishing Report

Posted by Captain Devin on August 12, 2024 at 7:18 pm

Today I went on what I could only describe as the worst fishing trip I’ve been on years, but also one of the most surreal. To say that I took an epic butt whooping from the Sound would not even begin to describe what today was like. In fact, the language I’d prefer to use to paint what today was like isn’t even remotely allowed on this site. lol

I am posting this fishing report for 3 reasons:

1. As proof that, no matter who you are, it is a not a matter of “if” but “when” you have a bad day on the water. Period. If it’s happened to KVD it will happen to me and will happen to you.
2. No matter how stringent you are about maintenance and ensuring your boat 1,000% works and everything is in order, it is not a matter of “if” but “when” you will have a mechanical or electrical problem. I had to lean into some old tried and true tactics and almost a backup in order to get my butt home today. That and Breton Sound has a tendency to be the Skinwalker Ranch of inshore fishing. lol
3. Maybe I can save someone the soul-crushing suck festival I went on today, by sharing where not to go as well as the tips and tricks used today to make sure I got home. Perhaps this will alleviate suffering on someone else’s part. lol But seriously, knowing where not to go is just as important as knowing where to go and it would be awesome if someone else could benefit from that.

I know a lot of LAFB Elite members go fishing, don’t whack ’em and — as a result — don’t post a report. That’s not helpful. Please post a report.

So, the plan was to launch from Hopedale Marina and fish the Breton Sound Beatdown .KML file I shared earlier. I got out there early as all get out for a little after 4am (I only slept a few hours), took my time, and was already on plane crossing the MRGO into Bayou La Loutre at 5am.

Predicted Fishing Conditions For Breton Sound

High tide was first thing in the morning, then supposed to fall all day on a 1.3ft range. Wind less than 5mph (2-3mph) in the morning out of the NW (direction really doesn’t matter when it’s that calm). Sunny skies. Water temp out in the sound was a balmy 87, while inside it was as high as 91 as the day progressed. I saw there was some dirty water in the Sound on Geosphere, but figured it would clean up with the low wind.

I was hardly in the mouth of La Loutre when a green tracer so bright shot just over the upper periphery of my vision. A second later I realized it wasn’t a round but a badass shooting star. Then I saw about two dozen more of them during the ride around the Rock Dam. It was amazing.

There were a couple that lit the marsh up and it was just gorgeous.

On top of that, the stars were out and, once my eyes adjusted, you could see the stars pretty well in the sky and their reflection in the flat calm water. It was so beautiful!

Then I looked behind me to check for approaching boats (Hey, you never know) and startled when I saw that there was light coming from under the boat.

It took me a second to realize that I was looking at something I had not seen in Bayou La Loutre in a long time: glowing jellyfish and bio-luminescence.

It had been forever since I last saw this, because during the Freshening the jellyfish got wiped out.
And now the sides and back of the boat were lit up by them as they passed under. I was able to get a 3 second exposure you can see. It looked light there was a light bulb on under the boat as it ran.

It was amazing, like something out of an epic novel. It was all just so pretty as the sun began to rise and shade the sky different colors.

Then, something else out-of-this-world happened: my boat and I passed through some kind of invisible portal, leaving the nice world that I grew up in and entering some kind of Inshore Hellscape where honest effort is punished, all the fish are gone and demonic entities manifest inside electrical components.

*sigh*

So, I got started at <redacted>, as per John’s fishing report.

And nothing. It was hard to tell because the sun wasn’t even above the horizon yet, but the water looked like garbage.

The water wasn’t moving hardly at all.

Then I tried the <redacted>, and finally the <redacted>. Blank on both spots. But I did see some bait/life on sonar. Just no fish.

Then I ran to Little Central. The water in BretonSound was moving much better. Not too fast, but it was moving at a clip. But there were no trout. I wasn’t seeing much beside the occasional bait ball. Water was garbage.

Then I tried locating the Dope Boat. By now the sun was up and the water was that kind of mirror-calm where you can’t tell where the water ends and the sky begins.

The last time I saw the Dope Boat was a loooong time ago, I think 2014. And back then there was just a nub sticking out the top that waves would obscure, and there was a blue plastic jug tied to it.

Well, it was nowhere to be seen. So I carefully idled to the waypoint with sonar kicked out 300 feet on 500khz on each side and didn’t see anything.

Figures.

So I very carefully (with exit door puckered tight) left the area. Who knows where that damn thing is.

I left for Compressor Rig, where I came across another boat full of sad saps who were also unwittingly sucked through the vortex.

They weren’t catching crap, and neither was I. Keep in mind, I am fishing in a complete circle around these rigs and looking at it all on sonar. I did snag a catfish in the tail. The water was pea-soup, hot garbage.

It was past 7am when I finished up with Compressor. So I still had time, I wasn’t feeling the pressure yet. If I had known what was to come, then I just woulda rammed the other boat, shot the pipeline and spared both of us the misery of the rest of the day. Alas, we had to live. lol

So then I went to a nearby wellhead that was marked/protected by a bunch of pilings. I was curious to see what was there. Keep in mind that during the years I fished Breton Sound a bunch I had no sonar, nothing like what I have now. I just blindly fished everything.

Now I can see what’s down there, and I was pleased to see that this well head had a bunch of shell reinforcing the bottom, making something that trout could get behind. But there were no trout there.

Then I moved on to the Hashtag Rig. I have no idea why someone calls it that on Navionics, but it is a fun one I’ve fished in the past. But not today. The water clarity was even worse and it was a ghost town on sonar. Like, wtf?!?!

So now I’m at a standstill. What do I do?

Well, I left for a nearby rig that appeared to broken off at the legs, and holy crap, it really is. I’m guessing it happened during Katrina.

I never knew it, but the rest of the rig is literally in the water. It’s close to the surface, but somehow I never saw it and never hit it. In the past, I know a guide who has done well on it, but I only ever caught a few fish, but I also thought it was only the legs. Now I know the entire rest of the rig is down there.

Anyway, no fish were there and the water was garbage.

At this point in time I decided to head to Breton Island. I had not been there since it was dredged and wanted to see what it was like.

Well, it’s just bigger, grassier and bird-ier. lol If the inside produces fish, I have no idea where. I came off plane and couldn’t find any deeper water, just water 2 foot deep. So I left to fish some liar birds on the east side of the island that predictably held ladyfish.

It was then that my motor decided it didn’t want to start. Voltage alarms went off. What the hell now?!

This fishing report is alreay a book, so I’ll summarize by saying that I op-checked all this yesterday. Everything ran and tested fine.

I do have a battery jumper in the boat, but the house battery is brand new. After pulling the jumper out, I tried cranking one more time and it miraculously turned over. Geez.

So, I wasn’t going to let that ruin my day. No way. I decided to keep fishing but leave the motor running. It’s not perfect form, I get it, but it’s better than being (another) SeaTow commercial.

However, any aspirations of running in any direction other than the dock were immediately shattered. I thought Gosier Island and Central Rig could be a good idea since everything closer to the river was pea-soupy and dead, but not with a sketchy motor.

I pointed for a rig due east at 13 miles, put in noise-cancelling headphones and enjoyed a podcast. Man, that tech sure does make those long runs in the Sound easier.

I got to the rig marked as Random 1 and it was just stupid. It was dead and worse than everything before. Just no. Stop.

It was at this point in time I realized there was still enough gas to blow up myself and end the misery. Suicidal ideation notwithstanding, I pressed on to the California Point Reef.

This reef is also dead and devoid of fish, but if you enjoy looking at concrete blocks on sonar, then this is the destination for you. At this point it was 8:40am and I wondered if I could pull off this trip. Don’t give up!

Then I fished a rig by where the Black Tanks used to be. No fish. More futility. You get it by now.

Then I went to The Wreck. Water sucks. Graphed it. Fished it. Struck out. Surprise, surprise.

Now keep in mind that by this time at 9am I had snagged one hardhead and flipped off a few ladyfish.

I also noted that I had not seen any guides. Granted, it is a Monday in August, but I know the Venice guides have been on ’em and I was looking forward to seeing them in Breton Sound. Maybe they were in the original universe where I live and there are jellyfish and shooting stars, but not this one.

Anyway.

I got the idea that maybe there was cleaner water at 32 Block and Five Wells, because I thought that I recalled seeing that is where cleaner water was on satellite imagery.

It was a crap shoot at this point in time anyway, so why not? Headphones went back on, podcast resumed and I pointed the bow toward the black smudge known as Five Wells on the horizon.

The water actually got green and cleared up a little, and that got my hopes up. But alas, there were no fish.

32 Block was pretty much the same thing, but then I caught a throwback speckled trout, got excited, beat up that rig with more jigging and then nothing.

At this point in time I figured the day was pretty much done. I did try the break in the Long Rocks on the way back in. No dice!

Now, in the MRGO by Lake Anathasio there was a butt load of white shrimp. There was a lot of white shrimp. And there were birds and throwback specks, but I wonder if it could have been something first thing in the morning.

There were birds across Athanasio and even up the MRGO. The number of white shrimp was notable. The water color was a reddish brown and g-a-r-b-a-g-e but the shrimp were there.

I then ran up to the south side of the Rock Dam and, if I saw bait balls on the graph, I would fish it. What I saw was a 91 degree water temp and no bait. lol Should have guessed.

There wasn’t any point bothering with Plan Redfish given the state of the boat.

So I went home and cried in a pillow. lol

I have no idea how many miles I ran, but it was definitely one of those 100+ mile days.

After that, if I had to fish tomorrow, I would haul straight for Central Rig. Forget everything else.

But instead I shall be exorcising Breton Sound Demons from my boat. lol

Yeah, today sucked, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s part of the game. Do it long enough and it will happen. The difference is do you go quit or keep going?

I hope this helps one of you get on ’em, especially now that you know where NOT to go.

*END OF FISHING REPORT*

That’s a lengthy fishing report! Now you can see why I wanted to save those “reasons why” for the next blog post.

So be sure to subscribe to my newsletter or consider checking back later. 

In the meantime, if you have your own experience to share, or just something relatable, then please do so in the comments section below.

Where To Get More Fishing Reports For Breton Sound (and beyond)

Perhaps you enjoyed the above reports and found them useful. If you'd like read more, both in the past and present, then please consider joining LAFB Elite.

LAFB Elite is an exclusive membership providing access to Inshore Fishing 101 and the same community that provided the fishing reports you've seen here, LAFB Elite Community.