On January 21st, 2025, Louisiana was met with a weather event that had not been reported in over one hundred years: inches upon inches of snow blanketing her coast. A people and place were met with weather that we would otherwise only view from afar.
The author's (poor) attempt at building a Louisiana snowman.
This kind of cold is unprecedented and extreme. We don’t have the conveniences and experience that make such snow a casual occurrence like it would be for our Yankee brethren far to the north. Yet the question in my mind is not when the roads will clear, or businesses re-open, it is:
“How will this affect Louisiana’s inshore fishing?”
As a seasoned inshore angler and former fishing guide, let me give you my take on what happened and what we can do to ensure the well being of our wonderful inshore fishery.
What happened to Louisiana’s coast during the Blizzard of '25?
It got cold, fast. Water temperatures across Louisiana’s coast plummeted as unprecedented amounts of snow covered the Boot State. Places I never thought snow would land got a good blanket. This satellite image taken this morning clearly depicts the situation.
While the spectacle of snow is an easy one, what the casual observer is less likely to see is the impact of the cold on Louisiana’s marsh. Here’s a temperature gauge in Bay Gardene in Pointe à la Hache, a popular fishing destination:
As you can see, the water temperature fell rather quickly from 55 degrees — an intermediary winter temperature that speckled trout and redfish do fine in — to a bone chilling 36 degrees, which is lethal for fish (and you and I, if unprepared). If you were to take time to look at water temperature gauges across the rest of the coast, you will find a similar trend. It's not looking good.
Marsh near Mozambique Point, frozen over during Louisiana's Blizzard of '25. Photo provided by Captain Ty Hibbs of Whatever Bites.
What will this sudden drop in water temperature do to Louisiana’s speckled trout and redfish?
While the experience of snow is novel and charming, my concern is for Louisiana’s stocks of speckled trout and redfish. A drop in water temperature like that is enough to kill a record amount of fish, like in this fish kill from 2018. This is a legitimate concern, because these same fish already took a hit from the Freshening from 2011 to 2020, an ecological disaster leading us to drop our creel limits for both popular species. The speckled trout limit was dropped in November 2023, and you can see my reaction to that in this post, and the redfish limit was dropped in June 2024. You can view my thoughts on that decision in this post.
To reiterate: rapid drops in water temperature are what kill fish. If you’ve been following my brand for awhile, then you would have seen my guide explaining why trout seek deep water to begin with.
If these fish didn’t have enough time to get deep, then they are probably already dead. Recall the massive fish kill that Texas experienced in February 2021. Many of those fish got so cold that they couldn’t swim away from muddy water churned up by hard wind and suffocated when their gills filled with mud. That’s not unlike you or I suffocating to death in thick smoke. My point is that the cold may not be enough to kill fish by itself, but can certainly help them along their way.
Specks & Reds Were Only Beginning To Recover
We were just seeing the fish recover in the Saltening that began in recent years. Many anglers will agree that the fishing this fall and winter was pretty good, even the best seen in years. But that progress the fish made could be set back by this historical cold.
So what can we do to ease the impact on Louisiana’s speckled trout and redfish?
We can lay off the fish. You and I cannot control what Nature decides to do to the fish, but we can control the pressure we put on them. To put it bluntly, we can forego fishing and, in coming days, practice more catch and release.
My first reason for advocating this is because the fish are already in a state of recovery and stressed as it is. After that, I raise the same ethical concern of the Redfish Jubilee: is it sportsman-like to take advantage of the fish when they are at their weakest? How is catching fish when they are struggling through a seasonal extreme any different from spotlighting deer or simply dynamiting them?
This is not tree-hugger sentiment, these are mature and rational questions wrought from years of experience fishing across Louisiana’s coast.
What does the future hold?
Honestly, at the time of this writing (12pm on the 22nd), reports are still rolling in. I don't use social media for these reasons, but have been getting emails and text messages from people reporting everything from Bayou Liberty being completely frozen over to pictures of dead fish washing ashore to screenshots from social media:
Screenshot sent in by Cody S. Thank you!
I suppose we can remember that there was a worse freeze in 1989, where it had remained below freezing for four days and — I am not kidding you — Lake Pontchartrain froze over. You can see it in this YouTube video here.
If you have something to add then please comment below. If you have pictures to share then please email them to me at devin at lafishblog dot com. Check back here for updates.
What do you think? Comment below.
Tight lines, and thank you for visiting my website.
Heartbreaking! Thank you for reporting, however.
Went out today – there were a lot of dead fish in Lafitte. Heartbreaking. Adult specks, reds, puppy drum.
That is absolutely wild!! Wow. I was just a wee kid when that happened. Thank you for sharing!
During the freeze of 1989 Bayou Des Allemands froze completely over and my brother walked all the way across it by the railroad bridge.
Additionally, I think you could benefit from this guide: https://www.lafishblog.com/speckled-trout/
Thank you so much for visiting my site!
That depends on what you’re referring to. The mullet, menhaden, brown and white shrimp have long since left the marsh. There’s really not much to eat for fish right now. That’s the way it is whether it snows or not. There are still potbelly minnows, violet gobies, etc. but their numbers pale in comparison to the aforementioned. I think you should look at all of the conditions/factors, not just one. Consider that fish metabolism is slow right now because its cold. They’re not going to bite more because there’s less food. They don’t have to eat as much.
Captain Devin you have convinced me to fish this weekend catch and release or at the very least just catch what I will eat that day and don’t freeze any…pun intended. It stands to reason that a lot of the bait fish will die as a result. Will this increase the bite with less bait in the water? Love your comments on this.
This is a good reminder that it’s not just Louisiana at stake here, though I’m not sure if you guys experienced extra runoff, higher rivers, like we did. Either way, best of luck to Georgia!
Agreed! There’s no reason not to implement! Thank you for visiting the site!
Dude, the usernames are killing me lmao
Yeah, those just need to be done away with (the menhaden industry, not the username), whether or not there’s a catastrophic freeze.
We are facing the same conditions in Georgia and hope our deeper water helps. Thanks Devin for your report.
Two words: POGEY BOATS
Thanks for making this report. I’m sure sorry to hear and the pictures are heartbreaking. I think you are right on with your thoughts on conservation and protecting this precious resource. I hope others will follow suit. I think the recovery in TX is testament to what can happen when like minded anglers and guides make a decision to do what’s right for the fishery