The Louisiana red snapper season opens at 12:01 AM Friday May 1. That's eight days from when this lands in your inbox. Four fish per person, 16-inch minimum, state and federal waters for private rec. The opener falls on the full moon, the Flower Moon, which is the kind of calendar alignment the Venice fleet has been circling since January. 882,439 pounds of state allocation this year. Two hundred days of open season last year. Federal for-hire boats still have to wait until June 1. The fleet's been waiting. Eight days.

Redfish. Late April is peak window. FishingBooker rates April "Great" for Venice reds, and the spring pattern says bulls to 60 pounds and four feet are in play. Louisiana Sportsman ran a field report dated Monday on a Venice trip from two readers on the interior marsh, and aggregator chatter this week is on 50-fish trips with mixed boxes from puppy reds to bulls. Water clarity across the marsh is called "a little muddy, should start clearing" which tracks with the river still sitting off its low.

Speckled trout. Trout rated "Great" too, running 18 to 19 inches on the better trips without needing to toss any back, with 20-plus fish in the mix. The marsh is transitioning into the stronger May pattern, but the fish are on right now in the interior ponds off Red Pass, Baptiste Collette, and the Tiger Pass shoreline.

Sheepshead. Post-spawn and winding down. Still shows up in mixed inshore boxes around the jetties and the Baptiste Collette rocks, but public reports are thin. If someone offers you sheepshead this week, take it. Two weeks from now the sheepshead chapter closes until fall.

Yellowfin. Spring pattern is on. Capt. Jerry Menard ran a Cocodrie crew into Venice waters last month for a 195.8-pound yellowfin with angler Greg Metcalf on the rod. That's the most recent named Venice yellowfin on public editorial record. Fish are holding near the shelf-edge rigs and deep structure near the mouth, feeding windows tied to current flow. Chunking and live bait around structure are the working plays. Thursday and Friday are ugly, so most of this intel is waiting on Sunday's window.

Swordfish. April is the month. The Venice deep-drop fleet runs mostly off the grid, which is why you rarely see a public report. Electric reels, daytime drops, and the boats that run them are booked months out. If you want to land a sword this year, now is when you call.

Wahoo. Tail end of the trophy window. January through April is the classic Venice wahoo stretch, and the fleet knows the last good two weeks are here. If a weather window opens Sunday, the trolling spread goes out.

Mahi. Rip lines are forming with mahi and small wahoo mixing in, and sargassum is early and thick. The SE flow holding through the weekend is the kind of setup that builds and holds those lines. Incidental target for any boat running for tuna.

Red snapper. Closed today. Opens May 1. See the cold open, and read the full regulatory breakdown below.

Amberjack. Federal closure holds through August 31. Don't plan on AJ this spring.

On Dock B at Venice Marina this week, houseboat owner Johnny Norwood posted on Facebook: "Fishing is on fire right now in Venice, LA!" That's the mood on the docks five days before the Louisiana Gulf Coast Billfish Classic kicks off at Cypress Cove. LGCBC runs Tuesday April 28 through Saturday May 2. Dock party Tuesday evening, captain's meeting Wednesday, lines in Thursday, weigh scales through Saturday. Last year's purse was $241,000. Registration is closed, but the boats are already rolling in. This is the first real Venice tournament of 2026 and the first big test of what the post-sale Cypress Cove looks like under new ownership.

Then the snapper opener Friday May 1, which takes the rest of the fleet's attention. LDWF set the 2026 season at 882,439 pounds, 4 fish per person per day, 16-inch minimum. Private rec boats fish state and federal waters. State charter boats are restricted to state waters. Federal for-hire boats wait until June 1 and run a 147-day season that closes October 26. LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth credited the LA Creel program for last year's 200-day season. Federal waters require non-stainless circle hooks, a descending device, and the free Charter Recreational Offshore Landing Permit. Read the LDWF bulletin once before you run out.

Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, the menhaden fight split this month. Three reform bills cleared the Louisiana House in mid-April on near-unanimous bipartisan votes and now sit at the Senate Natural Resources Committee: HB 757 raises buffer-zone fines to $2,500 to $7,500, HB 872 mandates boat tracking on pogie vessels, HB 886 forces harvest report transparency. The headline bill, HB 855, died. Rep. Joseph Orgeron's 22-foot depth contour rule, the one Venice captains wanted most, failed final House passage 46-49 on April 14. That depth number came out of the $1 million state bycatch study that counted 30,000 breeding-size bull redfish, 240,000-plus speckled trout, and over 146 million fish across 62 species killed as menhaden bycatch every year. The science is public. The depth bill isn't law.

Fish Venice Charters. Capt. Eddie Brown put angler Jeff Tomaloff on the pending 256-pound Louisiana state-record yellowfin on January 16. That fish is still working through the certification process. Trophy-tuna reputation, Cypress Cove based, Venice Marina pickup option. Spring yellowfin is on, and when the tournament weekend rolls straight into the snapper opener the way this calendar is shaping up, this is the boat that's going to be on the board. Book direct: fishvenicecharters.com.

The descending device. Required gear in federal Gulf waters for reef-fish trips, including red snapper. SeaQualizer and similar units clip to a weight and carry a released fish back down to depth so barotrauma doesn't kill it on the surface. The rule has been on the books since 2022 and NOAA enforcement actually checks. With the opener eight days out and the first federal snapper trips of the year going out next weekend, this is the piece of gear most private rec boats pretend they don't need and then scramble for the Thursday before. Don't be that boat. One unit per vessel, rigged and ready, tested before you leave the dock.

Thursday and Friday are ugly offshore. SE 10 to 15 knots, seas 4 to 6 feet occasionally to 8 on Thursday, dropping to 3 to 4 Friday. Saturday cleans up fast, S 5 to 10 knots, 2 to 3 feet, with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Sunday is the money day. SE 5 to 10 knots, seas around 2 feet. If the fleet is running for yellowfin or prepping sword drops ahead of the tournament boats, Sunday is when it happens.

Inshore, tides are small all weekend and collapsing to a 6-inch range by Sunday. First quarter moon lands Thursday night at 9:32 PM Central, the same day this issue drops, and the tides flatten behind it. Weak current means weak bite through the passes. Smart marsh anglers fish wind-blown shorelines and let the SE flow do the work. Saturday morning before the afternoon storm risk is the clean window.

Water temp at NDBC 42084 was 73.6°F Wednesday afternoon, 7-day range 72.5 to 73.8, dead flat. Full moon, the Flower Moon, lands Friday May 1, opener day.

Red snapper opens Friday May 1. LDWF set the 2026 private rec and state charter season at 882,439 pounds, 4 fish per person, 16-inch minimum, opens 12:01 AM. Federal for-hire waits until June 1 for a 147-day season closing October 26. Source: LDWF news release.

LGCBC is five days out. Louisiana Gulf Coast Billfish Classic runs Tuesday April 28 through Saturday May 2 out of Cypress Cove. Dock party Tuesday, captain's meeting Wednesday, lines in Thursday. First big Venice tournament of 2026. Details at louisianachampionscup.com/lgcbc.

Cajun Canyons coming up. Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic runs May 26 through 31 at Cypress Cove. Put it on the calendar.

Next week, a closer look at opener weekend, what the fleet actually ran into, and whether the Sunday window held up. Also an early read on how the post-sale Cypress Cove handled the LGCBC.

If you know someone running out this weekend or planning a Venice trip, forward this. Hit reply if you've got intel from the water, attribution on request or off the record.

Until next Thursday.

Joey