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Vermilion Bay Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Sep 14, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Louisiana marsh country: Vermilion Bay holds redfish and speckled trout west of the Atchafalaya.

3/5
Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
Next tide
High 11:26 PM
Air / High
90 / 91 F
Wind
N 4 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8765251, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
14
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Vermilion Bay serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 91. Tides: high 6:44 AM and 11:26 PM, low 2:30 AM and 2:36 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 85 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing crescent, the solunar majors run 1:11 AM-3:11 AM and 1:11 PM-3:11 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Dawn topwater over grass flats and shorelines, then follow them to deeper guts and channel edges with gold spoons and paddletails. Look for wakes and nervous bait.

Speckled troutGood

First light topwater over grass and shell, then deeper: free-lined live shrimp or croaker over 4-8 ft structure. The bite dies with the sun; night lights fish well.

Tomorrow: Similar at 91 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Sep 15, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Louisiana requires a fishing licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Louisiana licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing redfish (red drum) here? Check the size and bag limits with LDWF before you keep anything. The season dates for Louisiana, read off the agency, are on the Louisiana seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8765251 (Cypremort Point, LA). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Mon
LOW2:30 AM1.3 ft
HIGH6:44 AM1.5 ft
LOW2:36 PM0.4 ft
HIGH11:26 PM1.6 ft
Tue
LOW3:10 AM1.5 ft
HIGH6:28 AM1.6 ft
LOW3:16 PM0.4 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp90 F
High / Low91 / 79 F
WindN 4-4 mph
Pressure1018.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain13% cloud, 8%
Sunrise / Sunset06:52 / 19:14
MoonWaxing Crescent, 8%
Water temp (seasonal)~85 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Mon Sep 14 · Partly cloudy, 91/79 F, wind 11 mph, rain 8%

Fair or better. A 11 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Vermilion Bay: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: Sep-Nov bull run

The copper-flanked king of the flats and surf: tailing in inches of water, schooling by the hundred in fall. Dawn topwater over grass flats and shorelines, then follow them to deeper guts and channel edges with gold spoons and paddletails. Look for wakes and nervous bait.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Best: spring and fall

The Gulf coast's everyday obsession: soft mouths, violent topwater strikes and a fishery that lives by tide and bait. First light topwater over grass and shell, then deeper: free-lined live shrimp or croaker over 4-8 ft structure. The bite dies with the sun; night lights fish well.

When to come: the Vermilion Bay calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 85 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~85 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Vermilion Bay today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Sep 13

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 93 F, wind to 8 mph.

Sat, Sep 12

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 91 F, wind to 13 mph.

Fri, Sep 11

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 87 F, wind to 12 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Louisiana requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Louisiana license including saltwater. Redfish, speckled trout and drum are size- and limit-regulated: check current LDWF rules.

Access

Launches at Cypremort Point, Intracoastal City and Delcambre; marinas and guides throughout the area.

About this water

A shallow marsh-ringed bay in Vermilion and Iberia parishes, south-central Louisiana.

Fishing Vermilion Bay: the full guide

A bay behind the marsh

Vermilion Bay lies in south-central Louisiana between Vermilion and Iberia parishes, connected to the Gulf through Southwest Pass and fed by the Vermilion River and the Atchafalaya distributaries. It is a shallow, often turbid bay ringed by marsh, holding redfish, speckled trout, black drum, flounder and sheepshead in classic Louisiana inshore habitat.

Redfish in the marsh

Redfish work the marsh edges, the drains, the oyster reefs and the shorelines, taken on gold spoons, soft plastics, topwater and live or cut bait. Falling tide pulling bait out of the marsh drains is the classic window. Water clarity varies enormously with wind and river influence: find clean water and you find fish.

Speckled trout and the seasons

Speckled trout hold the deeper bay water, the reefs and the passes, best in the warmer months on soft plastics under corks and on live shrimp. Winter pushes trout into the deeper bayous and canals. The Atchafalaya influence means spring river water can push the bay fresh and muddy, moving the fishing west or south.

Iberia and Vermilion parish logistics

Launches serve the bay at Cypremort Point, Intracoastal City and Delcambre, with marinas and guides working the area. New Iberia and Abbeville provide services. This is big shallow water with few landmarks: a GPS and a watchful eye on the wind are both essential for small boats.

Common questions

When do I fish the marsh drains?

On falling tide, when water pulls bait out of the marsh: the classic redfish window here.

Why is the water muddy?

Wind and Atchafalaya river influence: clarity varies enormously, and finding clean water is often the whole game.

Where do I launch?

Cypremort Point, Intracoastal City and Delcambre all serve the bay, with guides working out of each.

Is fishing good at Vermilion Bay right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Nearby waters

Atchafalaya Basin45 miCalcasieu Lake82 miSabine Lake112 miSabine Pass113 miLake Pontchartrain120 miGrand Isle124 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8765251 — Cypremort Point, LA
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 9 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 29.6000, -92.0000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Written and reviewed by a person against the sources above. Errors are published in the verification log, not quietly corrected.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.

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