January 31, 2025

How Many Specks & Reds Died From The Snow in Louisiana?

29  comments

The Gulf Coast Blizzard of 2025 has come and gone, leaving Louisiana in a frosty chill. But what did it do to the speckled trout and redfish? Has there been a massive fish kill? These are questions folks have been asking and, in this blog post, I’ll do my best to provide answers.

Has there been a big fish kill of speckled trout and redfish on Louisiana’s coast?

Yes. Unfortunately there has been. Now, I personally have not had the misfortune of seeing it for myself, as this is the time of year I conduct important maintenance on my fishing equipment and tackle in order to keep it all running smoothly for spring, summer and fall. At the time of this writing, I just don’t have a meaningful way to get on the water and get the video and pictures that I know are possible.

However, I am blessed with a pretty decent following and have reached out to folks in my newsletter to provide some insight, as well as inshore anglers I personally know and trust. Here's what they had to say:

"


Heard that there was a report of dead juvenile trout in Pointe-aux-Chenes


Philip C.

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I’ve seen two separate reports of fish kills in grand isle.


Daniel G.

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I’ve seen pictures of many dead fish.


Craig P.

But there’s more. I was also provided with a litany of social media reporting kills of speckled trout, redfish and more in various locations ranging from Pointe aux Chenes to Port Sulphur to Delacroix.

dead redfish breton island

There's plenty more where that came from, though it's safe to say that the algorithm has already piled a lot of content on top of fish kill posts, so you will have to go looking for it. I don't use social media, so you will be on your own on that effort.

But, interestingly enough, I have received this word from a charter captain on January 28th. He's a good guy and has many years of experience. However, he hasn't posted his below finding to social media (more on this in a moment):

Guys, <name redacted> and I took a ride yesterday to see what extent if any of a fish kill we had in Delacroix.

We went down Bayou Gentilly through Grand Lake and saw about 12 reds in Grand, then through West side of Grand Lake cut to Spanish Lake through Spanish to pilings on Manuel Canal (counted another 100 reds dead), then through Shell Bayou to Oak River and Down to Orange Bayou and saw another 100 dead reds on the bank. From Orange Bayou to Oak River Bay almost no dead fish at all. Most of the dead fish were up top shallow and deep water.

Oak River Bay to Campo Pass to Solar Panel Canal at Dead Duck Pass to Terre aux Beouf and no dead fish.

Crossed over to Calebasse and into Lake Robin (water is very green and pretty on that side) no dead fish. Came back into Pipeline Canal at top of Robin heading toward Petain and started seeing dead fish again and saw 10-12 more reds into a Petain lagoon. The neck down at south end of Petain had very many trout floating dead and in Petain itself had trout floating.

Came back across Terre aux Beouf into top of Lake John and back to bayou at bottom of Graveyard (no dead fish in that stretch). We got into Graveyard Bayou at top of Shrimp Lagoon and started seeing dead reds all the way back to the marina. In total we counted 260 dead redfish and many trout in Petain only.

We just made a big loop and did not go into the shallow marshes or middle lakes in the marsh. The outside areas of Calabasse and Robin had no dead fish and water was pretty, water on Delacroix side was horrible. Just a heads up of what we saw.

So, 260 redfish on a milk run through the marsh and "many" trout, which I assume means a lot more than two-hundred and sixty. That's a non-trivial amount of fish, which leads us to this next question:

Is the post-blizzard fish kill really a big deal?

Honestly, I don’t think the above reports and media are particularly alarming, no more than the tip of the proverbial iceberg is. Metaphorically speaking, the real danger is lurking beneath the water (no pun intended) in the form of under-reporting.

gulf coast blizzard fish kill iceberg meme 500

It makes sense that anyone concerned for our fishery would want to pitch in to report any fish kills, but I don’t think that’s the case. Let me explain why with this mind-blowing revelation:

Get Ready For This Plot Twist

I do not believe that Louisiana’s fishing guides are publicly sharing the fish kills they are seeing. In fact, I know of one or two who have privately reported some serious fish kills but failed to put that information on their Facebook pages (such as the example above).

It’s reasonable to believe that these guides with their all-important, everyday, “boots on ground” perspective are hesitant to sound the alarm, especially given that — in the last two years — creel limits for both speckled trout and redfish were reduced. Many, though not all, of Louisiana’s fishing guides opposed these new creel limits, stating that nothing is wrong with the Boot State’s population of specks and reds after the Freshening, a disastrous flood event that served up a double-whammy on Louisiana’s favorite saltwater sport fish.

You can find my reaction to the new speckled trout creel limit in this article, as well as my thoughts on the new redfish creel limit here.

Food for thought: enough of Louisiana’s guide fleet didn’t want the limits changed as they were, so why would they bring more attention to another negative impact on the fish population?

Instead they are going to do what they think serves them best: fill out their customer’s limit of fish. It’s widely believed that the only way to get and keep customers is to deliver on full ice chests and bags of fillets. All I can say is that I vehemently disagree with this and, if you’re not sure, remember I’m the guy who makes a living teaching people how to fish…wait for it…on the Internet. Yeah, I might have some good ideas.

Anyway, the social media influencers aren’t much better, they’re just going to go for the easy fishing to show off how good they are at it. Well, reality is that all they’re doing is taking advantage of the fish while they’re at their weakest in easy to find deep holes. That’s not expertise, that’s the angling equivalent of spotlighting deer. How is this a good example for everyone watching?

I very well could have foregone annual maintenance to make a fishing video smashing the speckled trout and redfish then plugged my membership at the end, but I did not. That’s because I feel it would be a bad look, even though doing so would serve Louisiana Fishing Blog's bottom line.

This isn’t virtue signaling, I’m just pointing out our collective warped perspective on the marsh: it’s a place to get groceries and be entertained. Please, tell me, how does this ensure good fishing for future generations? Comment below if you have a good answer.

But before you go pointing fingers at the guides…

…remember that they only account for a fraction of landed fish. Yes, the elephant in the room is the rest of us. Inshore anglers in general make up the lion’s share of speckled trout and redfish.

redfish creel limit dead shrimp on jighead louisiana

For example, consider this chart below from Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries head marine biologist, Jason Adriance.

speckled trout landings graph charter guide vs recreational

What do you see? That chartered fishing trips account for roughly 16% of landed speckled trout in the state of Louisiana. I'm sure the landing for redfish, flounder and other species are roughly similar.

Do your math, Louisiana: if you want a meat haul, then the grocery store is probably cheaper than going fishing. After that, an amount of fishing guides were not the only ones opposing fishing regulations. Plenty of non-professional inshore anglers took their stance as well, and I’m sure they share the same reasons to under-report.

My point: we should look inward to be the change we want to see rather than looking outward and expecting it of someone else.

But aren’t freeze kills natural?

Yes, they are. The last one we had was in 2018. You can count on a fish kill resulting from extreme cold temperature happening every once in a while, but that does not change one very important fact: we control pressure put on fish during and after the freeze event.

What you and I can do to positively impact Louisiana’s speckled trout and redfish populations:

Just like what this last post said: you should consider the ethics of taking advantage of sport fish when they are at their weakest. Not very sporting, is it? Or, if I were to be more direct: lay off the fish during and after such a freeze event. Ultimately, I think it’s okay to go fishing and enjoy yourself, just maybe don’t wreck the recovering fish population in the process.

Final Notes on the Gulf Coast Blizzard Fish Kill

I’d like to mention that Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries (LDWF) has created this portal to report fish kills resulting from the Gulf Coast Blizzard of ‘25. It’d be great if you could contribute but — because of the plot twist mentioned above — I’m not sure they’re going to get all the information they otherwise would.

After that, I’m somewhat disappointed that LDWF wasn’t proactive on this fish kill. It’s not like a bunch of formally school-trained biologists don’t know what happens to speckled trout and redfish when water temperature plummets into the thirties. If it were up to me, more draconian measures than simply posting an infographic to social media would’ve been taken to safeguard Louisiana’s specks and reds, not unlike what Texas will do when they experience a freeze event. Visit that link and you’ll see some of the fishing spots they shut down are not unlike the kind of spots we experience Redfish Jubilees or the deep holes speckled trout take refuge in.

Consider North Carolina’s rather stiff ban on speckled trout harvesting until June of this year. The reason? Yeah, the freeze event we just had.

Where is CCA Louisiana on this?

They're politicking at high-dollar restaurants, sharing pictures of a hummingbird and asking people for selfies with snowmen, or at least that's what you'll find on their Facebook page since the freeze event. Not a word about fish kills, preventative measures, post-freeze action or any semblance of leadership or authority.

Yes, their lackluster and limp-wristed approach to conservation is why they should just be called the "Coastal Association". That's why I am no longer a member of their organization (and haven't been for years, not since they stood against water access).

If you have a CCA sticker on your truck then you may want to consider removing it so we all don't have something to point and laugh at.

Anyway, I apologize for the rant...

Hopefully you can see the points being made here. I just don’t see anyone else making them, hence why I feel compelled to write this post. That’s because inshore fishing has been a journey for me. While I still keep and eat fish, I used to be that guy who just had to limit out and be the first back to the dock cleaning fish in front of everyone. I did this so much that you could catch me on Breton Sound Marina’s dock cam (no longer in service, sadly) running a fillet knife.

Years of catching limits of speckled trout and redfish taught me that cleaning every single one of them is not as important as putting them back for tomorrow.

Yet with each step in my journey I grew and watched Louisiana’s coast change. With that growth came maturity and wisdom. Yes, I still keep and eat fish, but now I put far more back in the water. Now I know better and hope to set the example so we can all have a better fishery, together.

Tight lines and thank you for visiting my website.

Captain Devin

About the Author

Devin is a former fishing guide and lifelong inshore angler. He founded Louisiana Fishing Blog in 2012 to share his ideas as a charter captain and still writes in it today. Since then he's created a fishing university — LAFB Elite — where he teaches inshore anglers how to safely navigate Louisiana's coast and catch more fish.

  • I am not certain what your message is .The heading is “How many specs and reds died in the snow in Louisiana “. Then off to “bragging guides….” Then off to catching fish at their weakest. So what is your message ?. You jump and skip around but where is your advice or message.

  • So your final take is I still can get my bucket list reds and specs Trip this year as I am 70 and kicked cancer twice but time is short

  • Wow! I’ve been a member since the beginning. I remember how you would step very softly around the word “conservation” and never uttered a disparaging word about the Charter business. I was a guide for 20 years on a catch and keep tail water for stocked trout and I know for a fact the majority of today’s fishermen will choose big fish over lots of fish. A group of 10% of our local guides changed this perception in just 3-5 years. Our fishery went from producing a bunch of 10” fish to catching a 22”-24” fish a daily occurrence.

  • Thank you so much, Luke. Unfortunately, I do not use Facebook, so I cannot see that link. Any content from social media you see here in this article were sent to me. I’ll get someone to fetch it for me. Again, thank you!

  • That’s interesting because the east side of the river gets more river water. That and I have plenty, and I mean p-l-e-n-t-y of reports of dead fish (and video from east of the river). The fish kill east (and west) of the river is the worst since 1989. I’m hearing estimates that 80% of speckled trout over 18″ are dead. It’s bad.

    Anyway, thank you for commenting. I appreciate that!

  • It seems east of the Mississippi didn’t get hit as hard as west of the Mississippi. I’ve fished both sides of the Mississippi for awhile and have found that the eastern side holds better water clarity in general and especially when wind is blowing. When you talked about muddy water suffocating the fish, it makes more sense that the west side would have more of that issue.

  • https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1MdHTRoRSH/

    Here ya go Devin! Posted a pic just a few minutes ago. The Grand isle/Leeville area was hammered. Went fishing today and was astonished by the amount of dead fish we saw. I’m wondering why I haven’t seen more posts about it since it was more than a week ago. What you said makes sense.

  • I’m in NC and really enjoyed reading your opinion on the CCA,they are nothing more than a bunch of rich,old white guys that want to funny fish while destroying the sport for the poor man!! Our cold stun doesn’t seem to have been as terrible as yall had but it’s definitely worth being smart about and leaving the specks alone for a while!! Hopefully we as fisherman will be able to enjoy a few for the table later this year because I don’t care to buy seafood unless it is straight from a commercial friend of which I have many that I trust and support….

  • Thanks for posting the truth. I too haven’t been a member of CCA for a very long time. I enjoy your educational videos

  • So far (knock on wood) the river is looking good. I am hoping for the best for the fish. Seems like we just can’t get a dang break. One thing after another. Thanks for visiting, Captain Rory.

  • We may need to do something like what Texas has done or like what North Carolina did. I’m getting increasingly bad reports that the speckled trout population has been devastated. Like you, I’d rather have the fish to catch than none to eat.

  • Agree with your points and have also noticed the lack of interest by cca in any of the real issues, they are more interested in the fundraising and salary levels than conservation. Creel limits, Pogey boats, bowfishing(consider head lighting rabbits), surface drives and damage to the marsh. You don’t see cca.

  • Thank you for making this and for encouraging a different mindset. I agree that that is what it will take to make a difference. I believe Texas anglers and TP&W made some good decisions after their bad freeze in February of ’21 that are really paying off now as their fishery has really rebounded. I personally would rather have awesome days on the water with my kids than kill every fish I’m allowed. My family and I love fresh fish, but we’re committed to just keeping a few for dinner every now and then and releasing the rest. Just my 2 cents. We have some some special fisheries in this country and I hope we can all pull together and fight for these special places we have.

  • Thank you for your insight and plug to catch and release to ensure our resources for our grandchildren and their grandchildren! It’s great to keep some fish to eat as nothing tastes as good as fresh fish!

  • I have nothing to offer as far as personal on the water sightings. I like a lot of the captains I know simply are not fishing much if at all right now. Everyone has been getting those last days in the duck blinds or deer stands, or like you getting maintenance done. The few that have, have been hitting the easy button and targeting sheepshead outside when they can.

    Time will tell on how bad it was. On the upside Mother Nature will fill a void. Pray the Mississippi behaves this year, unlike it did after the 2018 kill. We may see huge numbers of fish in the next year or two.

  • Agree with every point. I shamefully caught reds on dead shrimp in Hopedale immediately following the blizzard but they were all released. I love the driveby on CCA. Too many people have no idea how terrible they actually are.

  • I noted dead bait fish at the dock down in Chauvin/Cocodrie area and decided to NOT take my boat out and fish. I am only one person but if we want to take our grandchildren fishing one day maybe we should think more about today.

  • Great post Devin. I’m with you. Let’s layoff of them or at least catch and release until April. My $.02.

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