Yak Guys, Check Out This Reggio Map (Added GI & Fouchon)

[BeastMan]

With Beast Jr keeping me indoors, I've been really looking at google earth a lot for new areas to fish. I really scoured Reggio and I like what I see. It's on my to-fish list. I made a quick map to show the Outdoor Dawgs what I'm looking at.



One of the things I look for when finding a kayak fishing area is spots that are relatively close to the launch that looks fishy. Starting at the marina, I marked 3 spots to illustrate why I like how Reggio looks. Marsh 1 is .6 miles from the launch. Good looking shoreline and some ponds over that way. Very close paddle. Marsh 2 is .7 miles from the launch. You go down the canal and turn east at the .25 mile mark and then almost half a mile to there. Access to tons of bayous, cuts, shorelines, and various interior marsh. Marsh 3 is 1.45 miles from the launch. Its hard to see from that high up but it is the first cut to the west marsh if you run south down the reggio canal. Its the furthest paddle but would be a good spot to turn in the marsh and fish back to the launch with tons of options to keep you busy for as long as you want to be out there.

I've been told there is a lot of grass ponds in Reggio and you can see the grass on google earth. So I'll definitely bring some weedless options but that grass should keep that water clean year round in most conditions. Its a winter trout spot in the deeper holes but holds reds and bass year round. I'm sure you could stumble across some flounder or black drum too.

Perhaps my favorite thing I've been told about Reggio is that its sleepy. Most people pass it for Delacriox. Less boat traffic is music to my kayaking ears.

I'm off work and bored keeping the baby so wanted to pass some of my "research" (if you can call it that) along to the outdoor dawgs.

[BeastMan]

Decided to do a few more of these. Last summer me and some buddies did a trip to GI and used their kayak launch on the bay side of the island. Great setup that has some rock jetties to keep it calm on the inside and if you're down there on a rough weekend, you could always fish the jetties with live/dead bait on the bottom and catch something. We fished the island and the marsh just north. The interior toward the south end is pretty shallow but I liked a lot of how it looked. Full disclosure, we didn't catch a ton. Wasn't the best trip from a catching standpoint but I definitely mind wouldn't mind going back. Such a yak friendly setup.



I have the launch marked. To give you some perspective, from the launch it is 1 mile to the west tip marker and .8 to the north tip marker. We focused mainly for reds in the interior bayous and flats but when I fish it again, Im throwing topwater or live bait on the tips, points, and wind protected shoreline for trout. The guys who did the best fished for trout working the east side all the way up.

[BeastMan]

Last spot I wanted to highlight is in Fouchon around Moran's. I've stayed at Moran's and it is a top notch place. The rooms are bigger and nicer than Boudreax's for comparison. Also, they have a gas station, restaurant, bar, and bait all on premises. I've stayed here but I have never yak fished the area and that needs to change. If you launch from the marina and paddle north along the bridge, you run in to some marsh pretty quickly. The first cut in to Fouchon Marsh 1 is only .25 miles from the marsh. It looks like there are a bunch of fishing cuts, points, and shoreline heading north and you can go as far as you want. Fouchon Marsh 2 is 1.1 miles north going up the canal that runs parallel to the old Hwy 1. The reason I marked it is because you can go east under the bridge and access the marsh on that side which could come in handy depending on the wind. Another area I've never fished but I definitely will. Would be a great spot for groups to go get together and fish. Another positive of Fouchon is it's far enough south that you could catch trout all summer where in Reggio you're really ruling out trout past early spring.

[SpeckleDawg]

One of the things I look for when finding a kayak fishing area is spots that are relatively close to the launch that looks fishy.

This is the key. I also try to plan for spots with places I can paddle to and from easily depending on the wind direction/speed. Paddling back in against a strong wind in a kayak sucks.

That area in Fourchon is a great spot. We normall fish the other side of the road, but have talked about trying that side as well.

Those Reggio spots look good too. So many options with a kayak and combat launching.

[BeastMan]

This is the key. I also try to plan for spots with places I can paddle to and from easily depending on the wind direction/speed. Paddling back in against a strong wind in a kayak sucks.

That area in Fourchon is a great spot. We normall fish the other side of the road, but have talked about trying that side as well.

Those Reggio spots look good too. So many options with a kayak and combat launching.

Combat launching hwy 1 is a whole new animal. Tons of options. I've been wanting to combat launch off Hwy 1 between Fouchon and GI in the area of Bayou Laurier/Lake Laurier area. It's the north side of 1 before GI.

[BeastMan]

I've been looking at Shell Beach/Hopedale over the last couple days and in my research, I found a few things. First, Campos Marina in Shell Beach is kayak friendly with the launch at the end of the road. You have quick paddles to marsh, Mr Go rocks, and Lake Borne. It's a good spot for the summer if you want to potentially catch specks like in GI or Fouchon. The flip side is it looks like during warmer months, there is going to be a ton of yaks out. That's not a bad thing, I'm just a guy who like to get away from big crowds. Now, Breton Sound Marina's location is more appealing to me but I've read bad things about the kayak friendliness of that launch. The proximity to Lena Lagoon and surrounding marsh may make this option better for an afternoon trip or for a trip during the week. I found out about another launch in that area that I think balances everything I seek the best. It's called Pips in Hopedale. Used to be a marina but now only has a couple small boat launches with a $5 honor box. It's less than half a mile to Hopedale Lagoon and what looks like prime redfish and bass fishing almost year round. Trout will be more seasonal. I uploaded a route to show the possibilities of launching in that area.



The sample route has you running west through hopedale lagoon to East Bayou where you turn south and pass Dow's ditch. You turn back east into oyster bay and then south until you run into an unnamed bayou and paddle back north towards hopedale lagoon. The total route is less than 8 miles and besides the first and last .4, you could be fishing the whole time. The points, cuts, and pond opportunities on this route are absolutely endless.

You probably don't even have to get that in-depth. You could likely enter hopedale lagoon, pick a northern shoreline either east or west and work that and have good success.

I'll continue to update this thread with more of these if I find something that looks interesting.