Inshore Fishing in the Biloxi Marsh – November 2021

Myself, my Dad, and one of his friends made the trip to Mosquito Bayou in the Biloxi Marsh a few days before Thanksgiving. We only had a short two day window of free time before the holiday season began. The weather was forecasted to be perfect, with temperatures in the 70s and light easterly winds.

After launching the skiff at Pass Christian Harbor, I made a quick stop at Roscoe’s Live Bait Works, loading up on 150 live shrimp. Shorty after that, I got the shrimp transferred to the live well on Encore and then got the skiff rigged and ready to tow. About 15 minutes later, we were underway pulling out of Pass Christian Harbor at 10am.

Getting There

Our originally planned destination was Ninemile Bayou. It is an anchorage location that we have used during the last few trips to the Biloxi Marsh. Midway through the 20 mile run from the harbor to Ninemile Bayou we decided to make a slight adjustment to our destination. We instead chose to try to get into Mosquito Bayou, an area that we had previously anchored in regularly in years past.

The mouth of Mosquito Bayou is only about one mile west of Ninemile Bayou, but it runs much deeper into the marsh. It allows much easier and faster access to the areas within the marsh where we normally fish. We had not attempted to enter the bayou in several years. Since Hurricane Katrina parts of it have drastically changed, with the southernmost section closest to Lake Borgne having completely silted in.

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Around 11am we reached the entrance to Mosquito Bayou and immediately began kicking up mud. Encore needs 4.5′ to float, and the water depth at the mouth was 5’. For about the first quarter of a mile into the bayou the water depth was between 5′-5.5’. We kicked up mud during that entire distance. Shortly after that the bayou made a 90 degree turn to the southwest, and the water dropped to a 8’-10’ range.

After moving through the bayou another 2.5 miles, the water depth shallowed again. We were about a half mile from an anchorage location that we had used in the past, when we came upon an anchor ball in the center of the bayou. With the water depth being as shallow as it was, we decided not to go any further. Instead, we took the easy option and tied up to the anchor ball.

Fishing – Day One

It was around 1pm once we got securly tied up to the anchor ball. Shortly after that we had a quick lunch and then loaded up the skiff with our gear and 75 live shrimp. Our first stop was at an intersection between Mosquito Bayou and one of the smaller bayous that feed into it. The tide was rising at the time. We immediately began catching trout using live shrimp suspended about two feet below a popping cork. The fish were about 50/50 keepers vs. undersized throwbacks.

After about an hour the bite slowed, so we decided to make a move. The next stop was at another intersection of bayous a little farther east in the marsh. This spot was much the same as the previous one. Immediately we were catching trout, but about half were throwbacks. We tried Carolina rigs on the bottom with live shrimp, but the only action down there was hardheads.

At 4pm we had 20 trout in the ice chest and wanted to try one more spot before the sun went down. It is on the north side of the marsh and has been very productive on a rising tide in the past. There was nothing happening for us though. The tide was almost slack and we could not get a bite. Just before 5pm we made the 20 minute run through the marsh back to Encore.

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Fishing – Day Two

After a quick breakfast, we put our gear in the skiff, the remaining 75 shrimp in the live well, and were off to our first stop. This spot was at the mouth of one of the many bayous that run into the Lakes of Bayou Marron. The action was slow at first as the tide was just beginning to rise. Once the tide was flowing a little faster, the bite started and did not stop. We quickly put 25 trout plus one sheepshead in the ice chest with very few throwbacks.

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At 9am, with the wind starting to pick up, we decided to head back to Encore to get everything ready for the ride back to the harbor. By the time we pulled out of Mosquito Bayou and into Mississippi Sound, the wind had picked up to 15 knots out of the east. The ride back got a little bumpy, mostly for the skiff as you can see in the video below. Overall, it was another great fall trip in the Biloxi Marsh.