. ~ Captain Paul's response to: ~ Fisher of the bass ~
Vermillion Bay offers such a wide variety of fishing locations that it will be impossible to list them all, but nevertheless here are some locations that should at least get you started.
Lets start with the artificial reefs in the area.
The Louisiana Department of Wild Life and Fisheries has several “inshore” artificial reefs in that area.
There are several artificial reefs in the Vermillion Bay area. For a complete listing of all of the reefs, go to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries web site at http://www.wlf.state.la.us/ Navigate to their FISHING INFO button, then the Programs then the Habitat button to the ARTIFICIAL REEF program button or cut and paste the following URL in the address window of your browser:
The Vermilion area - Redfish Pt. Reef is indicated as being at 29º40’37” N. Lat ~ 92º 07’ 05” W. Long
Some of the others in the area that may interest you are:
Lake Pelto area - 29º03’ 32” N. Lat ~ 90º43’ 25” W. long
Pt. Au Chin area - Bully Camp 29º27’28” N. Lat ~ 90º22’41” W. long
Vermilion area - Cypremort Pt 29º43’20” N. Lat ~ 91º52’22” W. Long
Cote Blanche area - Nickel Reef 29 º25’10” N. Lat ~ 91º42’ 27” W. Long
Cote Blanche area - Rabbit Is. #1 29º25’37” N. lat ~ 91º42’27” W. long
Cote Blanche area - Rabbit Is. #2 29º30’ 34” N. lat.~ 91º 33’ 52” W. long
Please note that the DW&F sites are in DDD,MM,SS and were determined using NAD 27 datum. If your GPS is set up with a different DATUM or Position Format, you will have to convert this data to that of your unit or change the internal settings in your unit to the NAD 27 and H,DDD,MM,SS.s settings.
Other Vermillion Bay area sites
Diamond Reef
The southern end of Diamond Reef is about 2 miles southwest of Grosse Isle Pt. of Marsh Island in the GULF of MEXICO. At a very low tide you probably walk from Grosse Island point to the southern most end of the reef. The entire area has numerous oyster reefs, with a large circular oyster reef making up part of Diamond Reef at the southern end.
The north western part of Diamond reef is at or about 29º 31.607’ N. Lat ~ 91º 59.290’ W. long.
The southwestern most part is at or about 29º 30.644’N lat ~ 91º 59.326’W. long.
The Northeastern part is at or about 29º 31.339’ N. lat ~ 91º 58.711’ W. long.
While in the area you may also want to check out another small un-named reef located just east of the Diamond reef. It is at or about 29º 31.037’N. lat. ~ 91º 58.249’ W. long.
Shell Keys
There is also a reef at Shell Keys or rather Shell Keys is a reef. It is in the Gulf of Mexico and is located about 4.5 miles SSW of Mound Point of Marsh Island and south east of southwest Pass of Vermilion Bay. The northern most part of the shell reef designated as Shell Keys, is at or about 29º 25.582’ N. lat. ~ 91º 51.280’ W. long and the southern most part of the “Key” is at or about 29º 24.668’ N. lat. ~ 91º 51.320’ W. long.
They are EAST of the Diamond Reef area and are also in the Gulf of Mexico near the shoreline by Mound Point. The western most part of this horseshoe (at the southern end of the reef) is at or about 29º 24.567’ N. Lat. ~ 91º 51.310’ W. Long. The east part of the horseshoe is reported to be marked with an unknown marker. It is at or about 29º 24.389’ N. Lat. ~ 91º 50.999’ W. Long. The reef on the western side extends northward for about 1.25 miles, past some shells that should be visible at low tide to a point that is at or about 29º 25.637’ N. Lat. ~ 91º 51.291’ W. Long. The north east part of the reef is at or about 29º 25.992’ N. Lat. ~ 91º 50.153’W. Long. From this point to the east side of the southern horseshoe it is reported that there are three markers. Use caution in this area as there are numerous shoals and reefs in the area.
TETE BUTTE and TETE BUTTE REEF
Tete Butte is a small hill covered with trees and is located on the shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico west of Lighthouse Point and Southwest Pass of Vermillion Bay. The Butte is a hill just north of the shoreline. This land feature is at or about 29° 35.211’ N. Latitude ~ 92° 05.734’ W. Longitude.
The closest launch to that area is the Cypremort Point area in Vermillion Bay. It is about 17 miles via boat to the Tete Butte reef via Vermillion Bay and Southwest Pass. Tete Butte is about 23 miles from Intracoastal City via the Vermillion River Cutoff, Vermillion Bay and Southwest Pass.
The Tete Butte Reef.
Actually there are two small oval sections left about 600 feet from the mean low water mark of the shoreline just south of Tete Butte. These reefs are called TETE BUTTE REEFS. They are about 2.6 miles west of the Southwest Pass area and about 23 miles east of Freshwater Bayou Canal and the Gulf Of Mexico. The Butte is west of Marsh Island.
The lager of the two reefs, the eastern most oval, is about 600 feet in length north to south and about 250 feet east to west. The northern end of this eastern oval, is located at or about 29°34.978’ N. lat ~ 92° 05.564’ W. Long. The southern most part of the same oval is at or about 29° 34.892’ N. lat ~ 92° 05.563’ W. long.
The smaller, western most oval is almost 1300 feet due west of the northern end of the above reef. The southern most end is at or about 29° 34.980’ N. Lat ~ 92° 05.832’ W. Long.
Use caution in the area as the water depth may be less than three feet in the area around the reef.
THE HAMMOCK
The Hammock is located southeast of Cypremort Point along the coast in the upper part of West Cote Blanche Bay. It is small lake along the coast line. You can access the lake via the mouth of Hammock Bayou that is at or about 29°42.634’ N. Latitude ~ 91°51.754’ W. Longitude and is located between Crawford and Dead Cypress points or via an opening in the shoreline between Hammock Lake and West Cote Blanch Bay that is located at or about 29°42.780’ N. Latitude ~ 91°50.457’ W. Longitude.
THE COVE
The cove is generally referred to as the area that is between Cypremort Point ( 29° 42.804’ N. Latitude ~ 91° 52.903’ W. Longitude ) on the south and Blue Point ( 29° 44.825’ N. Latitude ~ 91° 52.646’W. Longitude ) on the north, just as you exit the launch area. It is the area just south of Shark Island.
NICKEL REEF
Nickel reef is not in the immediate Vermilion Bay area. It is a Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Inshore Artificial Reef. It is located at or about 29º 25.178’ N. lat ~ 91º 42.457’ W. long and is located SE of Marsh Island near at the Gulf of Mexico, South of East Cote Blanche Bay.
In addition there is another reef located northwest of the Nickel Reef site. The center of this banana shaped reef that is in a north west to southeast direction, is located at or about 29° 27.078’ N. lat. ~ 91° 43.380’ W. long.
RABBITT ISLAND
Rabbit Island WAS a banana shaped island about 1600 feet (.3 miles) long that was in a ENE to WSW position. The eastern most part of this island was located at or about 29º 30.636’ N lat ~ 91º 35.722’ W. long. The western most part of the island was at or about 29º 30.564’ N. lat ~ 91º 35.975’ W. long.
The eastern most part of the island is about 2.8 miles at a bearing or 254º Mag from Point Chevreuil. The smaller of the two sections is, I believe, now called
LITTLE RABBIT IS.
The original US Geological Survey benchmark was located just SW of the western part of the island in 1985. The marker was at or about 29º 30.540’N. Lat ~ 91º 35.985 ’W. long. The concrete pillar with a horizontal brass disk that lists its position was at one time on the SW tip of Rabbit island. It is now probably now under water, as the island tip has eroded towards the east.
BOXCAR REEF is in the area of Southwest Point by Southwest Pass of Vermillion Bay.
The reef is roughly aligned in a Northwest to southeast position. The north western most corner is at or about 29°37.705’ N. lat ~ 92° 00.432’ W. long.
The southeastern most end of the reef is at or about 29° 37.360’ N. lat ~ 91°59.799’ W. Long.
It is about .8 of a mile from the Southwest Point, light marked Green # 13 which is marking the Southwest Pass channel at a bearing of 14° (Magnetic) in a NNE direction. The water depth over the reef varies from 3 to 5 feet where the normal water depth in the area is from 21 just south east of the reef to 8 feet deep on the NW corner.
As for Southwest pass:
11349-Vermillion Bay and Approaches shows Southwest pass as well as the eight Aids To Navigation (ATONs) that mark the immediate pass. The northern most light “R6S “A” is located at or about 29º 37.130’ N. Lat. ~ 92º 00.240’ W. long. The southern most ATON close to shore (there are two others off shore) is Green # 5. It is at or about 29º33.675’ N. Lat ~ 92º 03.406’ W. long. Use caution in this area as there are numerous reefs and shoals throughout the pass area.
And to the North of Cypremort Point,
THE TRASH PILE
The TRASH pile is between Vermillion Bay and Weeks’ Bay just east of the peninsular where Pelican and Little Mud point are located. It is located just south east of MUD POINT at the north west part of Weeks Bay. The position is at or about 29º 47.913' N. lat ~ 91º 50.910' W. long. This is a general position as the area encompasses over a 1 square mile area along the shoreline.
OFFSHORE LEASED BLOCK AREAS in the VERMILLION BAY area.
LEASED BLOCK EI 51 (Eugene Island)
There are seven listed platforms in Eugene Island leased Block 51, all are leased by Ocean Energy, Inc. Leased Block 51 in the Eugene Island Leased Block area is about 19 miles South East ( a bearing of 164°) of South Point of Marsh Island.
Six are in the northwest quadrant of the block and one (OCI-EI 51-B) is near the center of the block. All are linked to the center platform by underwater pipelines. The center platform has a compressor and other pumping apparatus installed. I presume that this platform is the largest of the group.
EI-51B is located at or about 29*14.233’ N. lat ~ 91*41.052’ W. long it is 18.6 miles at a bearing of 162*Magnetic from South Point of Marsh Island. That course will place you to the west of two reef formations that are with in 2.5 miles of your course.
The central of the five north western platforms, OEI-EI 51-1 is at or about 29* 14.877’ N. lat ~ 91* 41.840’ W. long.
LEASED BLOCK 74
Leased Block 74 in the Eugene Island Leased Block area is about 25 miles South East (bearing of 161°) of South Point of Marsh Island.
There are at least five platforms in Leased Block 74. They are at or about: 29°09.703’ N. Latitude ~ 91° 38.704’ W. Longitude; 29° 08.254’ N. Latitude ~ 91°37.184’ W. Longitude; 29°08.468’ N. Latitude ~ 91°38.358’ W. Longitude; 29°08.191’ N. Latitude ~ 91°38.106’ W. Longitude; and 29°08.236’ N. Latitude ~ 91° 37.728’ W. Longitude.
You should also get a copy of NOAA Marine Chart 11349 ~ Vermillion Bay and Approaches,. Chart 11351 ~ Point Au Fer to Marsh Island and Chart 1116 Leased Blocks Miss River to Galveston Bay. They show the reefs and provides a way for you to determine the latitude ~ longitude for the reef locations.
TIGER SHOAL
Tiger Shoal is an area that extends for a distance of over 13 miles.
There are a series of rigs that are about 9.2 miles at a bearing of 192° Magnetic form the Southwest Pass of Vermillion, the center of the western most cluster is located at or about 29° 26.800’ N. Latitude ~ 92° 04.695’ W. Longitude and the eastern most group is at a bearing of 185° magnetic and is at or about 29° 26.479’ N. Latitude ~ 92°03.703’ W. Longitude. All of these rigs are within a 5 mile diameter of each other and are in Leased Block 217 and 218 of the Marsh Island North Edition Leased Blocks.
Tiger Shoal is located just to the south of these positions with the southwestern most part being at or about 29° 21.377’ N. Latitude ~ 092° 08.714’W. Longitude. The Shoal continues to the north east for another 12 miles ending just north of SHELL KEYS.
In addition, there are numerous reefs and shoals between Southwest and Lighthouse points in the Southwest Pass area. Check out the latest NOAA chart ~ 11349 ~ Vermillion Bay and Approaches for these reefs.
Unless otherwise specified, all positions are stated as H,DDD,MM.mmm and were determined using WGS 84 DATUM. All Headings/bearings/courses are stated in Magnetic Degrees.
By the way, I have a CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE of GPS WAYPOINTS for VERMILLION BAY that is available in the OUTDOOR STORE on this web site.
It is one of the easiest and I think the best way to get an EDGE on fishing the area is to consider getting my “CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE of GPS WAYPOINTS for your area.
The VERMILLION BAY EDGE FILE consists of over 200 EDGE locations in and around the area between the Intracoastal waterway and the Gulf of Mexico. It does NOT cover offshore locations.
By using these as a base, you can add your own and make an impressive repertoire of fishing locations in the area.
I call the Programs, CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE,” because I believe that they will give the fisher an advantage in getting to, finding fishing spots, moving around, and getting back from some of the more favorite fishing areas in the state.
The “CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE” is a very unique ELECTRONIC MEDIA program that can be downloaded directly into various GPS units from their manufacturer’s Mapping program or via several of Maptech’s mapping software programs. This technology saves countless hours of having to manually enter each separate waypoint value into the GPS receiver.
The entire procedure of loading over 150 odd waypoints from a CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE file takes less than three minutes from the time you view the email file to the time that they are loaded in the GPS receiver.
Presently I have NINTEEN Captain Paul’s Fishing Edge Files. They include Vermillion Bay, Hopedale to Bayou Terre Boeufs, Hopedale MRGO to MS Sound, Delacroix to Point a la Hache, Bayou Bienvenue, Calcasieu Lake, Lake Pontchartrain, Myrtle Grove- Lake Hermitage, Barataria Bay, Lake Borgne, Empire to Buras, Leeville –West, Leeville-EAST, Lafitte, The Pearl River WMA, Big Branch NWR, Bayou Sauvage NWR, The Rigolets and PORT Sulphur.
To download The CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE program(s) in your GPS, you MUST have FIVE items.
FIRST, a GPS Receiver; SECOND, that manufacturers Mapping Program or its Waypoint Manager software; THIRD, a computer with a connecting cable to the GPS unit or data card; FOURTH, a valid E-Mail Address that accepts attachments, and FIFTH, a CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE FILE.
Separate Program Files are designed for GARMIN, MAGELLAN, LOWRANCE GPS receivers and their mapping programs as well as for MAPTECH TERRAIN NAVIGATOR. These Edge files are NOT interchangeable.
ALL of the CAPTAIN PAUL’S FISHING EDGE of GPS WAYPOINTS are ONLY available at the LOUISIANA SPORTSMAN'S 'OUTDOOR STORE'
The OUTDOOR STORE link button may be found in red banner on the left side of the SPORTSMAN’s HOME PAGE in the OUTDOOR STORE or by clicking on the Captain Paul’s EDGE button on the right side of the home page. And you may also go direct to the Captain Paul Fishing EDGE site by entering
From either site, simply follow the instructions for ordering from the Louisiana Sportsman’s Shopping Cart.
Again, please get the necessary official Marine Charts for these areas as the waters over some of these locations may just barely cover the reefs. These charts will show the reefs and other hazardous conditions in the area. Knowing where these caution areas are located on charts can insure a SAFE and productive trip in the area.
Thanks Captain Paul! I am going there next month for the second time and I really believe that with the information you have posted we will have a good trip! Don't know why one person is disrespecting your help to others, but I for one respect your help and I am sure others are glad you make your posts. I have always found your posts very educational and helpful, the more information the better! Thanks! Geaux Coastal
