I grew up in Houma, near Point Au Chien. You more than likely be tangling with reds up to 30" - which will easily murder your 5wt. I don't think I could even turn a small red (<20") with my 5wt. You need at least an 8wt IMO, if only because of all the aquatic vegitation. I fish down there with a 10wt that I lovingly refer to as "El Woppo", because I'm fairly convinced that it could turn a freight train if I needed it to. It will also be windy down there this time of year, even in the canals, and heavier weights will make your casting much easier.

I use a 20 LB flouro leader with no tippet, and I usually keep it 7-9 feet long. Those reds are brutal on the oyster beds, and I've had too many tippets cut to trust them anymore. The reds don't seem to notice the flouro.

My best flies on the central LA coast are:

como spoons (spoon flies)
lafleur"s charlie
chartruese-white clousers
swimp


Check out www.laflyfish.com and www.redchaser.com for patterns and more info on flyfishing the LA coast. Laflyfish is my favorite site, and it is an invaluable source of info for someone like yourself. Good luck!