All of these waters can produce excellent catches of catfish. Near the Mermentau, the waterway runs through several canals and large, shallow lakes such as Lake Misere in Cameron Parish. Running through the marshes of south Louisiana, the waterway connects the Sabine, Calcasieu and Mermentau rivers with other honeyholes. ![]() South of Lake Charles, the Intracoastal Waterway crosses the Calcasieu Ship Channel, a straightened, widened version of the old Calcasieu River. The Calcasieu holds lots of all three major catfish species. People either cut up shad or use them alive for blue cats and channel cats."įarther south, bank-anglers fish along the Calcasieu River at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Moss Bluff. ![]() Large baitfish concentrations, primarily threadfin shad, swim around that bubble line. People either tightline or cast a bobber near where water coming down out of the spillway hits the pool. "There are so many catfish in there, you can't help but get them. "We found populations in our sampling that were outstanding," Reed said. Between the Pearls, several other rivers and interconnected bayous form Honey Island Swamp. North of Slidell, the Pearl splits into the West Pearl and the East Pearl, with former taking the majority of the water. Sloping gradually southward through pine and upland hardwood forests to cypress swamps, freshwater marshes and finally brackish estuaries, the Pearl River forms the boundary between Louisiana and Mississippi. Some of these drainage ditches eventually connected to West Pearl River or Lake Pontchartrain. Once, someone caught a 10-pounder from a ditch that we could jump across, but a 2- or 3-pounder usually took bragging rights at most places. Most bayous, canals and lakes hold good populations of blues, flatheads and channel catfish.Īs a youngster, my friends and I bicycled to several fishing holes around Slidell and caught cats in ditches that didn't exceed 2 feet in depth. They can live in anything from a small drainage ditch to the Mississippi River. Catfish thrive in nearly every suitable body of water in Louisiana. Smaller rivers can also provide outstanding catfish action throughout the state. Now just a long oxbow lake off the Red River, the Cane once formed the main channel of the Red River before that river changed course in the 19th century. In June 1994, Bill Dickinson landed a 38-pounder for sixth place. In April 1998, Ricky Gauthier caught the third-largest flathead ever seen in Louisiana, a 50.44-pounder. ![]() The Cane River near Natchitoches produced two Top 10 flathead catfish. Sometimes, I won't get a bite in the bottom of the hole, but I can't keep them off on the upstream side." I put another bait in the bottom of the hole and one or two behind the hole. Inactive fish rest in the bottom of the hole. Feeding catfish find a comfortable spot and face upstream looking for food to come to them. "Around that hole, I fish three to five rods with different types of bait. "Blues congregate at the end of wing jetties where current creates an eddy and digs a deep hole," said Gary Hood of Red River Catfish Guide Service in Bossier City. Big cats wait near these rocks to grab baits drifting downstream. These jetties also create eddies and scour holes that attract fish. Wing dams redirect the channel to maintain the Red River at a minimum of 9 feet. The average would be much less than that on other water bodies." "On a good day, an angler on the Red River might catch 30 or more catfish provided he or she knows where to go," said James Seales, a LDWF biologist in Minden.
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