Fantastic fishing just a hop, skip and a jump away
In addition to being the oldest permanent settlement in Louisiana, Natchitoches is surrounded by some of the finest fishing spots in the state. Cane River, Sibley Lake and Red River are all only a few minutes from town by car.
Natchitoches is named for the Natchitoches Indians, a tribe of the Caddo Confederation that had a village where the town is today. Natchitoches is a Caddo word that means “paw paw eaters.”
Cane River Lake and Grand Ecore
Cane River Lake, which runs through Natchitoches, was the main channel of the Red River for many years. During the colonial period, the Red River forked just below modern-day Grand Ecore, a high cliff located next to the Highway 6 Bridge.
Interestingly, Grand Ecore is said to be a French term meaning “big bluff,” but the word “ecore” does not exist in the French language today. It may have been a slang term or a word that has disappeared over time.
Below the bluff at Grand Ecore, the Red River split into two channels that merged again at modern-day Boyce.
The eastern fork, which the Red River uses today, was known to the French as the Riviére de Petit Bon Dieu (River of the Little Good God). The name was said to be a reference to a priest losing his “images” there years earlier. Although the circumstances are not known, he may have lost a small statue of the baby Jesus that Catholic priests often carried.
The western fork ran by Natchitoches and was called La Riviére aux Cannes, or Cane River, because of the numerous cane brakes along its banks. It was the channel boats used because an enormous logjam known as the Great River Raft clogged the eastern channel.
When the raft was cleared out in the 1830s, most of the Red River’s water discharged down the Petit Bon Dieu, and Cane River essentially dried up during low water. As a result, the port for Natchitoches moved to Grand Ecore, and Cane River was dammed up in the 20th century to form a lake.
Sibley Lake
Sibley Lake is located on the western side of Natchitoches and is a popular fishing spot for bass, crappie and channel catfish. During the 19th century, it was a natural lake the French called Terre Noire or “black land.”
This natural lake was eventually drained, but a dam was constructed in the 1960s to create a 2,000-acre water source for Natchitoches. Sibley Lake is named for Dr. John Sibley, who was one of the first American settlers in the area and a U.S. Indian agent.
Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site
When fishing around Natchitoches, be sure to visit the Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site.
In 1715, the French built a fort there to facilitate trade and to protect Louisiana’s western border from the Spanish in Texas. Most of the French traders, settlers and soldiers in Louisiana at the time were from Quebec. When it came time to name the fort, they chose St. Jean Baptiste, a popular saint among Canadians.
Fort St. Jean Baptiste is a reconstruction of what the fort looked like in the 1730s. Park personnel dress in period costumes and portray what life was like at the fort some 300 years ago. Activities include firing flintlock muskets and a small cannon.
