Many things may have changed about The Pen over the years, but the one thing that has remained the same is how conveniently located it is.
“The run is, by far, the biggest benefit of all because you can come down with a 14-foot flatboat with a 25 (horsepower outboard), or you can come out in a 25-foot bay boat with a 300 on it,” said Capt. Donovan Hinton with Lagniappe Fishing Charters. “It makes no difference.”
Its location makes it a lot more manageable a run in the cold, and just about the time you fully hunker down and tighten your jacket you’re already there and ready to fish.
“You don’t have to worry about dreading a 40-minute boat ride to Brusle Lake or running out to Hackberry taking you 25 or 30 minutes,” Hinton noted. “And because The Pen is so close, you don’t have much open water to worry about.”
Access to The Pen is either through Goose Bayou to the north or what Hinton guessed most people would call the Bayou DuPont opening in the rocks to the south.
The shortest run for the Goose Bayou entrance up north would be from Joe’s Landing or Cochiara’s Marina, and the easiest run to the Bayou DuPont entrance to the south would be from C-Way Marina or C&M.
“Whichever end of The Pen you need to get into, pick whichever is going to give you the best ride according to if there’s wind that day — whatever’s the shortest run for you,” Hinton said. “None of them are long, but if you’re in a small boat you want to be as close as you can get.”
