The lower part of this parish offers wintertime fishing that is top-notch.
The speed limit through Galliano is 30 m.p.h., so it’s easy to recognize sites of obvious local significance. But even in a 55-m.p.h. zone, I would have spotted and stopped for the “Chene au Cowan.”
Pronounced “Shan-a-Cow-An,” that’s French for “oak tree of Cowan (its property owner).” The designated gathering spot for local Cajun men to sit, swing and solve the world’s problems, this tree’s landmark limbs hang an eclectic blend of story-rich memorabilia like antique lanterns, ship anchors, political posters and a 60-caliber machine gun belt from some war plane of yesteryear.
It’s comfortable, safe, familiar. Food’s nearby; so are convenient travel lanes. The men can spot friend or foe approaching from a safe distance and take the appropriate action.
Maybe the locals know this, maybe they don’t, but their subtle microcosm of Cajun bayou culture parallels the redfish populating a seemingly endless plain of marshland just a couple miles to their west.
Surrounding Galliano, and indeed most of Lafourche Parish, this inviting expanse of swaying grass, storm-blown trees and labyrinthine creeks is Louisiana’s answer to Florida’s Everglades. It’s a massive food-production facility with a host of ambient accents ranging from roseate spoonbills and white pelicans to alligators, otters and the notorious nutria.
The only downside for anglers is that everything looks fishy. “Cast toward the water” seems the only requisite instruction. In truth, both rhyme and reason exist within this piscatorial paradise.
Left to its own devices, the marsh would present a frustrating dilemma of abundant fish within a maze of limited navigability. But pipeline canals dug decades ago by the drilling industry provide a dependable system of fishable waterways.
Troy Robichaux guides the Golden Meadow marshes. Acknowledging the boating benefits, he said the canal system’s major selling point for redfish is depth — an attribute with seasonal significance. You may find good action any time of year, but canals are especially popular in late fall and winter, when fish seek stable temperatures in the 8- to 10-foot depths of these dredged ditches.
“Canals are the deepest spots in the marsh,” Robichaux notes. “Saltwater fish can’t tolerate much cold weather, so when the tide drops off in cold times, canals give redfish and trout a safe zone.
“When the redfish are in the canals, they’re really active and it’s nothing to catch a limit. But they just go to those canals as a survival mode. Redfish are generally going to want to be in the shallowest water they can. When they’re in the canals, it’s the water temperature that drives them there.”
In March, Robichaux led his clients to a 100-trout day when a north wind blew baitfish out of the marsh shallows and into nearby canals. Trout follow the food, as do their copper-scaled neighbors.
Local guide Marty Duet said the privately-owned canals see far less boat traffic than public areas like nearby Catfish Lake or the barrier islands. This semi-seclusion, plus abundant forage, bodes well for reds.
“Two things that influence a redfish are the amount of food (in an area) and the level of fishing pressure,” he said. “The fish don’t see as many boats in the marsh, so they stay in the area.”
Moreover, he said, constant coastal erosion means the outer marsh and barrier island habitat sees increasing saltwater intrusion. This pushes more redfish toward the inner marsh and the pipeline canal environment. Here, the fish find cozy digs with no reason to leave until they reach offshore spawning age.
Canals, with their higher edges, also benefit anglers, Robichaux said.
“They allow you to get out of the weather. When the wind blows, it’s not so rough in there,” he said.
Productive patterns
Duet eases along canal edges with his trolling motor and watches his bottom machine for humps, points and any submerged structure that can help redfish corral their meals. Oyster shells along the banks — often visible at low tide — always indicate promising water. Reds find a host of crustacean and invertebrate chow around these shells, so work a broad pattern along the shoreline and from shallow-to-deep water until you find the sweet spot.
“In the pipeline canals, it’s more structure-based fishing than sight fishing,” Robichaux said “Some of these canals have flats off their edges, and sometimes you can find the redfish tailing up in there.”
Tidal flats draining into a passing canal represent good high-water spots. Low tide reveals each area’s fish-attracting features, such as depressions, stumps and oyster colonies. Egrets clustered along shorelines indicate the presence of baitfish.
On a falling tide, Duet often targets the cuts connecting shallow runs to pipeline canals. Sitting on the points, he can pick off fish exiting with the tide, as well as those ambushing baitfish on the outer corners.
In the soft marsh mud, Duet holds his boat on target with a stainless steel rod thrust into the oatmeal bottom. A tie-off rope keeps the boat in place, and retrieval is as simple as plucking the lance from the mud.
As spring warms area waters, redfish disperse into shallow duck ponds, lakes and bayous of the inner marsh, where they can pin their meals against shoreline structure. During this transition, the fish will focus less attention on the cocaho minnows and juvenile menhaden that got them through the winter months and begin targeting shrimp and crabs.
Quarter-ounce jigs with grubs, shad or tube tails in darker colors like avocado, watermelon, pumpkinseed and root beer work best in the cold season. During T-shirt weather, spinnerbaits, gold spoons, jerkbaits and topwaters do the job.
Robichaux said that ponds with thick grass along their shorelines are ideal spots for bass-fishing techniques with soft plastics on jig heads. (It’s best when flood tides allow reds to push deep into the vegetation.)
“If you’re not worried about covering a lot of water, try pitching soft plastics into the heavy grass lines,” Robichaux advised. “Basically, there’s something for every kind of fishing ability in the marsh.”
Robichaux typically launches from Josh’s Landing behind the Crab Shack on Highway 3235 west of Highway 1. A dirt road leads through the flood gates and down to what looks like a junk yard by the water. Make no mistake — many a fine fishing trip has launched from the unassuming site.
This, along with a nearby public ramp, provides access to much of the Golden Meadow marsh.
Newfound awareness
With massive hurricane impact still hampering the Mississippi Delta — once the perennial favorite for visiting anglers — Lafourche Parish is starting to field an increasing level of interest redirected from storm-weary Plaquemines Parish.
Hurricane Rita hurt Lafourche much worse than Katrina, mostly due to a hefty storm surge. Aluminum siding, lumber and small boats still litter roadside canals along Highway 1, and Grand Isle suffered extensive structural damage. However, the scene is nothing the like the complete devastation wrought in Plaquemines.
During my February visit, plenty of marinas, hotels, stores and eateries were open for business. Fishermen could find fuel, ice, tackle and repair facilities with relative ease.
“Everything that you need to fish is there,” Robichaux said. “The storms didn’t do any damage to our infrastructure.”
For example, Anthony Toups operates The Kajun Sportsman, a hotel/marina with an upscale restaurant and general store in the parish’s southern port city of Fourchon. Dried sea grass clinging to a chain link fence at eye level bespoke Rita’s invasion, but with the bulk of its structure elevated high above flood level, this facility fared well.
Just a couple miles south in bustling Port Fourchon, charter boats share the Belle Pass waterway with a multiplicity of vessels carrying crewmen, supplies and service to drilling platforms dotting the Gulf. You’ll see a lot of boats formerly docked at Venice running out of Fourchon — evidence of this area’s burgeoning ability to not only fill in for its Delta neighbors but to prove its own merit.
While the Mississippi River mixes with delta marshes to form murky brackish zones, Lafourche enjoys mostly clean, always salty water. The tradeoff is that in this briny environment, you won’t find largemouth bass feeding next to redfish, as is often the case in Venice. Locals don’t seem to mind.
Complementing Lafourche’s stellar inshore fisheries, Fouchon provides convenient access to offshore action. Yellowfin tuna is the big draw from December through March. Other targets include grouper, snapper, kingfish, wahoo and cobia. At certain times of the year, you can also find jumbo bull reds on the nearshore drilling rigs.
There’s even a load of big black drum cruising the docks at Belle Pass Marina. When rough seas cancelled a February charter, disappointment turned into an impromptu bonanza as a group of grounded anglers hauled in a quartet of “dock tuna” pushing 30 pounds each.
That’s life in Lafourche Parish — always something to catch, always something to talk about. Just ask the fellows at the Chene au Cowan.
