You so mad!! How about you come with me for 6 hrs and I'll teach you more about our estuary than you could ever imagine... if you don't learn nothing I will pay you $1000 in cash

What day are you free

How can you say that if you didn't even talk to him. A good salesman can sell ice cubes to Eskimos. You, and others, tend to believe what y'all want to. Try listening to information and looking past the nose on your face. I don't make a living from the condition of the estuary like you and some others do. My livelihood is way more dependent on the Calcasieau Ship Channel than Calcasieau Lake. For your own good, and the good of the others that depend on the ESTUARY, I wish you would open up your mind. Listen to others who may not share the same thory as you, and learn. There are others on here that have opinions, theories, etc. that have helped educate me.

Can I take you up on this? Seriously. I don't even want the $1,000. I would just like the education, and I'll volunteer my boat and fuel.

Did not talk to who??I spoke with the WL&F biologist here at Heberts last week either Thursday or Friday afternoon

We have greater problem other than marsh behind weirs I promise, like oyster dredging and channel erosion!

That marsh is no where close to being in danger like oystering and ship channel

But why are the Feds not protecting that issue??

Feds and duck lease owners are more worried about protecting a marsh than the land that supports the ship channel?



You can blow smoke up as many people's azz as you like but the only reason weirs are being closed is for DUCK hunting v land lease owners

Tell me why the weirs have never been managed till last year?
Answer = Big Money lease owners moved in!

CMON

Big Lake problems in order and if you can find one person who spends more than 100 days out here on the water that disagrees I'll shut up
#1 ship channel Erosion
#2 Oyster Dredging
#3 Weirs closure
#4 Marshes behind weirs

Are these Big Lake problems or Big Lake fisherman/guide problems?

Must not be manageing something right back there used to hunt back in that area with sono savoies lease in the mid and late 90s and would smash ducks every day from what I hear now it sucks back there I always hear all this crap about ducks dont like salt water marshes well im calling bs on that too. I can see closeing the weirs when tides run way above normal but not the bull crap they are pulling now.

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Originally Posted by "W" View Post
Big Lake problems in order and if you can find one person who spends more than 100 days out here on the water that disagrees I'll shut up
#1 ship channel Erosion
#2 Oyster Dredging
#3 Weirs closure
#4 Marshes behind weirs

I wouldn't limit the erosion problem to the ship channel (it's much bigger than that), and I might not rank order them the same, but "W" is spot on with the four biggest problems faced by the estuary from a conservation/preservation/habitat point of view. There were a lot of pollution problems in the 70s to the 90s, but the industries have cleaned up their act.

Nope, I have spoken to 6 crabbers in last 4 weeks
2 Shrimpers from Hackberry out of spicers
2 local oyster fisherman out of spicers
50 local camp owners and lake residents
1 hunting club owner
And about 15 of us guides
And this is our biggest issues but people who sit in a office don't have a clue what's going on out here

I'm thankful I have a job I can live off of and guiding is my 2nd income
We have hundreds who make full time living off this lake and are fed up with the lack of actions by CCA AND State

Have time to adjust limits but yet ignore the problems

Duck hunting has gone down hill everywhere since the 90's. The duck hunting problem is bigger than this and is definitely not needed in this thread. lol


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Anyone who wants to come jump in my boat and take a ride let me know
We will start here at Heberts then drive to Cameron and talk to locals then to Hackberry plus stop a few shrimp boats in the way

Bring you note pad and pencil because this is not my 1st rodeo

Name all the different foods that ducks eat. Guarantee you I can tell you that the majority do not occur in salt marshes.

That marsh is not salt marsh anyway, so that's irrelevant. There is a very small fringing salt marsh on the southern end. Most of it is intermediate and brackish. Most of what I have seen is dominated by wiregrass, which is not a good duck food.

Y'all should jump in. I learned more about Big Lake in my first boat ride with W than in my fist 40 years. He knows this lake.

hahaha

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Irony at its best here folks....

The political and finacial backing of whatever sprouts from this endeavor will most likely come from....











*gasp*

Office Fisherman!!!


Don't bite the hand that feeds....

Do we get to fish in between?


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I know there is enough food and fresh water between here and canada that the ole grey duck marsh behind the weirs shouldn't be a huge concern. That marsh gets much fresher there won't be too many greys in there. Ponds will close in with cattails and cut grass, and there won't be any open water period. Fly over lacassine refuge and tell me that's a healthy marsh that is great habitat. It was 5 years ago, now it is done for.

I agree. The goal of marsh restoration is to keep the marsh from washing away and becoming an open bay, not to create optimal duck food to bait ducks for hunters to shoot.

Over time, if good salinity conditions are maintained, the habitat will shift and be more amenable.

But you can't have competing goals each and every hear and make great duck bait, optimally feed the lake, and keep the marsh from washing away in the next storm surge. You gotta pick one. And keeping the marsh from evolving into an open bay is the right priority.

MathGeek next time your around I'm kidnapping you for the day.. me and you have some ground to cover so keep in mind to leave free at least one day or half day when you come

I would have to say I finally agree with you regarding getting some of these organizations take some sort of action. However, could it be that they are gathering data and are waiting to speak until they have their facts straight?

Count me in. If possible I'd like to go at the same time as Math Geek. Like I said before, we can go on my dime too. Not sure how much estuary management background the shrimpers, crabbers, and locals Of Cameron parish have but I'm sure they will have some very strong opinions. Smalls, would love for you to jump in too.

Can we get off the ducks already! That is not the purpose of the weirs. Marsh management, not duck management. Waltrip has said it before, the east side is the life blood of the lake. You know why? That marsh. If it becomes open water, no more nursery, no more bait fish, no more crabs, no more shrimp, and a lot more *****ing.

You wanna do it, put it together. I'm down.

Your quote, not mine

Check your PMs.

Again, I was referencing two seperate things. Someone said the NWR should account for fish as well. They do not manage fish, they manage ducks. The weirs are there to manage marsh habitat. If conditions aren't right to maintain the marsh, they close the weirs.

Mr. W, it's up to you now my brother to put this together. please keep in mind most of us do work during the week. If necessary though, it's worth a vacation day to me. Keep us posted. Thanks

Who's facts are written in stone? How long do we wait for someone to set in stone a fact

Here are 100% true Facts
#1 we have serious erosion on the ship channel last year we lost super cut islands, Island south entrance of WC, major loss lake side by Texaco cut all this can be seen with eyes

#2 over oystering, the oyster fisherman will tell you the size and the numbers are at all time low this year. They drag for hours to fill a sack

#3 cutting off marsh supply stops your echo system from working naturally. Shrimp and bait fish use these marshes for the life cycle. When you cut out a piece if any cycles you cause damage to the system.

Wild Life and Fishers will not release the SPR #s to the public.
I just found out the reasons why yesterday from a close source.

I'm stuck in Baton Rouge or travelling on business until late May. Take W up on his offer as soon as you can, then stop by and shoot the breeze with me when we're in town for the creel surveys in late May/early June or come and tell fish stories at the Tourney. When we're in LC in May/June, we're at the boat ramps doing creel surveys on the prime time days (weekends), so we'll do most of our fishing during the week.

You're also welcome to join us any time surf fishing. We'll be hitting Holly and/or Rutherford often this Summer. PM me and we'll swap numbers, etc.

I understand, just confused on whether or not managing a marsh so that it doesn't erode and managing the same marsh for awesome duck habitat can coinside. Seems like there would need to be a little bit of salt water in the marsh. Is there a way to get saltwater to eastern side of the marsh, where everything is growing in, without having too much saltwater in the front of the marsh?

What you call bull**** is what I call making a point to someone that has no clue what the hell they're talking about. Appreciate your input.

Their bull**** is related to the topic at hand. You clearly only jumped in to tell W that you think he's wrong and offered absolutely zero input to the topic at hand. And you didn't make a point to anyone. Clearly.


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Boom ty

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Man all I have to say is I am really enjoying learning the perspectives on the marsh habitat it is a lot more to the story than I ever thought thanks guys for all this info I do believe that if all these perspectives could come together there could be a solution but it takes all sides and Smalls W math geek and the rest I appreciate the passion you guys out into this

Why does laccasine do fish shocks and counts.... That's a nwr... Guess them coonasses ain't managing the fish they just shocking em 4 the hell of it


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You had me until #3. 2 out of 3 baby! We are making progress. I just think there are other steps that need to be taken first before the marsh can work "naturally". Then again, this is just my opinion.

It's funny the old impoundment on the west side of the lake is now wide open... U know why quote straight out of wildlife and fisheries...we've accepted the fact it's now a saltwater marsh...


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Rmfao

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And I kill the piss outa ducks rt across from it in a saltwater marsh for whoever said ducks don't like saltwater marshes....


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Raffing my F*****g A** off?

There's enough grass that grows in a brackish marsh for ducks...the weirs r a busted plan that's why the refuge doesn't control em


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It depends on where exactly you mean. There's a lot of land back there. If you open the weirs more, you introduce the most salt closer to the weirs, and the salt decreases the further away from the weirs you get, so by the time you've got "just the right amount" of salt for your favorite marsh veg mix 3 miles away, you have too much salt at most points closer to the weirs.

Also consider the make-up of that marsh. Everyone wants their hunting spot to have perfect conditions. The eastern edge along 27, S of the ICWW had great duck conditions last fall and winter. We saw beaucoup ducks every time we drove 27 in the fall and winter. Sorry you missed them. Of course, we were fishing, heading back and forth to the jetties and beaches chasing bull reds. Getting permission to hunt closer to 27 might be easier than raising salinity in the spot you currently have access to.

If you want to raise the salinities closer to the ICWW, there are times when it has a bit of salt, though the salinity decreases quickly as you move toward Mermentau and away from the Calcasieu locks. In the area that moves SE, you can have salinities up to 20 ppt at times. Transfering that water into the marsh at the right times would increase salinities in the adjacent areas. (This is a scientific fact, it may not be a political possibility. The USACE and NWR peeps might have issues.) Once you get to the E-W stretch, salinity is much lower most of the time.

But I think the gradients in salinity and vegetation between the lake and 27 are OK. There is probably too much open water as a percentage of the overall land area. (See the attached photo). I don't think the science is on your side thinking you need more open water.

Weirs Closed
 

I

Unfortunately, the number of ducks you see along Hwy 27 is not always a good indicator as to how the duck season is going. I hunted just west of Boudreaux Lake and our hunting sucked last year as well as the people that hunted around us. Also, freakin duck leases are so hard to come by, you sometimes just have to take what you can get. Our side of the marsh has freshened up more and more over the last 3 years. I do know people that hunt further west, closer to Big Lake, and it's more brackish.

Rolling

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Do you mean how your duck season is going is not a good indicator of the quality of local habitat? There were more ducks along 27 than I'd ever seen in my life.

And my daddy had some sweet duck leases back in the 1970s. Judging the duck population by what you see when hunting is worse than judging the fish population by how many you catch. It just isn't a sound approach.

I remember being frustrated turkey hunting. All winter I'd see tons and tons of turkeys on a 100 acre farm where I had permission to hunt. Then the spring turkey season would roll around and they'd all disappear to some neighboring properties. The same thing happened my first few deer seasons until I adjusted the habitat and planted some food plots to keep them around during the season. But habitat adjustments don't create ducks (or deer), they just put them in the right place for convenient harvest. (Kinda like the artificial reefs CCA puts in). Our habitat improvements may have increased the carrying capacity by a handful of deer, but we killed 40-50 each year.

Now, it's not wrong to want to improve the habitat so the ducks land on your duck lease rather than somewhere else in the neighborhood. But I don't see why it's the government's job to do it for you, and they certainly shouldn't put other land at greater risk for erosion to improve your hunting.

I'd kinda like all the marsh and land to still be there when my grandchildren are old enough to hunt.

Sorry for the mix up. I was just stating that just because you see a lot of ducks along Hwy 27 doesn't mean the hunting is good in the surrounding marshes. In no way was I trying to relate my duck hunting to the health of the estuary. I agree with everything else you said. Biggest part of our problem was our particular section of marsh. That was our responsibility not the governments. I understand that a healthy marsh may not result in limits of ducks on our particular section as well as limits of fish everyday on the lake. It ain't a perfect world.

On the NWR? Again, LDWF wouldn't have anything to do with ththat because its federal land.

Who told you that? Because I was working for the state in the middle of all of that, and I can tell you the feds got sick of everyone complaining about them, so they got out. They just flat out dropped the operations and told everyone else involved to find someone else to operate the weirs.

Someone please educate me. I thought I saw a sign on the weirs that it is owned by Cameron Parish something or other??