Old Jetties in Big Lake
 

When will the coast guard ever do something about marking the old jetties? Someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed and then it is too late. Doesn't the coast guard have a responsibility to mark navigation hazards? :confused: Now, more than ever, with all the fishermen from the East coming over, it is very dangerous. The jetties used to be very visibile even in high tides. Now, you can hardly see them even in low tides.

Those of you fishing Big Lake who don't know about this major navigation hazard (and pretty good fishing area) should heed caution while motoring on the south side of the lake.

i agree

There was a red kighted marker on the west end. but it got wiped out. Now it is just a piling with a small white blinking lite.

The jetties are marked a few times.....GPS maps.....Markers on both ends....Its the boaters responsibility to know and navigate waters for obstructions... Any map of the lake or simple GPS has the old jetties marked...

I dont think the Coast Guard is liable for the rocks......They are stationary...

You should know common knowledge of navigated waterways..Thats from the WL&F

Ray. What were the exact purpose of these jetties originally

Would like to know aswell!!!! Always wondered that

Old jetties were built to funnel the water to the east side of the lake after the ship channel was dug....

Buy you a Hook-in-Line map....it gives you the GPS points of the Old Jetties from one end to the other and it shows where it is located.

I know this from experience. Blew out a prop

x2, these are some good maps for showing underwater obstructions

Longside just trying to earn my keep.....as someone said I never post anything in regards to fishing. BTW, the person Who said this, I see his post on this thread was VERY, VERY helpful in regards to the members questions about the location/marker for The Old Jetties!!!:D

Old Jetties
 

Back in the day, before the ship channel and highway 27, the only way to get to Cameron was by boat. The steamship ferries, Borealis Rex for one, would transfer people and goods from Lake Charles to Cameron. They built the jetties to reduce silting and to protect the boats as they made their turn to get into the old part of the river in front of what is now T-Boy McCall's place, where the Russian trawlers sit. When the new jetties were built they took a lot of the rocks from the old jetties. There was an article in the American Press years ago recounting a trip on the ferry. They talked about how clear the water was, you could see the grass on the bottom and tarpon rolling in the water. After the ship channel was built the salt water came in and killed off the grass and muddied everything up.

Heard at cocahoes yesterday that a guide totaled his boat with clients in the boat at the old jetties over the weekend. Not sure if thats true or not,but they should be marked better.

U could only see part of them Friday & Saturday. Maybe 50 yards of um. Very dangerous!!!

Those people probably hired a guide so they could learn how to SAFELY navigate the area. Bummer...

All boater are supposed to learn an area before putting the boat into that water.
You just cannot launch and haul a$$ around the lake.
If you hit a stationary object, you will be at fault. If you are not sure about the
area you are boating in, go slow. The slower you hit an object, the less damage
you will do to both you and the object you hit.
You also need to figure in tides before you go fishing. Ask me how I know.
The river ran thru the lake before there was a ship channel. The lake was shallow
so they had the Rex shuttle supplies to Cameron(Leesburg was the name back then)
so they could be put on deep draft ships that brougt supplies in and out of Cameron.
The old jettys directed water thru the river channel by T-boys.
In my younger days, we shrimped along the Southeast bank and there was still
grass along the banks. We would dump the bag and shake the shrimp out of the
grass.

couldn't agree more...
 

well said...well said

During one of my first trips fishing big lake, I learned about the old Jetties.

I was drift fishing on the south side and there was a big gap in the rocks so I figured I could just drift to the north. The water was a little off color so I could not see any danger. The boat passed with no problem but the engine got caught on the rocks. I raised up the engine to float on over the rocks.

At least you were drifting & not running

We did the same thing on our last trip there but we picked up the motor before drifting over them just to be on the safe side.

I drifted over them as well and caught my motor years ago. I have also learned quite a few other sticky areas through "trial and error.":pissed: There is a red buoy marking the farthest west that they stretch. If i come around that buoy and head east, i won't go north until I get close to Lambert's just to make sure I dont hit anything. Sucks having to run all the way around them.

A GPS is a must have for the lake. Its as important to me as my rod n reel. I get on the lake most of the time way before daylight to beat the crowds. So I run in the dark alot. Just follow your track.

I used to run at night alot too,untill I hit a crab trap float...that messed my day up.

was told by my grandparents that lake charles, before the ship channel was made, had very good bass fishing around shellbeach drive. They said there were tons of cypress trees and a lot of gators too. Said it was straight fresh water then not brackish.

I've urged NOAA and CCA to do something about better marking them, but to no avail. Seems nobody wants to spend the money to do it. Also the guides don't really wanted them re-rocked as they like to catch alot of their fish over those rocks. With all the added boat traffic, it won't be long before a few lower units are gone.

There are still many rocks that stick out the water, and if you get where you can see rocks in both directions (left to right) you can line up where the others are under the water. DO NOT CROSS!!!! This past weekend with the abnormally high tides even some of the highest rocks were under water or slightly above water makin it hard to see. You are responsible for your own actions when operating a vessel, just like when your driving a car, and you cannot blame others for what you dont know. Get a good map and most known obstructions are listed with GPS coordinates. Be safe and dont travel fast through an area you dont know. There are also some oyster reefs and sandbars in open water that you can run aground on during low tide.