Lacassine Bass Population
 

For the guys who fish the Lacassine pool regularly, what's your opinion on the overall bass population?
I haven't fished it much over the last several years, but it sure seems to me that it's nowhere near where it used to be, in either size or numbers.

From what i seen there were plenty of big fish in it this year... i see pics daily on fb of ppl catching and killing bass over 8lbs.... next year will probably suck tho

I think that the store in Hayes has considerably fewer big fish pictures on the wall than they used to.

As far as people keeping big fish, the coonass mentality will never go away. A few years of a good slot limit would do wonders for that place, but you'll never stop all those guys from keeping everything they catch.

Well this year is badd... bc ppl have it in their head that its better to keep all the big fish and move them to the burns bc they think they are goin to drain it next year and kill all the fish to burn it. They are goin to drain the North end next year but they will drain it slowly and all the fish will move to the south and the fish wont be harmed.

I keep everyone one I catch whether it's 6" or 8#. Man gotta eat

that sucks

I fish the place 2-3 times a week and I can tell you that it is doing fine, I don't have a big fish mindset , but ive been prolly 12 times bass fishing there this year and ive averaged around 7-9 a trip, had a few rough days, also had some 12-16 fish trips, many, MANY, people say "ohh, laccassine sucked last year, people need to stop keeping all the fish", well I did just fine, in fact, every time I fished last year I went home thrilled

BassYakR , you cant say that its gonna suck next year because of the people taking fish this year, they do it a lot every year, this year some just have another excuse, I tell my self that if I catch a big fish ill throw it back, although I dont judge against people who do, ive fished there for a bit, used to go behind bridge and smoke them off bank, this is my second year fishing it a lot in a boat and from my first time till the last time I went I usually leave happy

as far as the population goes it is blooming with bass, but I am 100% for a slot limit, being somebody that will keep a 10 inch bass out there, think 12-18 inch fish 8-10 a piece, and only one of your limit can be ovefr 18

Im just goin off of what i see.... ppl are taking more out this year that usual... Ppl i know that usually dont take em out are taking them out for the wrong reasons.... Last friday i caught about 12-15 bass all 12" and under... then Saturday you know what i caught... about 15-20 Fish all but 3 were 12" and under.... The Number of fish IMO is fine.... But the Number of BIG fish will continue to drop! BIG FISH BREED BIG FISH

Not what it used to be. Going and catching 15-20 fish in a day is not great. Keeping 10 fish from a morning or afternoon trip is not great in my opinion. I remember going and catching 50-60 fish by noon when I was younger. I went twice this yr. Caught 18 one trip and 1 another trip. I'll give it another try soon I'm sure. Just not happy with it. Yes there is lots of big fish in it. But could be better in my opinion.

Now the burns marsh is poppin. Me and a buddy went one day and caught like 70 by noon. That was fun. Nothing over 2.5lbs. Lots of 3/4lb fish. But fun fun fun.

Meat Killer I totally understand where your coming from, to my understanding (correct me if im wrong, im 17) there used to only half the amount of people that fished laccassine compared to today, I think the pressure in general has just got it, I cant say anything, I go there a lot , but not knowing how it was back when people could possibly catch 50 a day, 9-10 fish days are fun for me, no matter where I go, I keep most of what I catch from there, I do, but a slot limit would do that place wonders and I would be the first one to follow the rules

BassYakR I agree completely but as long as ive fished there (once again im young) and people that have fished there for a long time have told me its always been similar , a crap load of fish 10 inches to 2 pounds, you always got that chance of a 3-5 ( a bunch of them if you catch the right spot) and in spring you can put your glasses on and look for a big one, I know in summer time those 20+ fish days can happen often, especially if you stay long enough

Man not 10 years ago i used to go fish off the bank and catch 15-20 every trip... one difference i notice now tho is back then i could fish 5hrs from the bank and see maybe 3 or 4 other ppl come and go... this passed saturday there had to be 25 or more ppl bank fishing.

Flemmons there was a slot there if I remember correctly for like a yr then they did away with it. Anybody else remember this?

And yes there is a lot more pressure than there used to be. But still plenty big fish. Caught 2 almost 7lbs this yr. Several in the 4 and 5lb range. I keep fish from 11-14in. That's about it. Even on river. That's kinda my rule of thumb. Anything Bigger or smaller gets thrown back. But lacassine is a fun place to fish. I prefer it in spring.

BassYakR 2 years ago we were going behind the bridge back there on the south side and caught our 20 fish between two of us a few times, and 10-15 other times, theyre catchable close to docks, but now theres so many people that fish off the road, its insane

MeatKiller I haven't caught many big fish out the marsh, or many big fish in general, I don't sight fish in spring, I caught a 6 last year and a buncha 4's since then, and at one time there was a 14 inch min length , didn't last long though

Yea I remember the minimum length. Wish they would have kept it. But anyways. Stay at em man. Good luck out there.

I remember back in the day when it was low. Several years ago. Boats were t allowed. We would ride our bikes down the canals and leave with 160 qt full of 5# bass. That was the good ole days. Still plenty fish in there. Just gotta know how to catch em.

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/d..._pool_mp-a.pdf

LDWF has a lot of good science on Lacassine in the attached document. Anglers are always looking for something to blame when they can't catch the fish. Sometimes there is a management problem. More often, anglers think the fish are gone because the techniques they used in the past are not catching as many fish now.

I agree. Still plenty fish. Just gotta know how to catch em. They there

Tons of 9+ lb fish have been caught this year, you won't hear about them though. None of the guys catching them care to get on a public forum and brag. If you can sight fish beds you'll catch em.

Numbers wise i have no clue, but i hear fishing is tough in there while fish are all on beds. I'm sure they're in there.

What good does a slot limit do?

Leaves all the big ones for the gators. Buddy went Saturday had 15 nice keepers with one over 10.

i agree, I fish a lot of traditional baits (flukes, senkos, spinnerbaits, few other things) but I fish them in different ways and in different areas as others, and to my standards (8-12 fish being good) I usually leave happy, maybe its not good to others, but I talk to quite a few unhappy fishermen who would die to have like 2 fish in there boat, just my opinion

To only catch 8-12 fish id rather be flippin on the river.... Lacassine needs to get back to the 25+ days and maybe it will once i start goin more often... I did catch over 20 Last saturday and 12 friday... I dont like bed fishing... to me the satisfaction of catching an 8+ bed fishing vs catching it any other way dont compare.

BassYakR im satisfied with 8-12 fish being decent being I live 15 minutes from the place, I can also catch the same amount and prolly the same size on the river, which is a 35-40 minute drive, I will do that from time to time because I like fishing the river, just convenient being so close to the marsh, I don't complain

They shouldnt be comparable is what im saying! Probably due to pressure im sure. Not lack of fish tho.

although some people have 30-40 fish days on river, I haven't , but some do, also think about this as far as this year goes, a friend reminded me that there is a lot more fishing the marsh than in past years and over 6,000 less acres to fish being lil Egypt is closed as well as some flats on south end, just pressure

I wish there were definitive numbers on the overall population in the pool. I can clearly remember being in high school (late 80's) and my dad and I catching 2 limits (15 per man) on a fairly regular basis. I've noticed this year moving around in the marsh and the trails/canals not scaring up anywhere near the number of fish that we used to. I think a slot is a great idea, and I think some voluntary catch and release would do wonders for the population.

i agree 100% with you man!

Until they stop catering to the duck hunting out there, the BASS fishing will suffer. I know a couple of people that can go out there on almost any given day and catch multiple wall mounts but there aren't many that know that place and what to do out there like they do. Ducks will fly south for the winter every winter no matter what they do to the pool. Those BASS that are in the pool every winter that have to retreat to the east side the south side the west side or the canals know NO consistency and there will be NO "back in the day" consistency out in the pool until they do. Hell.. levee off the pool some more and raise it a few feet and you wont have to freaking burn anything off...This is Fishaholic and I approve this message.

I agree, I fish it a lot, sometimes multiple times a week, don't catch that many big fish but I know enough about it to have fun, but until they quit worrying about the ducks, most people will go out there optimistic and leave disappointed, there will be a select few who catch them consistently, the ducks are going there no matter what

Not to rain on any parades, but Lacassine is SUPPOSED to be managed for waterfowl. That is its expressed management objective. This has come up before, and the fact is, the bass are stocked in there, and from what I've been told, that was thanks to some locals that got together to make it happen years ago.

Lacassine is and will always be a waterfowl management area. That management objective will never change.

My pawpaw has always told me how good the fishing used to be out there. We fished it every now and then when I was a kid, but I have no special memories of it. I would love to catch fish like he used to out there, but I'm happy with even a decent bite.

This is true! And things change all the time... why pass up a chance to have a local trophy body of water. Charge a fee... make it a slot lake... itll never happen im sure. ... but stupid IMO that it never will.

How many NWRs or other federal lands have you known to completely change the way they are managed?

I agree, things change, but things that are established by federal law don't change very easily. The managers cannot just decide to manage for fish all of a sudden.

Me, I'd prefer to see it continue to be managed as it is now. We are having enough issues with the marshes of south Louisiana now. I don't want to see one of the largest remaining fresh marshes in south Louisiana converted to a trophy bass lake.

I have no issue with bass fishermen. I love bass fishing. But I'm a staunch opposer of any movement to change the management of a property to benefit one resource. The primary management objective of the refuge is waterfowl, but that management serves as an umbrella for several other species that depend on freshwater marsh, including bass and other sunfishes. While it may not be optimal for bass, it isn't as detrimental as some may lead you to believe.

Again, these aren't even native bass we are talking about. They are stocked.

I love bass fishing, and I hope Lacassine continues to be a great place to fish them. But I hope it continues to he managed in the way it was intended.

I remember back in the day before you could launch in the pool. You had to use rollers to get in there. In the late 70's it was rare to see another boat much less hear one. My uncle use to bring me when I was a kid. It was nothing to catch a 100 + a trip back then. Those were the good old days.

Same exact stories my pawpaw has told me. Always talked about going down to the rollers, having to ride the bank one morning to get to them because it was so foggy and they ended up circling an "island" before the realized it.

A part of me wants to agree with you Smalls.... but then the Selfish part wants to argue with you... bc i want it to be better for me. At least charge a 20 dollar fee to launch... that will keep alot of ppl away... then use that money to enforce a slot limit for at least 5 years....

DO NOT charge a fee!

to enforce a slot limit there will have to be more GW present to enforce this....fee will pay for that. I dont mind paying a fee to fish a place that i know im goin to catch Quality fish every trip...

I don't know what kind of hoops they have to jump through to charge you to use it though. I mean, its public land. I guess it would be no different than the requirement to have a WMA license to hunt a WMA, but that is a one time fee.

Plus, when you start introducing a fee, you are going to have opposition from the people that have always fished it without having to pay. That causes issues. People aren't going to like it. The fishermen may be the most vocal now, but if you start charging a few and it drives people away, they won't be for long.

Wildlife and Fisheries could quit stocking it tomorrow, and it wouldn't bother me. Plenty of places to catch fish. Yeah, its nice having a place to catch big fish, but I've never been all about that myself.

I found a report online about meetings they had about the fishing in Lacassine back in 2003. Got about 40 fishermen together to talk about their concerns with Lacassine, what they would like to see, etc. Got a lot of good feedback about slot limits, tournaments, charging a fee, water level management, etc.

End result of the report: still going to manage it for waterfowl. It doesn't matter what people want to be done out there. All that matters is what the legislation that set Lacassine up back in 1937 says, and its expressed intent was to manage for "WATERFOWL and other wildlife". They manage it for everything, but waterfowl is the focal group.

I think there was something in that report about fishermen wanting to start a group to help the refuge, but only IF this was done and that was done and budgets weren't going to be cut. No manager can guarantee that.

I know that it is made for waterfowl, im an avid duck/goose hunter and guide, I know how much it helps around here, it is made for waterfowl therefore it will NEVER be a "trophy" fishery, it just wont, it will be a place that all the freakin ducks go and people fight over big bedded bass in the spring

Ditto. Just wait til June when the grass gets a little thicker and it "gets so bad you can't fish it". The number of people fishing goes down and the number of fish caught goes up.

U really think if your put more money in the pocket of the federal government they will use it where need be?? Remember this is the government we talkin bout.

I'm not sure why yall don't think Lacassine is a big ole trophy bass pond as it is.....

What other body of water gives up the number of 10+ lb fish that Lacassine does?

Leave it be for waterfowl like it was meant to be, and you still have a high quality fishery. It's crazy if yall think Lacassine isn't loaded with 10+ lb fish. I'm sure numbers could be better, but where else do you have as good of a chance to catch a 10 lb'er on any given day?

after april your chances are VERY SLIM! Not many ppl catch em other than sight fishing beds.... which is great but IMO now how i want to catch my 10+

Exactly.

I don't think it gives up as many as you think, and I know there aren't as many 5-7 lb fish as there were in the heyday.

I know of a few 8-10 pounders caught in june, as far as them mainly being caught on beds, it all goes back to pressure, they are getting **** thrown at them everyday, they are smart, the only way they will put a bait in there mouth if they think it is harming there eggs, if you wouldn't have 100 idiots a morning throwing at them with the same ****, im sure it would be easier to have one slip up

believe me tmatte, it gives up A LOT, I think more this year than ever, the little deal with the pictures at the hayes store or for what I think people that never go there and get lucky, the people who fish there a lot and catch big fish don't post many pics and don't tell many people