Quote:
Originally Posted by saute86
The ICW east of Calcasieu Ship Chanel is freshwater. There are salt water locks just east of Calcasieu Point and Four Corners. I assume there is another set in the Basin area too.
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There are locks in Intracoastal City where the the ICW merges with Freshwater Bayou but after that the Intracoastal can get salty in a drought but its been a while. Runoff from the Vermilion and Atchafalaya rivers keeps the salinity down. Most of the rice and crawfish farmers irrigate from canals fed by the Intracoastal. But a bad drought or storm serge will raise the salinity enough to prevent irrigation. I remember 4 years we could not flood our fields for rice or crawfish in Cow Island. 2 years after Rita, the year after Ike and after a bad drought. There was a silver lining, Ike blew a hole in the levy south of the Scooner Bayou Locks and White Lake filled up with trout and redfish. Hands down the best summer of fishing I probably will ever do. I was out of work and fished nearly everyday and missed my limit twice. The shrimp at the cut in the levy were so thick I blew out 2 castsnets. Only the locals really knew about it so you wouldn't see more than 4 or 5 boats all day. Hate to say it but I could live without a crawfish pond and often wonder how much tannerite it would take to reopen said cut. I don't say that too loudly around the house.