Lacassine Bass Population

[Top Dawg]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

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

[noodle creek]

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?

[Top Dawg]

Originally Posted by noodle creek

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.

[funkyflemmons]

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

[BassYakR]

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.

[funkyflemmons]

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

[BassYakR]

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

[funkyflemmons]

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

[tmatte]

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.

[BassYakR]

i agree 100% with you man!

[Fishaholic247]

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.

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by Fishaholic247

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.

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.

[funkyflemmons]

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

[BassYakR]

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.

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by BassYakR

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.

[saute86]

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.

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by saute86

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.

[BassYakR]

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....

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by BassYakR

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....

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.

[DaPointIsDaBomb]

Charge a fee to fish on publicly owned waters?

Hello Nancy Pelosi!