Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin, one of the most ecologically significant estuary systems in southeast Louisiana, stretches over 5,000 square miles between Baton Rouge and Lake Borgne. Metropolitan New Orleans covers its southern end, while many booming communities populate its northern and western portions.

Lake Borgne -- which is really just a bay on the Gulf of Mexico -- connects with Lake Pontchartrain primarily through two natural passes, the Rigolets and the Chef Menteur. To the west, Pass Manchac and the smaller North Pass connect Lake Pontchartrain to Lake Maurepas. Surrounded by cypress swamps, the mostly freshwater Lake Maurepas can hold saltwater fish, depending on winds, water levels and tides.

Though situated halfway between the two major urban centers of Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the most heavily populated section of Louisiana, the swamps surrounding Lake Maurepas remain largely wildernesses. Few roads run through the area, and no roads or boat launches directly touch Lake Maurepas. Without a boat or aircraft, people can only catch a glimpse of Lake Maurepas by traveling along Interstate 55 over Pass Manchac between Ponchatoula and La Place.

Several rivers and bayous, many listed as Natural and Scenic Rivers, pour their waters into the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. The Pearl River, Bayou Lacombe, Bogue Falaya River, Tchefuncte River and the Tangipahoa River all feed into Lake Pontchartrain. Bedico Creek flows into the Tangipahoa River. The Tickfaw, Amite and Blind rivers flow into Lake Maurepas. The scenic Tickfaw River rises in southern Mississippi and flows about 68 miles through St. Helena and Livingston parishes before entering Lake Maurepas near Springfield. The Natalbany and Blood rivers empty into the Tickfaw River.

Numerous smaller bayous and canals are linked into this system’s myriad elements through a wild labyrinth of channels. Cypress and gum swamps or bottomland hardwood forests dominate the landscape. Abundant lily pads, weedbeds and woody cover give fish plenty of places to hide throughout the system.

During good times, the entire wetland complex can offer anglers surprising catches of largemouth bass. Occasionally, people landed bass exceeding the 8-pound barrier, with 2- to 4-pound fish commonly hitting the decks. Some bass approached the double-digit mark. Bedico Creek, the Tickfaw River, Bayou Lacombe and West Pearl River among other streams all produced fish over 9 pounds in the past 10 years.

Unfortunately, these aren’t good times: The entire Lake Pontchartrain Basin took a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005; three weeks later, Hurricane Rita, a bigger, more powerful storm that ultimately sprawled across most of the Gulf of Mexico, smashed into southwest Louisiana to finish off what Katrina started, pushing still more salty water into the rivers of the Florida Parishes.

“We lost just about all of the freshwater resources in the area east of the Mississippi River and in the Florida Parishes,” said Joe Shepard, a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries resource program manager in Baton Rouge. “The areas we are really concerned about are the ones with no riverine influence. Rivers can restock themselves; fish in the upper reaches of a river can come down to the unpopulated areas.”

Salty water killed bass unable to escape to less saline environments. In addition, the storms stirred up considerable organic debris on the river bottoms. The process of decomposition consumes oxygen, and the unprecedented scale at which decaying debris robbed water of vital dissolved oxygen resulted in massive fish kills throughout the area.

“Katrina and Rita both clobbered the Tickfaw River area,” said Billy Bates, a bass tournament promoter from Ponchatoula. “Rita actually did more damage than Katrina, because we had higher water from Rita than Katrina. After the storms, we had salt water way up the rivers -- all the way past Lee’s Landing on the Tangipahoa River.”