Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Except in areas recovering from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana anglers should find abundant catfish in their favorite honeyholes this year.

Katrina smashed through southeastern Louisiana in August 2005, followed three weeks later by Rita blasting southwestern Louisiana. Salty surges from both storms killed many fish, but catfish probably fared better than did other freshwater species. More tolerant of brackish water than are other species, blue cats thrive in intermediate to brackish waters and can temporarily withstand very salty water. Flathead and channel catfish, preferring sweeter water, moved farther inland in major river channels or deeper bayous to escape the salty surge.

“We probably had about a 50 percent loss in the catfish population east of the Mississippi River,” said Howard Rogillio, a biologist for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Lacombe. “The Pearl River area was especially hard hit. The Venice area was also hit heavily. Both areas look bad in terms of catfish populations. The Lake Pontchartrain, Manchac and Maurepas areas were also affected by salt water.”

Historically, the western Lake Pontchartrain Basin — which includes Lake Maurepas, the Manchac Swamp and a number of rivers that flow through the region — offers some of the best catfish action in the state. In the past, Lake Maurepas produced some exceptional flatheads. Big blues roam the Tickfaw, Tchefuncte, Tangipahoa, Amite, Blind and other rivers.

Rita caused massive fish kills in southwest Louisiana. As the area recovers from the storm, anglers in southwest Louisiana might consider fishing at Lake Vernon, Anacoco Lake or Bundick Lake. Many people fish at the Bundick spillway, where the lake empties into Bundick Creek. Bundick Creek flows into the Calcasieu River near Kinder.

“All freshwater fish in this area took a severe hit from Hurricane Rita,” said Bobby Reed, an LDWF biologist in Lake Charles. “The coastal marshes were hit particularly hard. The Sabine, Calcasieu and Mermentau rivers took hits from 30 to 50 miles upstream. In November 2005, we sampled, and it was zeros across the page. In the spring of 2006, we sampled again and found a few fish. During the summer of 2006, we sampled the upper reaches of the Sabine toward Starks and the Calcasieu around Kinder and Oakdale and found most kinds of fish, but numbers were greatly reduced from normal.”

Some salt water also penetrated as far north as the Lac des Allemands system near Thibodaux, but that part of the state remains healthy. An intricate network of bayous and canals dominated by the Intracoastal Waterway connects Lac des Allemands to lakes Salvador and Cataouatche. A wet, fertile labyrinth of cypress swamps, canals and bayous loaded with stumps, brushtops, fallen trees and grassmats offers catfish everything that they need to grow big and fat. David Michel caught a 69-pound blue cat at Lac des Allemands in October 1992.