Lake Catouache Grass

Does anyone have any idea or have heard a legitimate answer as to what happened to all the grass in Lake Catouache? If they say its due to the hurricanes and tropical storms, I can't believe that scenario due to the fact it was still a grass mat after hurricane Katrina and Gustov. Any info?

http://www.heraldguide.com/details.php?id=13547

CHRIS, DID YOU NOTICE THE BEAUCRATIC RESPONSE BY JEROME ZERINGUE. HE DID NOT AGREE WITH THE SPEAKER. WHAT HE REALLY SAID 'IS THIS IS A POLITICAL PROBLEM, SO WE HAVE TO STUDY THE PROBLEM MORE UNTIL WE CAN COME UP WITH AN APEASEMENT FOR THE OYSTER FISHERMEN IE BUYOUT MONEY

I went to the meeting last month for the Davis Pond Diversion, along with St. Charles President V.J. St. Pierre and Ryan Lambert. I believe the presentations made by both of these men opened some eyes on that board. That lake was starting to have a significant economic impact on that parish due to all the folks traveling there. I was disappointed to see the Corp. rules the roost in how the diversion can be run...but I was encouraged in talking to numerous committee members about running it more. I made the early meeting on the diversion in Delecroix and the oyster fishermen, commercial reps, and others did not want that diversion opened at all. I talked to the oyster rep. at the Davis Pond meeting, and this man was very sensible....and realized we were fighting a serious battle of coastal marsh lost and saltwater intrusion. He stated the diversion could actually be run at a better rate. I have been watching the flow rates at their web site, and they have been averaging just over 3,ooo cfs since the river came up last month....which is decent.

Well to me it seems that they are now active in attempting to resolve the issue. Its a start.

http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2014/01/despite_high_mississippi_river.html

Like I said, the guides and fishermen on the east side are mostly against river diversion, and have convinced the parish down there they are correct. I don't know if you will ever see that thing ran again.

Mardi Gras Pass, the cut in river by Bohemia spillway is still open. It created killer habitat in pointe a la hache in particular farther south around felicity, pipelines and lower grand. Much like those pics there, we had massive grass mats in big water. Unfortunately it didn't translate to good hunting there this year. From what I've heard hunting in Salvador has been poor this year. Perhaps salinity level has hurt that area? Those grass mats in big water are definitely missed I'm sure by both birds and bass.

the 'salt water intrusion' is a load of B.S. anyone remember the amount of reds and specks being caught in and around bayou cuba when the grass was in full swing in the lake? i sure do and the amount of fish that were caught back then is a hell of a lot more than it is now. Somebody please explain to me how the salt wqater killed all the grass way up in that little lake when Catahoula Bay had a huge grass flat in it THIS YEAR? O and i forgot to mention all the grass that they had in Lafitte this year. Also, the grass dissappearing in temple bay was a result of a combination tropical storm Issac and all the tug boats running in and out of there from the rig that was in there. So 'saltwater intrusion' believers look somewqhere else.

also, while im fired up, What happened to all the grass in the Cypress canal? I know for a fact that no salt water got in there due to the diversion constantly pushing fresh water through it. lets see what kin of 'link' were gunna get for this explination.

If you don't think it's saltwater , what do you think it is . Myself I think it's the diversion putting too much river water directly into the lake . I do know you are hard put to catch even a catfish in the bayou .Not just this winter The fishing has been falling off for a whole year and a half . Hard to catch even a perch off the dock . So what is your opinion ?
Together maybe we can help the officials figure this one out .

It takes more than the right salanity levels for grass to grow. Also, different kind of grasses in different environments salt vs. true fresh water. Things like tide, depth, water movement, traffic, current effect it. Fishing is poor as a result as a result of the grass being gone because this was habitat for them. In the pictures that looks like a nearly true freshwater environment. Lily pads are a dead giveaway. If I recall they can only stand salinity levels of up to 4 or 5 ppt. Which is practically freshwater. Similar to what cypress trees can tolerate.Don't think that fresh water hurts the reds and trout all that much. They can tolerate it, still utilize it and heck the reds thrive in it. When it is at peak level of fresh the late spring in summer when the river is highest the trout are out at the rigs anyways.
This supports why the perch and fresh cat fishing is bad because it's not quite as fresh. And in winter water is saltiest because river level and these diversion don't pump out that much. Which supports diversion not pumping enough or not pumping enough at right time to create these fresher grasses.

Didn't think of it that way . guess I'm stuck on the dirty water that looks like it's river water . Hope that they solve the problem . But hey wouldn't mind catching reds and trout off the dock . Last year we did catch reds and 1 flounder so maybe saltwater it is.
Gonna keep trying to figure it out.wish something would bite.

I was raised on that lake and have fished it for 50 years...have seen it when it was purely a freshwater lake, then when it was just about a saltwater lake. Before the diversion in 2001, we were catching trout in there, 60, 70, 80 a trip. When they opened the diversion, that stopped, the trout were pushed to Lafitte to find some salinity. Redfish will come all the way in to pure freshwater, always have...always will. The past two years we started catching trout in Bayou Couba, especially in the summer. There were a lot of sharks caught in Salvador the last two years on jug lines....but some sharks will come into fresher water....but some fishermen caught a few triple-tail in Salvador. Triple-tail will not come in fresh water, they have to have some salinity. There are probably more questions than answers as to why the grass has not come back. There was some grass starting to grow off the bottom this past year in Sept. and Oct....but this was too late in the year. Hopefully there will be some come up in the spring when the temps. rise and the days are longer.

Definitely not saltwater intrusion. There was grass and I was catching bass in the Texaco canals and all the way down by Three Bayou Bay this summer in Lafitte. The saltwater has to pass those areas to get to Lake Catouatche.

In the attachment you will find the salinity levels from 2003 to 2013. These recordings were taken at the mouth of the gulf canal (BA01-03)and Bayou Cuba (BA01-02). Notice the spikes came from the summer months during hurricanes season and at no time did it reach over 6ppt.

It's very simple. The grass is gone because of 2 things. Spraying the grass started the whole thing. The second is misuse and mismanagement or the Davis Pond Diversion System.

I think we will all agree on your second statement. No matter what the cause was/is, I think we have the tools in place to attempt to fix it. Actually getting them to do it is another story

It takes a little imagination to run that diversion for optimal results in both fishing and saltwater intrusion. This would bring the fishing back in the area south of the diversion, as well as more waterfowl. I went to the meeting for the diversion in Dec. for the first time, and was glad to see a number of people from the area attend. There are a number of folks on that committee that are interested in doing the right thing...but I saw firsthand the limitations the Corp of Engineers place on the entire process of letting water through it with their rep. and lawyers. This is a Gov. agency paid for with our tax dollars, and we need to hold their feet to the fire, not the other way around. I think the diversion should be run hard now, while the river is up, and then slowed or cut off for a brief period in April when the temps. are up and the grass is wanting to grow everywhere. The water will clear in a couple weeks and when the grass comes up, they could start a flow again. I may not be totally correct on this, but I feel they have to try different deals to see what is optimum. The first year they can it and the grass came up in the lake, they ran it off and on due to some issues they were having with the diversion, and I believe they had a good set up for optimum grass growth and saltwater intrusion into the area.

That is the natural way. Marsh was replenished via flood prior to levees. My best bet would be to emulate that. Like you said blast them in spring and to an extent early summer and when river is high. Those times coincide with high river from snow an ice melt up north that then feeds into the Mississippi and it's tributaries. It would be nice if they could emulate this in multiple locations not just where the diversions are. Because flooding out of banks wasn't just limited to these areas.

I heard that the biologists dropped pellets all throughout the lake to intentially kill the grass. That came out of a game wardens mouth.

The lake brought Louisiana world-wide attention for setting the Bass Masters tournament record for heaviest 3-day stringer and the LDWF got together and secretly decided we won't have any of that. Let's kill off all the grass.

Man, between them killing off all the grass/bass and Duck Unlimited making sure no ducks come to Louisiana, we as sportsman are doomed.

Those are better excuses than saltwater.....

What I heard was, they dumped them pellets too !! They said when the pellets dissolved, they cover a big area on the lakes floor and kills the grass from the roots down. Not allowing grass to grow back !!
The River still flows over in Caernarvon and already, Lake Leary has grass returning after Issac blew threw !!

I remember when the LW&FD put pellets out to make boat lanes when the lake was totally grassed over. It looked like it killed the grass in the paths they put the pellets in, but I do not know if the chemical spreads. I had two different guys call me when I was asked to go on Paradise Louisiana to talk about the grass disappearing. They both told me they witnessed people in LW&FD uniforms in boats spreading pellets out in the lake with a drum machine that looked like feeders. I also had a guy call me who told me his 3 friends were fishing that day and they told him about this. I asked each guy if they had a phone....and the told me yes. I then asked them if it was the old type or did it have a camera on the phone....each guy said they had a phone with a camera. I told them I could not quite believe what they were saying. If I saw people in any uniform spraying or broadcasting stuff out into the lake....I would fill my phone's memory up with pics of these guys, their boats, and reg. numbers. None of them took pics....I find that very strange.

I don't buy the saltwater intrusion and here's why. The following year after all grass was gone in Catouatchie there were a few huge grass beds in Salvador, one behind Couba Island and and a decent sized one between Couba pass and Temple but closer to Couba pass. It had a pretty good population of bass and good redfishing and the most giant gar I've ever seen in my life. This was in 2012. Most of it dissapeared magically also. So grass grew 2 miles further south of Lake Catouatchie but none grew in Catouatchie in the same time frame. Don't make good sense to me, does it make good sense to anyone out there. Last year I left Lafitte and ran almost to Golden Meadow and fished bass and redfish and there was plenty grass and plenty redfish and tons of bass. I know the salinity is alot higher there than Catouatchie as I could see Golden Meadow so I was pretty close to the gulf. This is like Kennedy assasination, we'll never know the truth but lost the greatest freshwater fishery we've had until whatever has killed the grass loses it's residual. Could be a long time. I hope not but doesn't look good for near future. My 2 cents!!!!!!!!!

The design of the diversion is the culprit. The ponding area is being torn apart by the diversion. Thus causing loose unconsolidated organic material to cover the bottom of the lake and inhibiting plant growth. The diversion should be levied all the way to the lake thus by-passing the ponding area and delivering nutrient rich water without the organic material. Right now the with the current design the harder the diversion is ran the more damage is done to the grass in the lake.

To answer the question about introduction the sediment from the river causing problems: Lets first look at the name of the project and the purpose. The project is called Davis Pond FRESHWATER diversion not Davis Pond SEDIMENT Diversion. The design has a sediment trap just after the siphon which captures the river sediment. Also, the sediment that does get through is more sand than anything which is great for establishing a good bottom for plant growth (take Venice for example).

Need a visualization? Go to Google Earth and use the timeline history. As you see this ponding area degrade so does the grass in the lake. The bullet to the head is when the openings were created in cypress canal.

So lets stop blaming ldwf and the saltwater intrusion. They are not the culprits. The design needs to be reevaluated if wanting to grow grass in the lake.