Great comments guys, i think it will be a good thing as well. I just hope they can complete it in my lifetime... if I recall correctly the master plan is on hold pending a sediment study in the Mississippi.

Forgot to check back on this thread so missed this. This question is for you and everyone who has said 'like it used to be'. How was the point during the 'good ole days', how did it 'used to be'?

Surely no one is claiming this was a year round speckled trout fishery right? Please catch me up someone

Maybe not year round but it stayed much saltier from the old timers I talked to. The bay at one time was a hotspot for tarpon. The biggest reason the bay stays fresh longer now is from the wax lake outlet.

The dynamics of the Bay has changed considerably. Back in the 50s you could fish Weeks most of the year. The Intercostal was not opened to the Bay in Weeks. The Wax didn't exist, 4 mile was a 1/3 of its size. Fresh water did not enter the Bay as it does now. The wells in mid bay held trout all year. Tarpon were caught yearly right in the pass in late summer. We've lost a huge amount of banks in VB causing salt water to kill trees and the brackish marshes that border the Bay. Removing all those shell reefs (shell dredging) on the east side of Marsh Island did the most damage. Rabbit Island was always out the water. There were few passages out to the Gulf from the east side; only the Amerada crew boat channel below Burns was safe to hit Eugene Island rigs. In spring we would get fresh water in the northern areas of the bay by natural flow from the marshes but not enough to effect the fishing.

I made this point in an old thread to someone I will not mention, lest he interject himself in this conversation. Tarpon live in freshwater ecosystems. They are not solely a saltwater species. They once occurred in Prien Lake--when it was a swamp! Go back over 7,000 years, the Bay was a former delta of the Mississippi. Heck, go back 2,500 years and it was. So for a long period of time, it was probably a low-salinity estuary, same as Calcasieu Lake. And I would imagine somewhere between 400 and 7,000 years ago is when the Atchafalaya River formed (probably between 400 and 2,500 years ago when the Lafourche Delta was the active delta).

Honestly, if nature took its course (or would be allowed to take its course), the Atchafalaya would be the new course of the Mississippi. The Old River Control Structure prevents that, but if it ever had a catastrophic failure, the Atchafalaya would most likely capture the majority of the Mississippi's flow.

All that being said, based on historical records, I doubt that Vermilion Bay was ever a high salinity system for a long period of time. For nearly 5,000 years it was part of the active delta, so at most it was probably Brackish.

I agree with you,but at one point and time it held saltier water for most of the year. For better or worse...

That was 60 years ago:eek: I can not think of one body of water that hasn't changed much in the last 60 years. I thought you all talked about the good ole days like the 90s or something:rotfl:

'They' were probably targeting largemouth bass in Big Lake and Golden Meadow 60 years ago

Talking to a friend of mine that is a civil engineer and loves Louisiana history. He said there was a oyster reef that ran between Marsh island and point au fer in the 30s. It was dredged to use as a foundation for road beds.

Years back I was talking to another fella, an old customer from Baldwin, around the time time a shrimper came up with a bomb in his net. He said the military use to use Rabbit Island for target practice when the NI airbase was still in operation. Every now and then someone will pull up an un detonated bomb while trolling.

He also told me the spec fishing in the bay was just as good as Dularge and Big Lake before they cut the wax lake outlet.

interesting stuff...

A couple of years ago I ran across an article online talking about that reef. It supposibly was several feet out of the water and discussed how the water level on each side would vary by several feet. There were only a few openings in this reef. It was really interesting stuff. I forgot to save it :headknocker: and have looked several times since then for the article and I have never been able to find it again.

I can GUARANTEE you that nothing in the coastal master plan is being put in place to RAISE salinity on purpose:spineyes:


Vermilion Parish a few years back had so much saltwater coming thru the Intracoastal that the rice farmers couldn't make a crop, it was a complete disaster for the farmers that pumped from the IC, the things we all forget

Yeah DB, we can only hope for an accidental salinity rise! If the reef is in place the vermilion would be the main source of fresh water.