The hottest bass fishery in Louisiana for the last three years, this stretch of marsh on the east bank of the Mississippi in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes undoubtedly holds some of the biggest bass in this part of the state. It is blessed with the region's richest forage base, a perfect training table for the fast-growing Florida strains that have been stocked there for the last five years. Earlier this year, a local angler landed an 11 pounder and, while numbers have fallen off in the last year, this remains the odds-on spot for a fish over five pounds. And no one has forgotten that Gary Klein pulled a 20-pound stringer from the area on the first day of last year's October's Top 150 event. But there are some serious negatives.
Summer is a different fishery.
The area is choked with thick grass beds. Many of the ponds are impassable, and most of the prime canals also are choked with aquatics. Local fishing pressure is intense, so the area hasn't gotten much of a rest. But the biggest downside is the distance. To reach Caernarvon an angler must run to Empire, traverse the locks at that fishing village, cross the river, navigate Ostricka, then run north through Plaquemines into the Back Levee Canal or Oak River.