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Conservation

Losing Ground

August 29, 2014
Conservation
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LA Scenario

 

“Louisiana is drowning, quickly.

In just 80 years, some 2,000 square miles of its coastal landscape have turned to open water, wiping places off maps, bringing the Gulf of Mexico to the back door of New Orleans and posing a lethal threat to an energy and shipping corridor vital to the nation’s economy.  And it’s going to get worse, even quicker.”

It’s worth taking a look at what the future holds for coastal Louisiana, even if it ruins your day.  I try not to think about how different our coast will look in 50 years, but I know it will be drastic – even if we fully implement CPRA’s Master Plan.  It is truly a bleak situation.

Paddle Baton Rouge

June 13, 2014
Conservation, Exploring, Kayak Fishing, Kayaking, Scouting
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For those readers who are fellow Baton Rouge denizens, do yourself a favor and go visit the Paddle Baton Rouge website just to see what they have been up to.  Outsiders may not appreciate what the duo are trying to accomplish, but I certainly do.  Let me just highlight their “About” page so everyone has an understanding of what they are about:

Paddle Baton Rouge was created in 2011 as a grassroots group with a mission to improve paddling in Baton Rouge.  We are hands-on people who simply figured it was time *someone* started doing *something*, and it turns out, we also seem to enjoy a good day’s hard work.

Our mission, which we heartily choose to accept, is three-fold:

  1. Recon: We go see what’s out there.
  2. Trailblazing: Where debris blocks the water, we open a path.
  3. Cleanup: We collect litter to make the view worthwhile.

(There’s also an unwritten #4.  Where and when possible, we do what we can to improve public access to the waterways we work on.  That’s more talking than doing, and we prefer to get our hands dirty in the literal sense, but it *is* on our minds.)

Take a look around at some of the work we’ve been doing, and if you find yourself thinking that you might want to join us for a day on the water, we’d be delighted to have you.

It is one thing to talk about cleaning up waterways and improving access but it is another to actually get out there and do it and that is precisely what Paddle Baton Rouge is about. For those who are unfamiliar with the waterways they choose to work on – these are litter filled drains that are chock full of natural and artificial debris.  They’ve basically been written off for any sort of recreational use by the Parish and have been largely ignored even for proper maintenance as drainage.  I’ve fished them a few times when I need a quick fix, but often prefer to travel away from Baton Rouge.

These two saw a problem and attacked it with gusto.  Here is an article from The Advocate about the group(be sure to watch the corresponding video).  As a kayaker and citizen of EBR parish it warms my heart to see this.  Kudos to Paddle Baton Rouge on all they have accomplished and here’s to them continuing their mission on improving our local waterways.  Their “Upcoming Events” page lists scheduled cleanups where you can meet the group and lend a hand – I hope to make one of these soon, until then I will post what is scheduled below and hope that word spreads about their mission:

June 13-15, 2014

Project Clearwater — Do-It-Yourself Edition

Launching: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park, whenever you want.

Recovering: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park or whatever, whenever.

Mission: Nathaniel’s out of town, so after 26 straight weeks and 30 trips out on Bayou Fountain, it seems he and his canoe(s) are going to miss a weekend.  We’re trying to get BREC out for a tour, and after all this work, we certainly don’t want them to run into any obstructions, so if you happen to paddle the bayou and could send a brief note about what you find (or even, dare we ask) a photo or few that we can use for a brief post, we would be quite grateful.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Project Clearwater — Expedition 27

Launching: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park, 8am.

Recovering: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park, afterward.

Mission: Anyone want to spin the wheel and guess what this trip will bring? We’re pretty sure there will be water.

 

Choupique on the Fly

June 4, 2014
Conservation, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Freshwater, Kayak Fishing, Warmwater
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Y’all remember that choupique I caught on the fly back in April? It was actually taken on one of Blake’s flies that we have featured here, the redfish intruder.  This one:

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I just got word on May 25th that it is officially the new state record bowfin taken with a fly rod.  Weighing in at a whopping 4.07 lbs, how could that little guy be first place?  Turns out there was no fly rod bowfin category prior to my submission.  I knew that so I figured it was worth a shot to submit it and at least get the category started.  Louisiana’s state records are not run by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries but rather the Louisiana Outdoor Writer’s Association.

Instead of having open categories for every fish found in the state, I guess they prefer that you go through the process of asking for consideration of a category prior to putting it into place.  Then you can submit your fish, which requires it to be weighed on a certified scale, identified by a state biologist, and multiple hard copy pictures sent in via snail mail.  If you see where I’m going with this you’ll understand that the process is a PITA.  It is no wonder that more people don’t submit their fish for state record consideration in Louisiana.  Oh, and it cost me $25 to make the submission.  All this leaves me wondering why it has to be so hard?

At any rate you’re looking at the state record holder for choupique on the fly, for whatever that’s worth($25). Follow this link to take a look at Louisiana’s state records.