Fishing time is near

I gave it up and returned to town. The wind was too much and unlikely to abate, but luckily, the rains didn't materialize. The campground was loud with blaring music; I could listen to cajun, country, oldies, rap, or various mixtures. I had expected to overnight there. With rain and blustery conditions likely, I had not taken gear for a wilderness sleep. Next trip, I'll allow for alternatives. I tested a half- dozen hooks on catfish lines; lost the bait but caught nothing. A fly was difficult to cast in that wind, but I gave it a noble effort. Every time the gusts would die down, I would venture out again to try fishing. I had several strikes on both wet flies and poppers, but didn't catch any. Nobody else was successful either, and that usually leads them to excessive boat- riding. I'm hoping another week may put us into prime fishing.

I was pleased to get cell phone reception from the boat launch; I was able to send the blog- post you see below and also to make a call.

Made it to Butte La Rose. Too windy. May set trotline.

Potential paddle- trip

• Camp- 30 17' 26.00" N, 91 44' 20.53" W
• Cut to B. Begnard- 30 18' 00.00" N, 91 44' 11.00" W
• Begnard to Loin- 30 17' 29.81" N, 91 43' 28.09" W
• No- name lake- 30 17' 26.38" N, 91 44' 02.54" W

These are proposed waypoints, taken from the LouisianaMap program. The Yellow path shows the route from launch to the end of Bay Begnard. I especially want to explore that cut leading from Bay Begnard into Bayou Loin. I have never been been through there and was unaware of it until I saw it on a satelite image (didn't have those back in the good ol' days). I have been in Bayou loin, but came in from the Henderson direction in someone's power boat. That bayou name is pronounced "lwen", by the way, and it translates as "far away". Seems a good place for me to visit.

Looking at the map, it occurred to me that one could follow my orange trace, wind through that maze of bayous, portage a couple of times, enter the Atchafalaya near I-10, portage into Bayou Larose, and return to the put- in, making a nice looped trip. I'll have to think about camping options; That's probably a full two- day trip.

Hope to camp in this area

Here is the cut that runs into Begnard Bay. I would like to camp somewhere in this area for easy access. I would also like to explore access from the South end of Begnard, heading East into Bayou Loin. That links into many more fingers of water, but campsites are doubtful in that area. There may also be a hiden lake Southwest of Begnard...white spot on the map. I'd like to check that out, too.

Here is a test email post. From cell phone.

Better results with new phone

Oh Boy, I got a new camping spot!

I checked with the state land office and learned that area I admired is, indeed, open to public access. I' ll take my fly rod, set some lines, and spend a night there soon.

Still experimenting with audio from my cell phone

Atchafalaya swamp trip

I took my boy paddling today, parked and launched at Uncle Dick Davis' campground. I've camped there and fished for a lot of years. There has been renovation of the campground; restrooom rebuilt, new water well, and RV hookups upgraded. Well, I always found a spot to tuck the tent into, but would prefer to be further from civilization. We paddled down to Bay Begnard, wondering about camping possibilities. There is some state land there, so I will investigate further. That hidden lake was always one of my favorite fishing holes. I caught my largest fly- rod bass there. It was isolated and quiet. There was a ditch one could pole or paddle a canoe through to the lake. If water was low, it would require a portage. Now, however, so many power boats have been through, so that the ditch is wide and deep. Now there is boat traffic. It's just not enjoyable to fish public waters on the weekends. Anyway, it was too late in the day and too windy to fish, but we made a few fruitless casts around the stumps and tree- tops.

Waypoints from Butte La Rose trip

Obvious error -101 ft N30.38227 W90.64846

State land 2 ft N30.28450 W91.73577

Landing -3ft N30.30250 W91.73522

Ramp 12ft N30.30167 W91.73523

Parking 11ft N30.26965 W91.70692

What a beautiful day!

The weather was marvelous today, cool and lots of sunshine. Today was Red Stick Day, our fly- fishing club's annual shindig. I saw a talk on marsh fishing in Terrebonne Parish (I did much field work there in my former research- life). Also, there were presentations about fishing Yellowstone; beautiful scenery and good fishing. The function was held at Waddill Refuge; I took a few pictures and will edit them in later.

I finally got an audio test to post from my cell phone; I'm anxious to play with that feature and may soon speak to you from who- knows- where.

Test audio post

Flocks are blooming in the woods

I always enjoy seeing the bright purple splashes scattered around the shady nooks. Spring is really coming on, now. We are having a particularly warm day, today. Birds are singing, bushes are greening, and I notice there is a little more daylight in the evenings when I leave work. I'm getting Spring Fever, ready to go fishing, camping, playing in the sunshine.

My pear tree is blooming

I had hoped to do some pruning on this tree, but it is too late now. It makes some pretty good fruit-- it's a cooking pear I guess. It softens enough to bite into, yet isn't mushy. I like to make pear pie with it. Chop up six of 'em kinda small, mix with sugar and cinnamon, dot with margarine, put 'em into a pie shell (a frozen one for us lazy cooks), and bake.

Trillium blossoms are opening

One of the signs of spring that I notice is the trillium, and I watch for its growth and bloom as spring progresses. "Simple pleasures for simple minds", they say.