Farewell Lake Martin

Every spring since I retired 15 years ago, I fished bass and sac a lait in February and March in Lake Martin (a small lake outside of Lafayette). I always start the years fishing on that small, beautiful lake not far from home. I usually fish there a few weeks then Henderson, The Basin or even Larto and Toledo Bend gets my attention. Times change....I just heard from a friend that they (authorities) were closing the Lake for repairs to the landing and parking lot area March 1, didn't sound too bad until I decided to dig a little into the closure...not only will it be closed with no timeline for repairs, anyone even trying to launch a kayak or canoe there will be arrested for trespassing. Evidently the "new" property owners around the Lake don't like the way a Tourist business opened up there and are operating a commercial operation. Land owners want the public launch that exist there to hold them not liable if some one gets hurt there...sounds reasonable, but why close the whole place while trying to work things out with the parish and state. I am now almost 70 years old now, and when the cypress trees start to bud, you could count on two things, the Basin is muddy and for a few weeks Lake Martin provided great fishing to start the year off. Maybe it's just me but what's going on at this Lake is similar to what's going on in the whole country...we can't work out even the simplest problems. Everyone is worried just about their dog in this fight, no common ground. I hope, not just for me, but for the hundreds of people I see there for a few weeks each spring, they settle all this crap and EVERYONE gets to enjoy this little lake again...Make Lake Martin Great Again! Just had to throw that in.

The silver lining may be that the fish will get a chance to spawn and grow some.....That little lake gets heavy pressure in spring, and has fallen victim to our “50” per person limit.
Hope they settle their dispute soon......On a side note, La Supreme Ct ruled that Catahoula lake is now private.....


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Crazy you mention this. I was just talking to a guy that runs a bait shop I stopped at this morning about this. I thought it was always hearsay. It's one of the very few places I can go to bank fish. The grass over growing has always been an issue. But I rarely complain bc they never charged to get in.

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Can you launch a kayak from that commercial operations place? I know they rent them out.

there is a lot of bad blood on that lake with the landowners and tour guides and other issues. and its way too small for all those big egos out there