New Fishing Rules Hit the Atchafalaya Basin on August 1. Here’s What You Need to Know.
LAFAYETTE, La. — Anglers who fish the Atchafalaya Basin are about to work under a new set of rules. Starting Aug. 1, new minimum size and daily catch limits for black bass and crappie will apply across most of the basin, and several connected lakes in south-central Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced.
For anyone who launches out of Henderson, the change lands close to home. Henderson Lake sits at the edge of St. Martin Parish, minutes from Lafayette, and it’s one of the busiest entry points into the basin for local anglers, swamp tour operators, and weekend paddlers alike.
What the new bass and crappie limits actually are
Black bass, a category that covers largemouth, Florida, and spotted bass, along with their hybrids, will need to measure at least 12 inches before an angler can keep it, and the daily creel limit drops to five fish. Crappie, known locally as sac-a-lait, gets a similar treatment: an 8-inch minimum length and a daily limit of 25 fish, covering both black and white crappie and their hybrids.
That’s a notable tightening from the rules anglers are used to elsewhere in the state. Outside the newly regulated zone, Louisiana’s standard limits stay in place, with no minimum length requirement and a daily take of 10 black bass and 50 crappie per licensed angler.
Which waterbodies are covered
The new limits apply to the majority of the Atchafalaya Basin itself, plus Henderson Lake, Grassy Lake, Lake Verret, and Lake Palourde. LDWF describes the boundary as the area south of U.S. 190 from the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee to the intersection of Louisiana 1 and U.S. 190 near Port Allen, east of the levee from U.S. 190 to U.S. 90, north of U.S. 90 to Louisiana 20, then northwest along Louisiana 20 to Louisiana 1 in Thibodaux, and south along Louisiana 1 back to U.S. 190.
That stretch takes in the water most familiar to Acadiana anglers, along with the Verret basin area favored by anglers out of Lafourche and Assumption parishes.
The rule follows the boat launch rather than the catch itself. LDWF says anglers using any launch inside the regulated area have to comply with the new limits regardless of where their fish were actually caught that day.
Where the new law came from
The change traces back to Senate Bill 111, sponsored this year by state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, which the Legislature enacted as Act No. 460. As introduced, the bill called for a 14-inch minimum on black bass. Lawmakers lowered that to 12 inches before signing it into law, and the crappie limits stayed the same throughout the process.
Who to contact with questions
LDWF has split contact duties for the newly regulated waters. Anglers with questions about the Atchafalaya Basin itself can reach fisheries biologist Brac Salyers at bsalyers@wlf.la.gov or 337-262-2080. For Lake Verret, Grassy Lake, or Lake Palourde, the department points anglers to Brian Heimann at bheimann@wlf.la.gov or 225-765-2337.
Anglers can find the department’s full statewide recreational fishing regulations on the LDWF website ahead of the Aug. 1 start date.
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Gallery Credit: Joe Cunningham
