Hey all I was looking for some pointers about hunting marsh/swamps from a boat...I just moved to New Orleans from the panhandle of texas- where no boat was needed. I just got a 14ft with a 9.9 and push pole and am about to start scouting. Some questions would be...
- Do you hunt from, or hide the boat a ways off
- Not sure if i have to hunt in a WMA or if i can just find a hole in the swamps
- Worth building a blind, or bootlegging some kind of boat blind
Most importantly - What to look for as far as places to put decoy spreads..IE food, Clearings etc.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Extra prop and all parts and tools to change while out hunting.

Wire cutters....to get the crab traps out of your prop.

T

might want to get with some
of the other folks and make
sure where they'll go to.

we've fished in s. louisiana
for a while, and from early
teal on, folks have to step
light until the morning flight
is done(the folks with texas plates
anyway) and a lot of the locals
have their "spot"

just sayin'. . . . . .

good luck

Good call with the spare prop and wire cutters, I have yet to have any issues with shear pins or anything, but dont plan on spending an extra day/night out there either.
I work with some guys that live/hunt around laffitte and houma, will have to check with them to see what they say about tactics etc. The locals south of here are definitely their own breed ill tell you DAT.

You cannot just find a hole in the marsh, the majority of marsh is privately owned an leased for some big bucks, you'll get written up for trespassing in a heartbeat.

The ducks will get wise to hunting out of your rig, try to hide it and hunt in the grass or bring a pirogue.

Your best bet at this point is to research the WMAs but I'll forewarn you that they get overcrowded and very frustrating to hunt.

Be careful with the outboard, a Go Devil or Prodrive would work better. In that area, expect much lower tides during the season than what you see now.

Once you have found a legal place scouting will tell you where to hunt, back when I hunted the marshes of Terrebonne, I liked the small potholes and used just a fews decoys. Mojos work.

Good luck!

But some good people, and they know how to cook!

You need to watch the tides, as some places can get real shallow if the tide is out. Or more importantly, going to drop while you're hunting.

If you go to Biolix WMA, watch crossing the ship channel that a large freighter isn't passing by. A boat your size can get swamped quick.

Oh, pay attention to the weather conditions. During duck season, you can get some thick fog.

If you have a dog and its warm, leave her home. I had a teal stolen from me by a small alligator.

Now, after all of that, get out and scout. Last year was one of their best years. Could be because of the drought we had here.

You'll have plenty of teal there and they won't move until there is a real good front to hit new orleans. When the big ducks come, you'll get lots and lots of gadwalls.

Last years hunt







Here is a guide you may want to try

http://www.laduckhunts.com/

Mike Smith

Mike has a lot of land (the marsh spots you wanted to set up on) leased around Delacroix, La

Shoot me a PM I'll try and think what else you may want to know.

Thanks for the input guys, looks like ill be checking out some WMAs here shortly..The tides are something I did not anticipate- will def have to take that into consideration.
There is A Lot more to it here than just finder WATER which was about 80% of the game in the pandhandle...Looking forward to figuring this place out!

In your experience does salinity affect duck movements? If so i might be looking farther inland, pear river maybe, due to the river being so low.

MRGO is closed now, only local traffic. CORPS installed a rock dam across the channel

No salinity does not affect duck movement. It will influence the plant species (food) that will be available depending on how high it gets. Even the saltier water will hold ducks, but you will primarily see gadwalls, teal and mottled ducks in the brackish marshes.

I second that on the good people out here - I worked with a bunch of houma and thibidoux boys on towboats..They didint let me cook, which was cool with me- Ive been eating red beans and rice on mondays ever since.

never had to worry about anything getting
stolen or vandalized when we go fishing.

i'd sure stay away from the crab pots
and the shrimp nets.

lotta good folks like what usta be around here.