Grand Gueule Paddle July 2013

We put our boats in Bayou Ami along the bank next to the Levee Road between Coteau Holmes and Lake Fausse Point State Park.  This is the first time I have seen bank fishermen here, a couple of young boys and their dad.  They were really nice about us disturbing their fishing spot and having them move so we could carry our boats past them.  They had caught a couple of gaspergou (freshwater drum) and said they threw them back in.  I asked him if he ever made garfish balls (ground garfish, ground potato with lots of vegetable seasoning, rolled into a ball and fried), he said yes and I said well we did the same thing with goo.  It’s an oily fish but boy does it make some awesome goo balls, that’s some good eating.  He said he was going to try it, that might have been just to pacify me though.

We got everyone in the water then headed up the bayou to our turnoff on Bayou Grand Gueule. Just a short ways up this bayou are some great hiding places amongst some beautiful cypress with huge buttresses.  They missed these logging because they were either too small or they were hollow.  We took a nice break to look around then continued west toward Lake Dauterive.

The lake is lined with cypress so you can stay out of the sun following along the bank.  The cypress knees here are amazing.  It’s a treat just to see what each of the knees looks like, similar to laying on your back and looking at clouds.  This is an absolutely beautiful paddle.

We often times see bald eagle here, today was not the day for that but it was the day for Osprey, we saw several.  Also there were Mississippi Kites perched in trees for a really good look. We headed back up Bayou Ami and on our return there were even more bank fishermen.  They were all very courteous and moved out of our way.

I saw a teenage cat there when we left (very skinny), I asked the boys if they saw it again, and they had, by our vehicles.  I tried to find it on our return with no luck.  I left some food and hoped for the best.

I returned on Monday to look for the cat, it took a little while but I caught it and he is a sweetie.  His name is Dauterive and he is looking for a permanent home after he gets neutered.  Ask your friends if they are in need of a sweet house kitty, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone for coming along on this trip, it really was a lot a fun and you guys were awesome. To see more photos from this trip, click here!

-Stacey Scarce, Trip Leader