Labor Day weekend is typically one of the busiest times of the year for marinas and charter fishermen in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, but not this year.
As The Courier reports, last month’s historic flooding led many people across south Louisiana to put fishing on the back burner during the holiday weekend so they could focus on rebuilding their homes and lives.
“Because of the floods out in Baton Rouge, a lot of their fishermen can’t get out right now,” says Theo Chaisson, whose Isle de Jean Charles Marina has seen business drop by about 60%. “Usually, I have a parking lot full of vehicles for the weekend, and last weekend, I had about 15 cars, and it was Labor Day weekend.”
Terry Serigny of Terry’s Live Bait in Leeville says his business has dropped an 90% to 95% because many of his customers come from the Baton Rouge, Gonzales and Denham Springs areas.
Serigny says he was hoping for things to start picking up last weekend, but that didn’t happen.
“I didn’t need the extra help that I usually bring in for Labor Day weekend. My wife, mom and I were able to handle everything for the weekend by working different shifts,” he says.
Serigny says he talked with several charter fishermen who saw their business nearly come to a complete halt after the flooding forced many Baton Rouge-area residents to cancel trips.
“For us, it is worse than a hurricane because we get the majority of our business from the Baton Rouge area,” Serigny says. “When a hurricane hits our area, it takes us a few weeks to get things back up and running. When we do open, the Baton Rouge-area fishermen are ready to come back and resume fishing. Since they are affected by it, they are not fishing, which is having a trickle-down effect in our area.”
With the summer fishing season over, area marinas, bait shops and charter fishermen are gearing up for traditionally slower times in the fall and winter. But it also leaves them wondering when Baton Rouge-area fishermen will return to their favorite fishing spots in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.
“I know they will get everything straightened out in the Baton Rouge area, but it will not be this year,” Chaisson said. “We will be hurting the rest of the year and possibly even until next summer.”
