When ducks don't fly, find a fishing rod

By John N. Felsher

When the ducks don't fly, find a fishing rod.

During a recent excursion to Cajun Resort near Golden Meadow, a group of outdoor writers discovered better action from fins than feathers.

David Hawkins Photo by John Felsher

Mississippi writers David Hawkins, Jill Easton and Otha Barham join me and Eric Holbrook of Sports Consultants on a "Cajun Cast and Blast" that turned into more cast than blast. Everything went according to plan except ducks descending into the decoys.

Danny Duet picked us up at the landing for the 15-minute boat ride to the lodge. For more than 20 years, Danny and his brother, Toby, ran Cajun Resort on 26 square miles of private wilderness paradise adjacent to the 33,488-acre Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area.

For most of that time, they housed their 3,000 annual guests on a cluster of barges moored in a canal. Converted from a seismological team crew quarters, the lodge offered tight, but comfortable accommodations for up to 12 visitors.

In the kitchen/dining area, Danny's wife, Poppy, his sister, Dolly and the staff, prepared sumptuous meals flavored with pungent Cajun spices while Danny told stories in his thick Cajun accent. Often, these magnificent meals featured shrimp, fish or crabs caught earlier that day from these same waters. Sometimes, guests dined on ducks they bagged that morning.

Today, the flavor remains, figuratively and literally, but guests spread out through a spacious new land-based lodge. This spring, the Duets opened the new lodge a few hundred yards from the original flotilla, although guests must still arrive by boat. Built completely from cypress planks, the new lodge can accommodate up to 27 people in motel-style rooms.

"The whole lodge was built out of cypress to give it a Cajun look," Danny explained. "We decorated it like the old Cajun duck camps. We are going to add a 3-hole golf course in the spring of 2005. That will be the first one in the marsh. We also have a 40-foot-by 20-foot private conference room where groups can hold meetings."

Eric Holbrook Photo by John Felsher

After arriving, we settled into our rooms. Each room adjoins a private bathroom and shower. The men piled into one room with two bunkbeds while Jill occupied a private room.
After stowing the gear, we gathered in the 40-foot square main entertainment room to swap stories, watch the big screen satellite television or simply relax. A few guests walked out to the wrap-around deck to watch the sun set into the endless marsh.

The next morning, the guides rousted us out of bed and steered us into the direction of the strong, hot coffee and homemade biscuits served with sausage. With rain pouring down, we climbed into go-devil boats, grateful we only had short rides to the blinds.

"We have about 30 blinds all set up," Danny said. "The decoys are already in place. People just need to bring their guns, boots and shells."

David and I occupied one platform blind in a marshy honeyhole. We picked off a couple teal early and ended with five birds, mostly green-wings and grays. The other blinds didn't fair as well.

With temperatures in the 70s by mid-morning and the sky clearing, we anticipated better fishing conditions. We returned to the lodge for another sumptuous meal. No one ever starved at Cajun Resort, although I'm not sure of the lodge cardiac arrest record!

"We get a lot of people who hunt ducks in the morning and fish in the afternoon," Capt. Danny said. "Fishing this fall has been outstanding. People don't realize how many fish get into these canals during the winter. Sometimes, we run canals in really cold water and wash fish up against the banks with our wakes. There might be thousands of fish congregated for a half-mile in a canal."

Trading our heavy duck gear for light fishing clothes, we jumped into two bay boats. Within five minutes of leaving the dock, we started catching speckled trout on a variety of soft plastic baits.

Right before dark, a school of specks in the 1- to 2-pound range moved through a canal. For a while, we hit trout on every cast, returning to the lodge with limits.

Trevor Duet Photo by John Felsher

Sore from catching fish, most of the guests remained indoors after supper. However, I sat on the dock next to a bin full of live cocahoe minnows. On this evening, I didn't catch much except some giant hardhead catfish and a few big stingrays. On other occasion, though, night fishing produces more action than day fishing. At times, the water boils with speckled trout and redfish chasing crabs, minnows or shrimp.

The next morning, we tried it again. This time, Jill and I occupied a blind. I bagged one greenhead and fired at a couple mottled ducks. Other blinds killed a few teal and gadwalls.

"It's just been too hot for the ducks," Danny said. "We had a really good opening weekend, but then the ducks disappeared. Some seasons, I personally kill 200 to 250 ducks a year."

This time, the anglers concentrated on redfish. With temperatures feeling more like spring than fall, redfish swarmed in the labyrinth of interconnected ponds.

David, Otha and I joined Trevor Duet for some topwater action. Sight casting to waking fish and blind casting to likely spots, we caught nearly our limit of redfish in the 4- to 12-pound range in about three hours. Most of the fish hit Knucklehead Juniors, jerkbaits or gold Red Ripper spoons.

"We can't guarantee ducks or fish, but we guarantee a good time," Danny said. "People come here to have a good time, not just to fish or hunt. We're also going to add a 35-foot above ground swimming pool where kids can play. We want it to be a family place, not just a hunting and fishing place. We want to give the non-hunting or non-fishing spouses something to do."

For booking trips, call Cajun Resort at (985) 691-5179. On line, see www.cajunresorts.com.