April 29, 2026

Pier 90 launch forced to close during remainder of duck season

November 18, 2011 Bruce McDonald Fishing / Hunting, Sports

Payton Dufrene and Derek Fanguy, of Des Allemands, hunted off of the West Canal in the Salvador Management Area during the opening weekend of duck season. They killed teal, poule d’ eau and spoonbills.

After most successful opening weekend in years

Pier 90’s boat launch has been forced to close during the remainder of duck season due to ongoing work on the Western Tie-In, which is designed to connect hurricane protection levees in West Jefferson with the Mississippi River levees in St. Charles Parish.

During this time of the year, many hunters and fishermen use the launch to gain access into the Davis Pond Diversion marsh, Lake Cataouatche and the Lake Salvador Management Area. But Bayou Verret, which takes boaters to those areas from Pier 90, closed on Nov. 13 and won’t reopen until the end of January, according to Courtney Mongrue, of Pier 90.

Last weekend, hunters from across the area descended on Pier 90 for the opening of the first split of duck season. For many hunters, it was the best opening weekend that they could remember.

Jacob King, of LaPlace, said that the Davis Pond marsh was five times better than any area he has ever seen for hunting ducks.

“This is going to be a great year. There are plenty of teal, spoonbills, gray ducks and poule d’ eau,” he said last weekend before the closure.

This is the second time this year that the Pier 90 launch has been forced to close for tie-in work. In May, the launch shut its doors for a month while the Corps of Engineers installed flood gates on Bayou Verret.

This time, the company hired to build a lock system on Bayou Verret will be moving a barge to the site, which will block the entire canal, Mongrue said.

With Pier 90 closed, hunters and fishermen will have to launch from Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego or the end of the road launch in Bayou Gauche. Trips from both spots will double or even triple a boater’s time to reach the Davis Pond marsh and the Lake Salvador Management Area.

“We found out after making a duck hunt on Sunday that the boat launch at Pier 90 was going to be closed,” Aaron Loupe, of Luling, said. “We are going to have to travel to Bayou Segnette, which means a duck hunter will have to leave at 3 a.m. to get to his duck blind if they want to hunt.”

Pier 90’s bar will remain open during the launch’s closure.