90 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015
Butte La RoseLatiolais was headed to Butte La Rose Canal, the aquatic main
street inside the confines of the little village.
“It’s one of the last places to get muddy from rising river water
and one of the first places to clear up,” he explained. “It doesn’t
get active water flow the length of the canal. One end of the
canal dead-ends at the protection levee and the other end
opens into the waterway along the levee, which connects to the
Basin proper.
“I regularly catch catfish, bluegills and (red ear sunfish, aka
chinquapin) in it.”
It was a weekday. Latiolais is executive chef and general man-
ager for Crawfish Town USA, a position that works him odd
hours but gives him a lot of time off.
He uses that off time fish.“From late February through November, I fish four times a
week,” he said, grinning. “I work a lot of nights and I fish a lot in
the morning. I always have time to fish.
“Yesterday, I worked in the morning and fished in the afternoon.”
Latiolais’ vehicle chugged through Henderson and down the
levee road before crossing a pontoon bridge into Butte La Rose.
His destination was the Dick Davis public landing. Launching
the kayaks didn’t take long.
He stowed a kayak crate immediately behind his seat to hold
his tackle and extra rods.
“They make a kayak crate that costs about $120,” he said.
His is a recycled plastic milk crate.
“The crate costs me zero dollars, and I spent $25 on the rod
holders,” Latiolais said.Here it is — April. Your freezer is empty and you are
hankering for fish. Your favorite fishing hole, the fabulous Atchafalaya
Basin is overwhelmed with muddy, flood-stage river water.
Whaddayado?
Well, if you are like Dustie Latiolais, you go fishing in the Basin anyway — you just go to town.
Town?
This is a wilderness swamp. What town?
Butte La Rose
The only town in the 260,000-acre Atchafalaya Basin.
BELOW: Latiolais swing-casted under overhanging
brush, controlling the line of the rod with his free
hand. InsEt: The Latiolais family’s favorite fish to
eat are bream, like this fat female bluegill.continued on page 94