Anyone boating the Tickfaw River in LA?

[Fltcrew]

Wife is from the Denham Springs area but she moved away after college. I know her friends boat False River and Tickfaw and I am looking at a rental house for Labor Day weekend on the river.

Can anyone give me advice on what to expect if we decide to go that route?


Thanks

 

[Spoiledrotten]

Haven’t been there, but it’s on my list.

 

[Fltcrew]

I went ahead and reserved the house on a canal off the Tickfaw River at river mile 8. It is about 3 miles up river from Tin Lizzy's and 8 miles from the mouth where it enters Lake Maurepas.

I called my wife's friend who fishes the area for advice and he suggested stopping at Tin Lizzy's, The Prop Stop, Boopalus, are all on the river I believe Sun Buns Bar and Middendorf's restaurant are across the north end of Maurepas under the I-55 bridge.

Apparently the "Sandbar" hangout is on the west shore of Maurepas south of the mouth of Tickfaw.

I know it is going to be a crowded and crazy weekend and I am trying to be prepared for that but my patience wears thin with stupid people and I bet this will look like the home office.

We are planning to get tix for the LSU/Ga Southern Game Saturday night and make the most of the weekend and our drive down from TN.

Maybe I'll have some pics and stories to share when we get back.
Edit: I found this cool laminated map to keep on the boat. I ordered one.

https://riverratrob.com

 

[Fltcrew]

Just got back from this trip and wanted to post my experiences for anyone considering going.

First off, I found a very reasonable house (they call them camps down there) on a canal off the Tickfaw on AirBB.com. It had a covered slip and was about 200 yards off the Tickfaw River 3 miles up from the Hwy 22 bridge where there is a marina, Tin Lizzy's Landing and other stuff.

We were there over the busy Labor Day weekend and there were boats everywhere with the most extreme varying sizes and owner IQ's as you can possibly imagine but it wasn't prohibitively crowded. I can't believe people would pull ANYTHING especially their kids on that river with so much traffic... around tight bends with boats passing each other occasionally. It is a 25 min ride out the river to Lake Maurpaw and there you have all the real estate 1000 skiers could ever need.

It is south Louisiana and there are a LOT of restaurants and bars off the lakes, rivers and canals. You could stay there a week and not hit the same place twice. We love Tin Lizzy's on the Tickfaw River and Tiger Hut (Lagnaippe) at the intersection of. the the Diversion Canal and Petite Amite River south. of the lake.

Be prepared to tie up bow or stern first at these places because everyone else does and you'll take up 3 places if you try to dock sideways. We got good at it and I plan do do more of that.

#1 suggestion is drop $20 for this map. https://riverratrob.com
#2 don't even consider going without a GPS. I don't have one installed yet but I used the Navionics Boating App on my iPad and it is an awesome substitute and you can bring it inside to study while not on the boat.
#3 Make sure you can dock bow first. A dock line on each corner of the bow and maybe a bumper.
#4 Keep an eye on the weather. Lake Marurepas is huge and avg depth 8' so it CAN get rough. We almost got stuck on the Southside with 14 miles to run back to the mouth of the Tickfaw River. Luckily the rain slid through and my ESP on my R25 gave us a VERY impressive ride back. We saw a bass boat and he was not a happy camper. The two 13yo girls on the lounge in the back didn't even put their phones down (ugh)
#5 Make sure you have all the required safety equipment onboard. It was a holiday weekend but the water patrol was very visible and we got checked in the first 10 mins! Which leads me to the next one.,....
#6 kids 16yo and under have to have life vests on and fastened when the big motor is running at any speed. Most states are 13yo and Louisiana used to be too. They changed the law a couple of years ago and that is the #1 thing they are looking for.
#7 The gas pumps we used were pay at the pump and presumably open 24 hours which was very nice but you are in remote parts and there isn't gas everywhere so have a plan because we burned a lot.

Places to Google and check out that can all be reached by boat and in most cases ONLY by boat.

1) Tin Lizzy's Landing (only open weekends but usually has a live band)
2) The Prop Stop Inn (Bar with bands) This is the newest and most popular with the younger crowd.
3) Middendorf's across Lake Mauraopas at Manchec Pass. Has a bar of course but go for a meal.
4) Alligator Bayou is a smaller creek (deep enough to run but nice to idle through) off the south side of the Blind River. It is a loop so it takes you back to the river with no backtracking. Too hot for the gators I guess but peaceful and didn't see a single other boat here.
5) See the nice houses, docks and boats on the Diversion Canal on your way to the Tiger Hut (Lagnaippe) restaurant and bar. They have gas too!
6) Leaving there take the Petite Amit River south to join the Blind River again and take THAT sound 2-3 miles to see Our Lady of Blind River Church. (Google it)

This is just what we did but there are so many scenarios. Find a place to stay and launch then plan your trip around that.


Forgot to add that we did not checkout the sandbars (2 of them) on the west side of Lake Maurapas but we did see boats congregate at each of them.

Also, my wife is from this area and graduated from LSU so we got off the river Saturday night and drove to Baton Rouge to watch the Tigers put a beat down on Georgia Southern! :0)

 

[Spoiledrotten]

Great family shots! Thanks for sharing. It’s on my bucket list, and since it’s not far from me, I’ll probabky make that trip next summer.
So far, we’ve pulled our boat to, and visited bodies of water in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri, and, of course, Mississippi. Haven’t been next door to Louisiana, yet.