Cocodrie, Louisiana: Fisherman’s Paradise!

I had the opportunity to spend the weekend at Cocodrie, Louisiana, and I think that this is one of the places on the minds of our forefathers who gave Louisiana its nickname!

Cocodrie is just south of Houma, at the 'end' of highway 26 (yes, if you keep driving, you'll need one of these), and it features the "typical" South Louisiana landscape:  marshland, canals, bayous, and houses on stilts!

The highway into Cocodrie is dotted with private residences, 'camps', bait houses, seafood processing facilities, oilfield companies and drawbridges.  Once you get into Cocodrie "proper", there's not much more than a few marinas (with their own restaurants), camps, and boats.  Lots and lots of boats.  Skiffs, trawlers, oyster boats, flats, catamarans, tugs, supply boats; the list goes on and on!

The people in Cocodrie are truly the salt of the earth; locals are eager to help you find your way, or to let you know what the reds were biting on. Hardworking, proud people.... my favorite kind.

According to Wikipedia:

Cocodrie, Louisiana was featured in the Insomniac Games PlayStation 3 game Resistance 2 between the Holar Tower and Chicxulub Crater levels. The level consists of a plantation style environment surrounded by swamp and marshlands..

So, not only a beautiful place, filled with great fishing, great people and a laid-back feel, but it was also featured on a Play Station game!

We had a great weekend of fishing (just minutes from the marina) and we caught catfish (the crucifix kind!!), redfish, speckled trout, black drum, a shark and 2 stingrays!

Some of the fish that we caught are not really "desirable", so we tossed them back in... like the catfish known as "hardheads"...

The marina where we stayed is called Coco Marina, and it seemed to be pretty popular (maybe because it is the only marina with a pool and a splashpad??)

We weren't the only ones looking for a meal...

My boat didn't look like 99% of the other boats out there (my boat is more for 'pleasure cruising'), but it served the purpose well enough....  I'm just glad we had a chance to clean it before Shannon saw it!  It was filthy!

Even though we didn't take him fishing with us, he did get to go on a boat ride this morning, and he even went skinny-dipping in the Gulf of Mexico!

The fishing was great, the scenery was beautiful, the food was delicious... but the best part of the whole weekend was being able to spend it with some of my family...

Thank you Cocodrie, Louisiana, for a great weekend...

(Via Wiki and Google)