Louisiana Crews Plant Native Coontail to Rebuild Saline-Larto Fish Habitat

Good fisheries do not happen by accident. They need water, forage, cover and people willing to do the slow habitat work that never gets as much attention as a grip-and-grin photo.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries inland fisheries crews are continuing native aquatic vegetation restoration in the Saline-Larto Complex. On Aug. 19, biologists deployed 10 protective enclosures near Open Bayou, Little Saline Bayou and Shad Lake, then transplanted coontail inside them.

Coontail is a native submerged plant that gives young fish nursery cover, provides shelter from predators, supports aquatic insects and builds the kind of structure anglers look for when they are trying to find fish. The protective enclosures keep the new plants from being eaten before they can get established.

LDWF has been working on native vegetation recovery in the complex since 2022. This year’s surveys showed some encouraging signs, including continued American lotus and white-water lily, along with bladderwort showing up in the Shad Lake area.

That is conservation with dirt under its fingernails. Plant it, protect it, monitor it and keep coming back. Better habitat means better fishing, better wildlife value and a stronger public resource for everybody who uses that water the right way.