A true story about an Atchafalaya Basin, deep water, wild crawfisherman. His name is Jody Meche.

Jody began his crawfish season in a place called Tin-Can Lake, in early March of this year (2001). Tin-Can Lake is located about five miles south of I-10 and is between Whiskey Bay and the Ramah levee. The crawfish didn’t run very well in Tin-Can but were of descent size and Jody was able to get a descent price per pound for his daily catch. When the water levels in Tin-Can Lake began to recede due to the fall of the river, it became more difficult for him to run his nets and make a day of work. He had to purchase a go-devil so that he continue running his nets in Tin-Can. Eventually the water fell so low he had to take up his nets and find some place else to continue fishing. The work canal that he traveled to reach Tin-Can was too shallow due to silt and sediment build-up over the years, so he could not make it to Tin-Can by boat any longer.

Now, Jody had to travel the basin in search of some place else where he could set out a run of crawfish nets so that he could continue to provide an income for his wife and two boys. Having years of experience fishing crawfish from childhood, and a strong trust in God, he went out in search of a good place to catch crawfish. Being kind of late in the crawfish season, he felt it would be best to find a place that had descent current flow and was known for crawfish running late in the season. The swamp he chose to check is near Bayou Pigeon and can accommodate quite a few fishermen. As he traveled through the area operating his 88 Evinrude by tiller handle, aboard his 18 ½ foot aluminum crawfish skiff, he began to spot crawfish popping out of the water and staying stuck on top of a duck weed blanket which was growing on the surface. Right away, he knew this was the place to set out his run of crawfish nets.

He went with one hundred (100) nets the first day and only set out about eighty-two (82) of them, because something was troubling him. He had to go to Baton Rouge the next day to speak in opposition of house bill 1381, which was a trespassing bill being presented by one of our state representatives, which could perhaps effect the rights of crawfishermen fishing the Atchafalaya basin. He just couldn’t quite focus on setting out his nets. The next day Jody returned to his run of nets to collect his catch. While running his nets, he decided that he would return the following day to set out more nets so that he would have enough in the water to make a living. The next day about halfway through setting his nets, two (2) men approached him in a small skiff with a go-devil. Jody was also using his go-devil because the water was fairly shallow. One of the men was Joe Trahan of the Atchafalaya Crawfish Conservation Association. He told Jody he was fishing on leased properties and he would have to buy a $300 permit to fish in that area of the basin or remove his nets from the area. Jody told the ACCA representative that he was not going to buy his permit or remove his nets, unless he could prove that he had the right to prevent him from fishing crawfish in this beautiful Atchafalaya basin water bottom.

The next day Jody went to run his nets for a second time. As he killed his go-devil and began tying a sack of crawfish, he heard a go-devil approaching from this left. The go-devil stopped and he could hear the men talking in the distance. Jody called out to the men, “if you are looking for me, I’m over here”. “All right Jody, we’re coming”, a voice replied. There they were again, Joe Trahan and Victor Boudreaux of the ACCA, with the same orders as the day before. Jody asked Joe, “what are you going to give me for $300?” “Should a crawfish pinch or poke me, or my hand gets infected from a cut, are you going to compensate me for my time loss fishing during the peak of the run, or pay for my doctor bills”? “No, replied Joe”. “How about when I break my gears in my lower unit or burn my outboard motor, are you going to help pay for my repairs or a new motor”? “No,” he answered. “How about when I get some nets stolen or crawfish stolen from my nets? Are you going to compensate me for that?” No, was his answer. “Can you guarantee me a day of work every day I come and run my nets or guarantee me enough water and the right conditions it takes for crawfish to run?” “No,” say’s Joe. “ I can’t guarantee you any of that.” “Well then Joe, what are you going to give me for $300?” “I’m going to give you the right to fish crawfish here, he replies.” “ In that case, I don’t want your permit, because I believe I already have that right,” answered Jody. Jody then proceeded to take pictures of the two men and the area he was fishing in. He also took pictures of them taking a satellite G.P.S. reading to pinpoint their exact location in the basin. He asked the two men what they were going to do for legal action against him, just so he could be prepared for the unexpected. I mean, it’s not every day you get arrested for fishing crawfish on a water bottom in the Atchafalaya Basin. Joe told Jody they were probably going to file and injunction against him, whatever that is. He told Joe, “if you’re through, I need to finish running my nets so I can get home. I drive over 75 miles by truck to get to Bayou Pigeon and I have the same drive to get home when I am finished with my day of work. If you don’t mind, I need to finish running my nets.”

Day three, Jody’s baby boy Bryce (4 year old) had been asking Jody to take him crawfishing for the past several days. He really loves going out into the basin with his dad. Jody didn’t want to take him because he hated waking Bryce at 4:o’clock in the morning. Today he made an exception and decided to take Bryce along. They got bait, sacks, supplies, and fuel for the truck and boat and off to Bayou Pigeon they go. Bryce was very excited to be going crawfishing with his dad. He was going to experience something that his grandfather shared with his father, and also his great grandfather had shared with his grandfather. Jody and Bryce were having a great day fishing together. As they approached one of the crawfish nets next in line to be run. Jody told Bryce that this net was his and he asked him if he wanted to pull the net from the water and dump the crawfish. Bryce was excited about participating and eagerly answered “yes”. As Bryce lifted the net from the water, and dumped the crawfish out, Jody snapped a couple of pictures of him in action, in order to preserve the moment. A few nets later, Jody stopped his go-devil in order to tie a sack of crawfish. As he tied his sack of crawfish he could hear some voices in the distance. He was able to recognize that one of the people talking was his nephew Casey, and he decided to go over and visit with him. When he approached Casey’s boat he discovered that the other voices were those of Mr. Joe Trahan and Victor Boudreaux of the ACCA. Mr. Trahan was giving Casey the same orders that he had given Jody on the two days prior. Bryce was very attentive to everything being said, and he was very discouraged by the situation. Joe told Jody that he also wanted to witness him running a crawfish net again, for a third time. Jody replied, “ no problem, I have to get back on my run right over there. You want to take another picture of me at work today also,” asked Jody? “ No, I have enough pictures,” replied Joe. As Jody finished running his net and slowly proceeded to the next one, Bryce began with questions of concern. “Daddy, those men want you to take up your crawfish nets?” “Yes,” answered Jody. “Daddy, those men don’t fish? All they do is ride around and tell people to get out?” “Yes buddy, but don’t worry about that, everything is going to alright.” It took Bryce a while to get over the rendezvous with the ACCA. They really interrupted and changed the course of what was turning out to be a great father and son outing. A few days later running nets in the same area, Jody hears a go-devil heading his direction, while he had stopped to tie a sack of crawfish. As he headed down his run and looked over his shoulder, there they were again for the fourth time. You guessed it, Joe Trahan and Victor Boudreaux of the ACCA. Jody stopped his go-devil and gave them his attention once more. Joe told him the same thing he had told him before. Buy a permit or take your nets up. By this time Jody had just about enough of Joe Trahan and the ACCA. He told him that if he didn’t stop tracking him down he was going to file harassment charges on him. “Enough is enough. If you have the right to stop me from fishing here, then do what you have to do. If you’re not going to do anything, then leave me alone.” Joe said that he would report to his boss Rudy Sparks, with Jody’s message. He also told Jody that he was leaving the area. He said he was going to patrol another part of the property they had leased. Jody told Joe that if he were going to be looking for fishermen, he would have much better luck finding them on the water, than on property. “You see Joe, fishermen don’t fish on property, fishermen fish on the water.” That was the last Jody had seen of Joe and Victor. I guess they found someone else to pick on in the Atchafalaya Basin.