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Grand
Isle is located at the the southern end of Lafourche and Jefferson
Parishes. It is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, Caminada Bay and
Barataria Bay. It is accessible by Louisiana Highway 1 along Bayou
Lafourche and crosses Caminada Pass to the western end of the island.
If
you are planning to visit Grand Isle. And expect to find a 20 story
luxury Hotel, or Museum of Fine Arts, Opera house, or Theater, you
are going to be more disappointed then 'Ponce de Leon' when he failed
to find the "Fountain of Youth."
Grand
Isle is better suited to the sports-fishermen and the adventure
seeker instead of the pampered leisure traveler. The primary activity
for visitors to Grand Isle is sport-fishing.
Some
people may envision an island off the Louisiana coast as a island
with a hot steaming jungle on it, with unbearable days and nights.
This might be true of some islands in the area of the Bahamas or the
Caribbean. But this is not true of Grand Isle. Grand Isle is a
subtropic island that enjoys the best of the tropical and temperate
zones. Warm pleasant summers, very mild and peaceful Winters. Oak
trees and Banana trees grow on the island. Many people who live on
Grand Isle year round plant summer and winter garden's. Grand Isle
has played a special role in the culture and history of Louisiana for
more than 300 years. The history of Grand Isle is filled with pirate lore.
During
the pirate days, the only flourishing trade was the notorious
operations of Henry Morgan and then Jean Lafitte. Since then,
however, business has been mostly centered around the seafood fishing
industry, offshore oil rig activity, and the annual influx of
island-seekers readying for fishing, swimming, and sunbathing.
Grand
Isle is not just any remote island on the Gulf coast, it is a real
community, with grocery stores, Cajun seafood restaurants. And it has
been rated as one of the top-ten fishing spots in the world.
Grand
Isle is a sportsmen's paradise, a year round treasured getaway for sports-fishermen.
Grand Isle is often called Louisiana's jewel, by fishermen. Grand
Isle is a barrier island off the Louisiana coast. A beach ridge
created by the action of the waves of the Gulf of Mexico, Grand Isle
serves as a breakwater between the Gulf of Mexico and the network of
inland channels that connect to the bayou tributaries of the
Mississippi River. There is no other island like Grand Isle. Grand
Isle is isolated enough to be private and modern enough to offer
comfort and conveniences.
If
you are coming to Grand Isle to fish, you will find out why several
of the world's best charter captains decided to settle in the Grand
Isle area. Over 280 species of fish are known to make their home in
the surrounding waters of Grand Isle. Grand Isle is a dream come true
for sports-fishermen, whether for a weekend getaway or a long
vacation. Brown pelicans dive into the water. Seagulls appear to
float on the wind above the shore. Crabs nimbly scamper out of reach
of the children chasing them with their nets.
The
beach that grace's Grand Isle is seven miles long. You can avoid the
crowds at the east and west end's of the island and enjoy the rest of
the Grand Isle shoreline by yourself. Here and there a few humans
walk or play on the beach, watching the waves surfing onto shore and
feeling their daily worries trickle away. This is a typical day,
summer or winter, on the beach at Grand Isle.
Different
seasons offer different types of fishing. For example, speckled
trout fishing is good year-round, but the best times are spring and
summer. Hot red fish action along the surf occurs in fall and winter,
while night flounder gigging is best during the warmer months on
incoming tides. For those with a boat, however, the fishing menu can
be endless.
Grand
Isle is also the launching point for excellent deep-sea fishing
adventures. Just six miles offshore of Grand Isle is the world's
largest manmade reef.
Year
after year, fishermen from Michigan and Maine, from Canada,
California and the Carolina's, settle comfortably into accommodations
to savor the bounty of Grand Isle. You too can experience one of the
world's ten best fishing spots which is also home to thousands of
migratory birds from North and South America.
Grand
Isle is host to a variety of different bird species, and bird
watching enthusiast come from all over to observe the twice a year
trans gulf migratory birds that congregate on Grand Isle before
continuing their journey. There are also a vast number of year round
bird species that have drawn many a photographer to Grand Isle.
For
most of the year, Grand Isle with mild temperatures and clear
weather, is a leisurely place. Each season brings new delights and
added pleasures waiting to be explored. All four seasons on Grand
Isle are beautiful.
Spring
on Grand Isle.
Blackberry
blooms abound. Guava bushes release their delicate white flowers.
Down a shaded lane, you catch sight of a bunting. Later, above the
yellow and purple Louisiana irises, you spot the flickering crimson
of a tanager.
Afternoon
finds you on 'the Old Fishing Bridge' soaking up the rays and
admiring the speckled trout you've caught. Night time is the eternal
dilemma. Should you cook your catch or go to one of the island's
restaurants for the freshest oysters you've ever tasted? You split
the difference and do both.
Summer
on Grand Isle.
The
weekends bustle with fishing rodeos. You bring your boat or charter
a boat with friends you made the year before, and experience the
thrill of fishing around the oil rigs or Artificial Reefs in the Gulf
of Mexico. Another day, you fish the back bays and canals that criss-cross
the nearby marshlands,
You
share the abundant fresh blackberries, guava and persimmon with
tropical birds accustomed to the sweet, delicious fruit. You climb
the observation tower at the state park for a breathtaking view from
the island's eastern end clear across the Barataria Pass to Fort
Livingston on the neighboring island, Grand Terre. That night you
enjoy the island's night life at any one of Grand Isle's lounge's.
The last full weekend of every July sports fishermen come from all
over, to the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo.
On
a clear summer’s day, you can see the beautiful, sparkling,
yellowish sand meeting up with the clear, green Gulf waters that are
often freckled with sunbathers, boaters, and surf anglers.
Grand
Isle is one of the few places that you can cruise slowly down the
highway, on a light, breezy evening, and enjoy the smell of heavily
seasoned boiling crabs at various camp sites along the roadsides.
Some of the occupants can be seen inside their screened-in porches,
with spread newspapers for tablecloths, wreaking havoc on these tasty critters.
On
any quiet night, soon after sunset, when the lapping waves of the
Gulf of Mexico can be heard rustling with Grand Isle’s sandy
beach, you can see the days catch being cleaned at one of the fish
cleaning stations at certain boat docks.
It
is not uncommon during summer months, like July and August, to see
people along the beach catching hampers of crabs with little effort.
In fact, successful Grand Isle crabbing doesn’t even require
fancy crab traps or nets.
Many
just bring two sticks of appropriate length to drive into the sandy
sea bottom near the beach. Between the two sticks, a 20 ft. or so
length of twine is tied with 2 ft. drop lines every three feet apart.
To the ends of the drop lines a chicken neck is tied for bait.
Every
20 minutes the drop lines are carefully lifted out of the water one
at time with a landing net under the bait. As the bait clears the
water, the crabs fall into the net.
After
the crabs have been collected in the net, the net is emptied into an
ice chest or bucket.
When
the crabs are running good, the lines can be checked every five
minutes or less.
Fall
on Grand Isle.
The
days grow shorter. The crowds thin out. Flowering vines and straw
flowers rim the beach.
Lantern
in hand, you wade out into the night waters to catch flounder.
Plentiful redfish, speckled and white trout lure you to the surf.
Blue
water game fishing is also excellent: Cobia, King Mackerel, Spanish
Mackerel, Marlin, Sheepshead, Swordfish.
In
quiet moments you marvel at the abundant doves, the majestic Ibises,
Egrets, Cranes and Herons. You smile at the Terns and Kingfishers,
playing and squabbling like young children.
Winter
on Grand Isle.
Winter
slips in hardly a notice; very mild and peaceful. Old friends
return, visitors from the north who stay longer enjoying the climate
and special winter rates.
Mallards
and Canadian Geese have come back, too. Hunting for shells on the
beach has never been better. As always, fishing is spectacular.
Grand
Isle was famous for fishing long before off-shore rigs became
magnets for Tarpon, Grouper, Tuna, Barracuda, Wahoo, Cobia, Pompano,
Greater Amberjack and more. You charter-fish the deep waters, or
bring your own boat and fish the back bays and canals that
criss-cross the nearby marshlands.
In
the evening you enjoy friendly gatherings at one of Grand Isle's
restaurants. You plan to return next year and wish it wasn't months away.
Today
the trip to Grand Isle, the land of Jean Lafitte, is a scenic drive
down Louisiana highway One. Shrimp boats, churches, homes, sugar cane
fields and beautiful prairie marsh teeming with wildlife can be seen
along this highway. You can watch a pair of huge white egrets perform
a mating dance/flight, see a mother marsh-hen with her young along
the roadside, or spot that big fish breaking the surface of the water.
Once
on Grand Isle, enjoy bird watching, crabbing, swimming, sun bathing,
fishing. You can go souvenir or shell hunting. Dine at one of the
fine restaurants or sandwich shops. If quiet, shaded lanes are to
your liking, a walk through the wooded areas of the island will
surprise you. Tucked away in the trees are beautiful homes, some over
100 years old. Stop to visit over a fence with residents and get the
history of the homes and the island, and island life in general. Or
maybe you might try your hand at pirate treasure hunting, who knows
you might be the one who finds the Lost Spanish Treasure barge.
Once
you visit and experience the delights offered by Grand Isle
Louisiana, you will then appreciate why it is called "Grand Isle".
This
is the way Grand Isle is perceived to those who have shared her
abundance, year after year. It is as much a part of Louisiana living
as red beans and rice and Barq's root beer. It is the "Cajun
Bahamas" of Louisiana and the natives would have it no other way.
'Grand
Isle', the mere name says it all! |
