Starting to venture out a bit further with my rig now. Planning to make my first long run in it this weekend on the Mermentau River in Cameron Parish. I'm looking to take the river from the park in Grand Chenier up to the catfish locks. After studying an aerial of the river, I'm estimating it to be 12 -15 miles one way. Has anyone ever made this run and can anyone verify my estimate? Planning to carry 17 gallons of fuel, so I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of gas. I've only ran the river from the park to maybe two miles above and below. I know it has alot of shallow mudflats, especially at low tide, so I'm not planning on taking my time. If anyone has experience on this river, I would appreciate some input, or better yet, if y'all aint doin nut'n, come ride wit me! Gonna try to catch a few whisker fishes when I get up there.

Looks like no-one has any knowledge on this river. That's cool, don't mind being an explorer at all. Does anybody know of a map App that works better than Google maps as far as estimating nautical miles? My depth finder is simply that. Don't have a GPS other than my little Etrex handheld. It will mark my track, record waypoints, etc. But it doesn't have a map imbedded. I'll know how far it is once I make the run, but that doesn't do me much good in planning for it.

My rig is a 1648 Jon with a '10 GT 31hp (stock). What kind of MPG should I expect if running a light load at around 3500 rpm?

There's an app called boat tracker , it'll track your route speeds and all that..

And if scary Gary sees this he may can put some input in on the route youre planning to make.
I've also ran from prien to Sam Houston park a couple times. It's close to 20 miles one way, and I did it with 6gallons of gas

Thanks for the info. I'll look at the App and see if it's something I want to use, but if all it will do is monitor my running track, speed and distance traveled, my Etrex does all that. Gonna take the mount off of my Wilderness kayak so I can mount it in the boat.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that Gary gives this thread a look.

Kirk, it would be nice if I could access to the ramp at the end of our road. That would make it a very short run. But the only ones who can use that rampare the residents and Corp of Engineers that run the locks.

Motion-X is a great GPS app.
You should have plenty of gas. I have a 16 gallon built in tank that is plenty for a 48 mile round trip to my camp.


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I really need someone to verify my estimate for distance from the points referenced above. If I had a Topo of the river I would be able to verify it myself. Right now all I have is satellite imaging and it doesn't do anything for estimating extended range.

I have made that run a few times. I remember it being about 16 miles and a long ride. The mud flats north of the park can be rough water at high tide so be careful there. I have a 5 gal tank and brought a extra 2 gallons just in case. I dont burn much gas at WOT, but then I am only running a modded 23. It can be quite tricky if you get them to open the locks for you, about spun my boat around with the rush of water.

Its an easy run up and down river. It has been a few years since I did it, But with the surface drive you can venture out of the channel in a few spots to save some time. Upper mud lake is one you can run across out of the channel if your comfortable with it.

Kirk, the only ramp I know of on the ICW is at the Gibbstown bridge. I'm pretty sure that ride is a bit further than putting in at Grand Chenier. Even if it is 16 miles by water with all the twists and turns. I'll try the Google Maps thing, but not sure if my tablet will let me do that. My desktop goes crazy when I get online.

Goodblasson, I was estimating up to 15 miles, so if I'm off by a mile.....not bad for taking a SWAG (scientific wise ass guess)! I'm expecting it to be a long ride, but it's either make a 20 minute trailering drive and then run the river, or trailer an hour or more and have to cross big expanses of open water on another long ride on more water I dont know. Either way it's a long ride. Those locks are very remote. Even the C.O.E. has to go by boat. But the ramp they use is private at the end of Little Chenier Rd. Probly not 10 minutes for them. I've talked to of few of the residents down there about using the ramp and they acted like you were asking to take their 13 y/o daughter to bed. BTW... the secret to locking thru is to stay back until they get the lock open. I've locked thru dams where they literally raised/lowered the water 100 feet in a 14 foot flat botton.

Max, thanks for the input. I have driven the river road a couple of times and know there are some really shallow areas right out in the middle of the river, but luckily it's soft mud and I'll do my damndest to keep a little water between the boat and it. Will probly drop the motor down into bulldog so I wont have to try to do that from inside the boat (just in case). I'm not aware of any hard obsticles (hurricane debri, stumps, logs, etc), just a lot of soft mud. I get my best speed from that position anyway, but have to deal with a bit more torque. Don't have any mudding experience to speak of but I've been in a boat since I was 6 months old and think I can read a river pretty decent. Not gonna be in a hurry, just gonna take my time and enjoy the ride. Gonna take a glance at the tides for Saturday and see what's what. Hope to make an early start (first safe light) and try to outrun the skeeters .

Hopefully, I'll get up there and load the boat with a some big purty channel cats!!!!! Sure would make the long ride worth the effort.

Well crap. Was planning to make this little excursion this weekend, but my brother may not be able to make it. He's undergoing chemo treatment and got a fresh dose today. Probly won't feel up to a 45 minute boat ride ..... one way, much less coming back after fishing too.

Can you put up a pic of the points where you plan to start and finish ? Just drop a pin and screen shot it or something

I can try. How do you paste a pic on here?

I've ran up to the locks numerous times in my 2060 and my bay boat. The channel is clearly marked. Should have no problem running it, if you feel like staying in the channel. Upper Mud Lake has alot of crab pots, so just be mindful of them. Most are outside of the channel. Google maps shows 12.7 nautical miles. The last track on my GPS shows 13.2 so its somewhere around that from the launch to the locks.

Thanks slambin!! In my original post I said I thought it was around 12 miles. I guess my swag was pretty close. I ran maybe 2 miles above the ramp last weekend but dont remember seeing any channel markers. Are they the typical bouy (red & green) or something else and where do they start?

The channel markers are red and green buoys, but they are mainly in Upper Mud Lake. They should have PVC pipe markers showing where the channel is in most places in the river itself.

I dont recall seeing any pvc markers last weekend, but i did see a lot of crab pot markers. The lower end is easy to read anyway, but I'll definitely have to be looking a bit closer when I go run it.

Where are these locks you speak of? I've never been further than little chenier but am pretty familiar with the maps in that area.
More people from swla on here than I thought!

Kirk, If you look at a satellite image of Little Chenier, go to the end of the road then follow the Mermentau up river and you can't miss them. It controls flow between the river and catfish lake. Slamblin's post has an image of the river with pinpoints on it. The last pin to the far east are the catfish locks. There are also a set of wiers just south of Little Chenier road that controls flow on the marsh we hunt, end of the canal off Chenier Purdue road. I can run to those from the camp, but you can't access the river from there because it's a hard levie. May try to fish those soon. Will have to pull the boat on the bank and fish from the levie tho.

iv never ben that far up as well. let us know how it goes. maybe we can all make a run once I get my boat

We ended up not going this weekend. My brother wasn't feeling well, having just undergone a chemo treatment on Wednesday. I definitely want to do it tho. Just not alone on a maiden voyage. Did get to give the boat a good load test over the weekend tho. Two additional guys at 200#+ each and 12 gallons of fuel up front. Our water is dropping steadily, down about a foot from two weeks ago. Handled the weight like a champ. No specifics on speed, but from a dead stop in just inches of water and a ton of grass it just eased its way right out no trouble.

Hernaja1....let me know when you're ready. You'll probly walk off and leave me with two brutes of that rig, but we'll definitely make the run when you're ready. Hope it isn't too long. Teal season is right around the corner!

I'm not about to talk shot about my rig lol your rig might make mine look bad you never know. Yea I'm hoping we can make ail run before teal season. I don't mind the distance I'll have plenty of gas tank

My rig wont make anything look bad. Old boat, old motor, a lot of DIY stuff going on. Its just a means to an end for me and still very much a work in progress. Plan to start on a front deck extension soon. Trying to decide if I want a hinged or fixed top or maybe completely removeable.