Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Project Supports Louisiana Fishery with Over 80 Artificial Structures

The Major League Fishing Fisheries Management Division completed another Minn Kota^® Habitat Restoration Project on Lake Claiborne in Louisiana with the support of Humminbird^®. The habitat restoration projects deploy artificial structures to bodies of water around the U.S. to support healthy fisheries.

On April 25th, Minn Kota and Humminbird pro angler Kevin VanDam joined the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fish (LDWF) for the project, along with the Claiborne Parish Watershed District Commission (CPWDC), Duck Dynasty star John Godwin and Steven Bardin, director of the MLF Fisheries Management Division in partnership with Berkley Labs.

The crew spent the day building over eighty MossBack Fish artificial structures, including fourteen 40-inch Conservation Cubes, twenty-three 20-inch Root Wads, twenty-five 60-inch Trophy Tree XL, eighteen Safe Haven XL, and fifteen John Godwin Crappie Towers. The structures were deployed in groups of three to five units in water depths from 6 to 12 feet on Lake Claiborne.

Supporting a Healthy Fishery

Kevin VanDam found the project to be extremely impactful, “It was really an eye-opening experience. The LDWF and CPWDC have a well-oiled machine when it comes to improving habitat—every cluster of habitat that we placed was chosen precisely, and that magnifies the impact made. They’re not tossing these structures in the lake wherever they please; it’s a strategic operation.”

“The biggest thing that I’ve learned is how important projects like this are to improving local fisheries. So many lakes in the U.S. are older, lack good habitat for the fish, and do not get the appropriate management—whether that is stocking programs or habitat improvement projects like this. One of the best things about the Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Projects is that the MossBack structures are made with recycled material, and they do not decay like most brushpiles, which leads to longer lasting habitat.” Added VanDam.

It wasn’t just work for VanDam, it was a positive experience, “I’ve fished thousands and thousands of brush piles, but I’ve never built one quite like this. It was a lot of fun to spend time with the team, build and deploy these structures—while positively impacting a fishery.”

Lake Claiborne Habitat Improvements

Lake Claiborne is one of the deeper reservoirs in Louisiana. It covers 6,400 acres and is limited in habitat to sparse vegetation and older timber. Over the past several years, the CPWDC and LDWF have been collaborating on improving the habitat, largemouth bass genetics and forage in the reservoir.

Since 2018, the CPWDC has funded the stocking of 80,000 Florida-strain largemouth bass fingerlings annually. They’ve also stocked 20,000 bluegill sunfish for forage. In 2022, they hosted a “Reef Rodeo,” providing 200 unused Christmas trees to local anglers to create brush piles. In 2023, CPWDC began collecting fin samples to assess genetics of their bass population and implemented a lunker bass free replica program for any angler who catches a fish over 10 pounds, certifies it and releases it.

The Minn Kota Habitat Restoration project supported by Humminbird provided the LDWF and CPWDC an opportunity to improve habitat on a larger scale with products that will not decay. The exact GPS locations will be available on the CPWDC and LDWF websites in the coming weeks.