Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo angler Jacob Aucoin (right) shows
off two blue catfish during the 2025 event in Morgan City. His fish on
the left weighed 37.78 pounds, good enough for third place during the event.
Atchafalaya Catfish
By John K. Flores
The Choctaw called it the Atchafalaya, meaning “Long River.” And, indeed, it is. Running 137 miles from Simmesport, Louisiana, to the Gulf of America just 17 miles south of Morgan City, it’s the fifth largest river in North America and is the life blood of the Atchafalaya Basin, an unrivaled river swamp whose biodiversity includes plenty of big catfish.
Morgan City is the southern gateway to the basin and is a primary route for barge traffic north, south, east and west. From Morgan City and its sister city Berwick across the river, you’re literally minutes away from some of the best catfishing the country has to offer. Whether from waterfront wharfs or launching a watercraft to run up or down river, this region doesn’t disappoint.
Though the Mississippi River boasts six of the top 10 largest blue catfish caught in Louisiana, the Atchafalaya River and connecting tributaries quietly produce fish to brag about. Back in July 2020, Bannon Lightsey was out messing around doing a little bank fishing at the Jessie Fontenot Memorial Boat Landing in Berwick. The popular landing, used heavily by both recreational and commercial fishermen, has a nice grassy area that is kept mowed where folks can toss a line into the Atchafalaya River.
While fishing, Lightsey thought he got snagged and was hung up on a log. That is until he started reeling in and whatever he had on his line started fighting back. Confident he had a big blue catfish on his line, Lightsey fought the fish for the next 15 minutes. When the huge catfish surfaced, it started rolling. That’s when Lightsey noticed it was barely caught above the whisker. What’s more, the hook appeared to be slipping out.
Jumping in the water, the Patterson angler was able to secure the big catfish and land it. That monster was 48 inches long and weighed a whopping 70 pounds.
Just two weeks after Lightsey caught his 70 pounder, five Berwick middle-school boys teamed up to land a 55-pound blue cat from the City of Berwick’s river-front wharf.
Lightsey, who has a boat but loves to bank fish, said, “What’s crazy is we catch fish like that all the way to Christmas. Every other time we went out, we were catching 30- and 40-pound blue catfish—something big.”
When I first met Ernie Roe, he had just pulled up to the weigh station in front of the Morgan City Auditorium where I was the weigh master for the 2024 Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo (MCOFR). Roe had entered the catfish division of the tournament, where only one catfish was allowed to be weighed in.
Roe, 65, was fishing with his nephew, and the two catfish anglers had quite a day on the water. Roe claimed to have lost three catfish, a couple right at the boat that were bigger than the flathead catfish he was about to weigh in. Roe’s big goujon weighed a whopping 33.35 pounds, good enough to take home a check for $720.
The region is so good for big catfish, back on November 9, 2025, Twisted Cat Outdoors held their Championship Tournament there. Teammates Joe Lunsford and Eddie Henney took home a first-place check worth $10,000 with a two-day total weight of 238.80 pounds. The Champion Big Fish (a blue catfish) weighed 64.60 pounds and was caught by well-known catfish angler and guide Mike Mitchell.
During the 2025 MCOFR rodeo, the top three blue catfish brought to the scales weighed 49.6, 42.67, and 37.78 pounds, respectively. All of the catfish were caught within a 10- to 15-minute boat ride from Berwick/Morgan City boat landings.
Roe says blue and flathead catfish spawn from mid-May through June when the water temperature reaches 70 to 80 degrees. And though you can catch big catfish in the spring, they’re more active later in the summer, particularly July and August after the spawn.
If you own a boat, just down the Atchafalaya River from the Jesse Fontenot Memorial Boat Landing in Berwick, hotspots include Bayou Shaffer, Chicken Island Pass and Sweet Bay Lake.
Just east of Morgan City, in the town of Amelia, it will take you longer to park your boat and trailer at the Amelia Public Boat Launch than to get to a spot where you can start fishing. Just take the Avoca Island Cutoff north to the first opening where it meets Lake Palourde and start fishing the deep water in the pass.
Note, all the aforementioned locations are deep-water hotspots. Therefore, when fishing this region, bring heavy tackle for use with your favorite baits. Besides big catfish, you’ll be fighting heavy current that requires heavy weights, where in some cases you could have over 100 feet of line out in 50-foot water depths. It’s not uncommon for anglers to use 50-pound-test braided and 25-pound-test monofilament line.
Around lunch time, be sure to check out Rita Mae’s Kitchen on Federal Avenue for homecooked meals. If you’re looking for seafood and Cajun cuisine, stop by Atchafalaya Café off Main Street in Morgan City. You won’t be disappointed. Also, be sure to take an evening walk along the riverfront boardwalk and sea wall in Morgan City to watch the sunset and then eat at Café JoJo’s afterwards to complete your evening. For Mexican food, try Don Jose’s Grill on Martin Luther King Blvd.
There are numerous places to stay in Morgan City that include La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham, Hampton Inn & Suites, Clarion Inn, Best Western, Quality Inn, Red Roof Inn and Holiday Inn Express. Many of these hotels are boat friendly when it comes to parking.
Lake End Park is the place to stay for RVers. Located off Hwy 70 in Morgan City, it’s positioned perfectly on Lake Palourde, in stands of cypress trees with walking trails and a beach. There is also a boat launch where you’re within minutes of fishing catfish from your RV in this lake.
While visiting, you’ll want to catch a tour of the Mr. Charlie Rig Museum. A historical landmark, the rig museum is the only place in the world where the public can see, touch and feel an authentic offshore drilling rig. The Mr. Charlie operated in the Gulf of America from 1954 to 1986.
Located four miles west of Morgan City is the Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum. The museum is open Tuesdays-Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. and is free to the public. The aviation museum highlights the legacy of Jimmie Wedell and Harry P. Williams who formed the air service in 1928, a time considered the Golden Age of Aviation. The Cypress Sawmill Museum shares the rich history of the logging industry in Louisiana. There is plenty to see and learn about in both museums.
For more information about Morgan City and St. Mary Parish, visit the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau website or call 985-380-8224.
If you can, plan to stay during your visit. Life on the Cajun Coast can be pretty special.
(John Flores is an award-winning freelance outdoor writer, author and photographer, who left New Mexico for Louisiana’s Sportsman’s Paradise in 1984. Never looking back, the author spends much of his time writing about and photographing natural and renewable resources across the Southeast.)
