Atchafalaya River

Mile 75.7 - LBD Jake’s Bayou

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

75.7 LBD Jake’s Bayou

Small bayou meandering through the woods, flowing 2-3 mph at 21 KG. You can use Jake’s Bayou as a shortcut to Bayou Sorrel via Bloody Bayou (which dead-ends at Bayou Sorrell). Go to Bayou Sorrel for detailed description about back channel route to Morgan City via Jake’s Bayou and Bayou Sorrel. A maze of bayous and slough threading throughout the natural floodplain, loaded with houseboats, homesteads, and hunting camps. Bayous named Jakes, Bloody, Indigo, Florida, Bee, Flat Lake Pass and Keelboat Pass. Hunting camps and homesteads like Willow Bend, Ruttin Buck, Hog Island and Broad Road. Some looked cozy and well kept; some looked like my room, disorganized and chaotic, but home sweet home. Many commercial fishermen roared by scoping out potential spots for the upcoming crawfish season and some looked as if to be joyriding celebrating the rise of the bayous. We surprised alligators relaxing, waiting on the water temperature to climb, and large gar suspended in the channel getting fat before the peak of the spawn. Small frogs and turtles skip between logs, while kingfishers stealthily fly across the channel hunting for baitfish. Raccoons scramble up trees, while great blue herons and hawks occupy the trees. Large palmettos sit on the high grounds of the swamp, while large cypress trees thrive in the shallow lake marshes. (Mark River)

More from this section

Author’s Preface:

Author’s Preface: Welcome the the Rivergator: Paddler’s Guide to the Atchafalaya! This major section of the Rivergator is split into seven different parts: 1) Preamble, 2) Introduction, 3) Mississippi River Access to Atchafalaya, 4) Lower Old River Canal, 5) Atchafalaya River, 6) Atchafalaya Delta and 7) Appendix. On

Mile 303.8 - Old River Lock and Dam: Entrance to the Atchafalaya River

303.8 Old River Lock and Dam: Entrance to the Atchafalaya River Go main channel around Shreve’s Bar for access to the Atchafalaya River, your best route to the Gulf of Mexico. Also: direct access upstream to the Red River, Ouachita River, Bayou Bartolomew, and all other tributaries upstream.

Mile 304.5 - 304.5 - 303 LBD Shreve’s Bar

304.5 - 303 LBD Shreve’s Bar Leaving the Tunica Hills at Clark Creek behind and entering Louisiana the river expands to its maximum mile-and-a-half wide as if breathing in deep and opening up its broad chest, and enters a long straight stretch that can be a white water

Mile 306.0 - Miles 306-294: LBD Angola State Penitentiary

306 - 294 LBD Angola State Penitentiary The river circumscribes Angola State Penitentiary in an almost perfect semi-circle, with a radius of four miles, the center being the headquarters of the prison complex. Using simple geometry, C=2piR this would give a circumference of approximately 25 miles, divided by 2

Mile 306.0 - LBD Angola Ferry

306 LBD Angola Ferry Private ferry for employees of Angola State Penitentiary. Watch for cross-channel crossings at shift changes. If you camp on Shreve’s Bar their lights burn brightly upstream. Note: the Angola Ferry is no longer located at 300.5 (above Hog Point Towhead).

Mile 306.0 - Miles 306-302: Back Channel of Shreve’s Bar

306 - 302 Back Channel of Shreve’s Bar The Back Channel of Shreve’s Bar is always flowing strong, and is the route of preference for paddlers, even at low water. And as much for aesthetics as for practicality. Aesthetically it is always more pleasing to paddle the back