Posted by Erin Brown, Louisiana Sportsman Outreach Coordinator

Spring is here! As the flowers and trees start to blossom, and the weather starts to change, we can reflect back on the 2015 duck hunting season. Another great season is in the books, as many great memories were made between families and friends, and many ducks were bagged across the state.

However, this season also brought some challenges to hunters across the state. There was an uncertainty about the early season, mixed with a mild winter, combined with a high Mississippi River so early in the season. All of these factors played into the overall outcomes of the 2015 duck season.

As a sportswoman that spent the majority of the season hunting down in Venice, I can attest that the high water was a huge influence on hunting this year. Looking back on teal season, the marsh was so lush and full of duck potato. The delta was beautiful and healthy providing a rich habitat for the migrating birds.

Captain Ryan Lambert, owner of Cajun Fishing Adventures, he confirmed my suspicions of the high water early in the season. He said, "We had a lot of vegetation and duck feed during teal season. The marsh was full of lilies and we had a great teal season. However, we had a few very strong storms that pushed through early in October. As a result, we saw three high tidal surges from the North East that came in and killed much of the duck vegetation."

Ryan and the guides of Cajun Adventures in Buras, had a successful first split, but found diving ducks inundating the marsh on the east side of the river during the second split due to the high water. However, he was happy to see the state's early coastal zone season. Without the early coastal zone opening, the season may have been tougher, as the second split became more difficult with the low to negative tides towards the end of the season.

After speaking with Ryan, I was curious to see if the west side of the coastal zone area of the state saw some of the impacts from high water. I met with Kirk Stansel of Hackberry Rod and Gun Club, who hunts the brackish coastal marsh of the west. Kirk was in favor of the early season and believed the milder weather didn't affect the season as much as the high water event south Louisiana experienced this year. The Hackberry Rod and Gun guides were not seeing the numbers of green wing teal that they normally see. "The first split was our best," Kirk said. "We bagged 75 percent of our ducks during the first split. Gadwall was our number one bird, and I'd rank the first split at an 8.5 (out of 10). However, once the high water affected us, we quickly saw a decline in the quality of birds. Second split we mainly bagged Scaup as the high water killed much of the duck feed and widgeon grass. I'd rank the second split at a 4.5 (out of 10). The tides came in and stayed high, we never saw the green wing teal like we normally do."

I did however, find one spot of the coastal zone that managed to pull off a really good season throughout both the first and second split - the marsh of Delacroix. Delacroix is not affected by the tidal surges and high water from the Mississippi River. Mike Smith of Louisiana Marsh Guide Service said, "Delacroix is not affected by the open water, so for us we had a lot of duck feed. Our first split was better, but throughout the season we bagged a variety of quality birds ranging from Mallards to Mottled Ducks to Pintails and Redheads." Mike did notice the teal were scarce this year as opposed to seasons where the teal showed up throughout the entire season. He also believed the early opening had no effect on his season, as he killed the majority of his birds in 60 to 70 degree weather with a southern wind.

2015 wasn't the perfect duck season, especially for certain areas at certain times. One thing is sure - all the guides I spoke with agreed they couldn't complain and wouldn't say they were completely "skunked" this year. All we can hope for is a lower river next year, and that the marsh rebounds throughout the summer to provide a healthy habitat.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote on the dates for the 2016 duck season in April.

Until next season, it is time to dust off those fishing poles and get out in our beautiful marsh as we welcome spring and summer. As Ryan Lambert said, "this is looking to be a very promising fishing season since we have already seen the high river water come and go." Bring on the saltwater fishing!