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It’s been a long time in the making, but the wait to fish at Abbeville’s Lafitte Drive-in Park is almost over.
And it will begin in a big way.
The City of Abbeville is teaming up with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) for a fishing event on Saturday, May 8. It will begin at 7 a.m.
“This will be the first official fishing event at the park,” said Councilman Francis Plaisance, who helped spearhead the creation of the park. That’s going to signal the opening of the park for public fishing.
“This is exciting.”
Located off South John Hardy Drive, Lafitte Drive-in Park, which has been in development for years, and officially opened in 2019, features a large pond. When the city completed that detention pond in ‘11, Plaisance said at the time that he saw the area’s potential for recreation.
“I have been waiting for this for a long time,” Plaisance said Monday morning.
The pond is now primed for fishing.
“It’s ready,” Plaisance said. “It’s fully stocked.”
Agents with LDWF have been heavily involved with preparing the pond for fishing.
“This is something that we have been working on for years now,” LDWF’s Brac Salyers said.
Things were ready to go last year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped those plans.
“We had everything lined up to go last year,” Salyers said. “Then COVID shut everything down. We are back on track.
“This pond is stocked and ready to go.”
Among the fish ready to be caught are largemouth bass, bluegill, Redear sunfish, channel catfish and blue catfish.
“I think people are going to have a great time,” Salyers said.
Prior to the event, Salyers said a hatchery group will come out to the pond to release 1,000 pounds of adult channel catfish.
“That’s going to help the kids and parents have a better chance of catching a fish,” Salyers said. “That’s especially for the kids. You want them to have that rewarding feeling of trying and doing it.”
Salyers said this will be a put-and-take event.
“We put them and you take them,” Salyers said. “We want the people to keep the fish. If you catch five catfish, take them home and have a good meal.”
Everyone 16 and older who takes part in the event must have a fishing license.
“It’s just a basic fishing license,” Salyers said. “We do ask that people have their own fishing poles.”
As it will be in early May, Plaisance had another suggestion on what to bring.
“Bring some sunscreen,” he said.
For Plaisance, this event marks the sunrise of the park becoming whole.
“This is the pinnacle of an exciting idea of having this pond for public fishing,” he said.
After the May 8 event, the park will be open to the public for fishing from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays.
“People are going to be able to fish,” Plaisance said, “and that makes me happy.”

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Health is placing a temporary pause on all administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while federal health agencies investigate whether six reported cases of blood clotting were caused by the vaccine. Providers in the state of Louisiana will continue to use the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and all Louisianans are encouraged to take advantage of the available vaccines, so the state can continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 and put the pandemic in its rearview.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have recommended that the United States pause the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution over six reported U.S. cases of a "rare and severe" type of blood clot.
“Today’s pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is out of an abundance of caution. This morning, I had a call with White House officials and other governors to discuss this issue as we work to safely get as many Louisianans 16 and older vaccinated as quickly and safely as possible. While I understand that this news may be concerning, I remain committed to working alongside public health experts to make sure people can get the answers they need to make an informed decision,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
“Right now, there are two safe and effective vaccines — Pfizer and Moderna — available and being administered in Louisiana and I encourage everyone in Louisiana to keep their appointments and to take advantage of the vaccines we have available. Nearly 1 million Louisianans have already completed their vaccinations against COVID-19. There have been around 85,000 Johnson and Johnson doses administered in Louisiana and no reported cases of this rare blood clot that we are aware of," Gov. Edwards said. "In the short term, this means some community vaccination events may have to be rescheduled or shifted to use Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for now and working with the team from the Louisiana Department of Health and health care officials, we will continue the important work of administering vaccines.”
“While this news is frustrating and concerning, we appreciate the FDA acting with abundant caution and transparency,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s State Health Officer. “We do not yet know whether these reported cases of blood clotting were caused by the vaccine. The State of Louisiana takes vaccine safety very seriously, and this temporary pause should give the public and providers confidence the system of monitoring and safety checks are working as intended.”
As of April 12, more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the U.S. CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine. All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination.
CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance. FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases. Until that process is complete, LDH is temporarily pausing in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution.
Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare. People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, chest pain or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.
Minor side effects are a normal sign the body is building protection. Side effects may include pain and swelling in the arm, fever, chills, tiredness or a headache. Most side effects will go away in a few days or less.
Vaccine availability of Pfizer and Moderna will continue uninterrupted.

You have complete control over your thoughts. Thought patterns develop over a lifetime; a result of the influences of schooling, parents, friends, relatives, TV, movies, etc.
Unfortunately, most of the guidance received about how to think is negative. More effort is spent teaching what you can’t do rather than what you can. Whatever your thinking is now, you can learn to alter it. Study the thinking of successful people.
Mark Allen, a six-time ironman triathlon champion started by studying the techniques of previous winners. He wanted to know how they trained and prepared themselves. Allen then incorporated their successful techniques into his own practice sessions.
Another powerful mental tool that Allen utilized was visualization. Allen visualized his performance of his next event before sleeping. Athletes have found that visualizing successful accomplishment can be as effective as the actual physical training.
An American prisoner of war in Vietnam visualized playing golf every day to help endure the hardships of captivity. After being released, his golf skills had markedly improved even though he hadn’t physically played in years.
Visualization is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to change your thinking. Through visualization, you control the desired outcome in your mind. In your mind you can overcome any obstacle. You can rehearse a situation over and over anytime and anywhere.
Your mind must be conditioned to be impervious to negative criticism. Rather than wanting to join you on your goal-achieving quest, most people would instead prefer you to fail. Other people will be jealous. There’s nothing you can do to control their thoughts.
The first modern rocket scientist, Robert Goddard, a physics professor, had his research denounced by the press. In 1920, a newspaper editorial stated that Goddard “seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”
Amid condemnation and with little support from fellow scientists, Goddard became a leading pioneer of the space era. He achieved success by focusing on reaching his goals instead of what people thought of his research.
Develop a belief in your goals and the path you choose to achieve them. It takes a lot of practice to free yourself from what other people say, think or do. You must overcome a strong societal outlook that other people’s opinion of you is important.
The discoverer of the Titanic wreck, Robert Ballard, tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to obtain financing needed for his search. Additionally, hunting for the Titanic was considered folly by several fellow scientists. Yet, with an unshakable belief in himself and his goals, he overcame all obstacles and found the wreckage in 1985.
The type of thinking that all successful people have is available to you. You can opt to pattern your thinking after those who have achieved success, often despite overwhelming odds.
Changing your thinking requires effort. Many people who are close to you won’t understand or support your endeavors. If you are laughed at and criticized, this is good. It means that you are experiencing the same reaction as some of the greatest minds in history and are in the best of company.