Lafitte skiffs, with overall lengths generally in the 18 - 35 feet range, are the most popular small vessels in Louisiana coastal waters today. Lafitte skiffs are popular with both recreational and commercial shrimpers. The Lafitte skiff in this image is rigged to pull a small otter trawl used to catch shrimp in bays and shallow inshore waters. Otter trawls, are winged nets that form a cone tapering from the mouth rearward toward the narrow "cod-end," where the shrimp are trapped. The wings of a trawl are attached to weighted wooden "doors," or otter boards, which pull along the bottom keeping the mouth of the trawl flared open. After pulling the trawl under power for a considered time, the trawl is winched aboard over the transom, the rear-most structure of the boat. Lafitte skiffs have broad, fantail transoms which provide excellent working surfaces for landing and sorting the catch.

-- C. Ray Brassieur,
University of Louisiana at Lafayette

South Louisiana