Lake Pontchartrain

Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary with fresh water rivers flowing into it and salt water coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. The lake covers an area of 630 square miles and measures 40 miles from west to east and 24 miles from south to north. The mixing of fresh and salt water produces a bounty of fish and shellfish including speckled trout, blue crabs and shrimp. From time to time, even manatees have been spotted as they migrate into the lake from the Gulf of Mexico. The average depth of the lake is approximately 12 to 14 feet with a maximum depth of 65 feet in some places.