Lake Ponchartrain is a LOT better
For many years there were shell dredging operations in the lake - they stopped in the late 1980's due to efforts by environmentalists and other concerned citizens - today, unless it has been raining (rivers bring in mud) or the wind blowing hard for days (shallow, so the bottom gets stirred easily) you can see 6-8 feet deep in most of the lake - the water is a clear green, but the bottom of the lake is still a black jello-like mud that was caused by the years of shell dredging - where that didn't happen, there is sand - we are getting dolphin, rays, lots of game fish and even had a manatee on the North Shore near Slidell. a couple of years ago during a dry period when the lake salinity rose, even had giant australian jellyfish (not so great, but awsome to see, 1.5 feet across and 7 feet long). So the lake is back, but still gets rough easily when the wind blows since it is so shallow (20 feet average). There is marina space for about 1500 boats on the South shore, probably about that much on the north shore, and all of it is mostly full - so boating is good.