The pirogue's ability to maneuver in shallow, narrow waterways while carrying a considerable load makes it the perfect cram for waterfowlers hunting marshes and swamps for small-water anglers.

Though a few Louisiana craftsmen continue to build wooden pirogues, almost all modern versions are made of fiberglass.

"The design is classic. We just use modern technology to build them," says Ron Chapman, a shipwright from Chalmette, and one of several independent Louisiana-based boat builders who produce versions of the craft.

Chapman has been building fiberglass pirogues for seventeen years, using the old wooden versions as his inspiration. His pirogues, made of hand-laid fiberglass with cypress handrails atop the gunwales, are based on measurements and designs of the old wooden boats he found around duck camps and trapper cabins in south Louisiana.

That design is key to the pirogue's usefulness, Chapman says. A classic pirogue is 12 to 16 feet long, pointed at both ends, has a concave flat bottom with a slight rocker fore and aft, flared sides (beam wider than chine by as much as 10 inches), and low

sides The boats also are asymmetric: the fore half is a bit wider than the aft, looking something like an elongated teardrop.

The pirogue's flat bottom means it draws little water, while the asymmetric shape, concave bottom design, and rocker fore and aft accentuate that characteristic by building a "bubble" of water beneath the moving boat, Chapman says. There's an old Cajun saying that goes, "A pirogue can float on a heavy dew," and that's not far from the truth Propelled by a paddle or pushpole, a prorogue can sip over water too shallow for a traditional canoe And because the boat has no keel, it can slide over logs and other obstacles that would cause a keeled, round-bottomed canoe to roll. Pirogues are amazingly stable for their size.

The pirogue's ability to traverse shallow water and narrow passages has made it a standard piece of equipment for Louisiana waterfowlers. Even when the boat is stuffed with decoys, guns, and other equipment, a pirogue can be paddled or poled to prime ponds isolated by expanses of marsh or swamp, inches-deep water, and narrow channels that would stymie other watercraft.

Though waterfowlers always have been the largest market for pirogues, increasing numbers of anglers are discovering the boat's usefulness on ponds, sloughs, bayous, and other protected waters.

"More and more bass fishermen are going to them," Chapman says "They're finding they can lust throw a pirogue on the car or in the truck and head for the water."

A pirogue's light weight (a 14-foot one-man model weighs as little as 39 pounds and a two-man model only 15 pounds more) means they're a snap to handle and can easily be dragged to water not accessible by vehicle. That gives anglers a shot at using a boat to fish places otherwise off-limits, because of restricted bank access.

Those anglers discovering the advantages of the pirogue are simply the latest converts to this time tested craft. --SHANNON TOMPKINS