Lac des Allemands is a 12000 acres (49 km²) lake located mostly in St. John the Baptist Parish

St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana

St. John the Baptist Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana.The parish seat is Edgard, an unincorporated area and the unofficial parish captial is LaPlace, an unincorporated area. St. John the Baptist is one of the original 19 parishes in Louisiana. In 2010, its population was...

 and partly in Lafourche

Lafourche Parish, Louisiana

Lafourche Parish is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, which consisted of the present parishes of Lafourche and Terrebonne. The parish seat is Thibodaux...

 and St. Charles Parishes

St. Charles Parish, Louisiana

St. Charles Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Hahnville. In 2010, its population was 52,780. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, this was part of the German Coast, an area along the Mississippi River settled by numerous German pioneers in the...

. It is 26 mi (42 km) west of New Orleans and is connected to Lake Salvador

Lake Salvador

Lake Salvadoris a lake located southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana in Jefferson, Lafourche and St. Charles parishes.Lake Salvador is connected to Lac des Allemands to the west by Bayou Des Allemands and Lake Catouatchie to the north by Bayou Couba and Bayou Bardeaux....

 by the Bayou des Allemands. The lake is shallow, reaching a maximum depth of slightly more than 10 feet (3.3 m) and very fertile; it contains a large catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

 population.

The lake, bayou, and the village of Des Allemands

Des Allemands, Louisiana

Des Allemands is a census-designated place in Lafourche and St. Charles parishes in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 2,500 at the 2000 census. The town, known as the "Catfish Capital of the Universe," is along the Bayou Des Allemands, which is the boundary...

are named for the German settlers who originally inhabited the area.