Joe Joslin

BIG LAKE Water conditions on Big Lake are about as good as they can get with fishable water conditions from The Weirs, West Cove, Heberts, Turners and all the way to Prien and Lake Charles. Anglers are catching fish in all of these areas as water temperatures are 73/74 degrees which is close to ideal. Lake Charles pro angler, David Rabalais, fished all weekend and stated that birds were working everywhere he fished which included Turners Bay area all the way to the southeast bank.

He also mentioned Black Lake as being very productive. In working the birds, Rabalais said there were a lot of sand trout working the birds and the specs seemed to be in the upper layer of water and the sand trout close to the bottom. They were working their lures a couple of feet below the surface to stay away from sand trout. However, he found that after the birds left you could hang around the area for a few minutes and watch for shrimp to surface and then work the shrimp to catch some additional nice trout. Don't leave too quickly.

Bill Dance, famous bass angler/t.v. personality, has a saying, "Don't leave fish to go look for fish". That certainly could apply to these schools of quality trout. The topwater bite is improving as trout are beginning to move to the hard/sandy bottom areas such as Long Point as well as others. Red fish are still in big numbers with The Weirs (Lambert and Grand Bayou) still cranking out super catches with lots of fish inside the edge of the marsh above the weirs.

Rabalais said they were using Berkley Gulp! with 3-4 inch Gulp! Shrimp and Swimming Mullet. Top colors included New Penny, Natural Shrimp, Black/chartreuse and Nuclear Chicken. Calcasieu Point's, Elaine Huck, is still singing her favorite song...."Can hardly believe it but the fishing is still fantastic." Her reports indicate that Turners is the hottest area but Prien Lake, Moss lake and Four Corners are also producing extremely well.

Reports from West Cove has flounder fishing to be quite good. Huck states that The Weirs may have slowed down slightly but with a moving tide you can get a limit of reds with little trouble

Fish Species: Reds, Flounder and specs
Bait Used: Berkley Gulp! Shrimp/Swimming Mullet, Stanley Wedgetails, Hackberry Hustlers
Tackle Used: Revo Bait Cast Inshore model, 12 lb test Berkley Big Game and Flourocarbon, Fenw
Method Used: Fished early on sandy hard bottoms for top water trout bite, then moved to birds on schools of trout and reds also fished up in Marsh for reds at The Wiers (Lambert and Grand Bayous)
Water Depth: 2 to 6
Water Temperature: 74
Wind Direction: southest
Wind Speed: 10 to 15
Happy Hackberry Rod and Gun Customers customer with two awesome October specs.
Happy Hackberry Rod and Gun Customers customer with two awesome October specs.


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Joe Joslin

About The Author: Captain Joe Joslin

Company: joe joslin outdoors

Area Reporting: South Toledo Bend

Bio: Joe Joslin is a syndicated outdoor writer and writes for several Louisiana newspapers and numerous magazines including Texas Game and Fish, Louisiana Game and Fish, CenLa Sportsman, Louisiana Sportsman and LakeCaster. Joe has been fishing Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn for 25+ years and is a frequent tournament angler. Joe has been a full time pro guide on Toledo Bend/Sam Rayburn since 1998.Joe Joslin Outdoors Fishing Guide Service Wholesome atmosphere * Safety minded * Latest equipment, featuring 21i Class Skeeter with 300 hp Yamaha HPDI * Tackle supplied upon request * References available upon request * Available Year-Round. E-Mail Joe at joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com

337 463 3848
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Joe Joslin