Hurricane Dolly and her influence have greatly influenced fishing conditions on Big Lake according to local guides and anglers. Captain Eric Rue of Calcasieu Charters said that since Dolly strong south and southwest winds have churned/stained the southern waters of Big Lake and has basically shut down that part of the fishery also including The Jetties.
Before Dolly there were patterns with solid limits of reds and trout with anglers fishing mornings on reefs and then later in the day moving to the ship channel and Jetties to continue to catch nice fish. Currently, even the lower end of the ship channel is heavily stained. Long term weather reports indicate some hope for wind conditions this weekend, let's hope so!
Captain Rue said that, for the short term, they have moved most of their efforts to the upper end of the lake and ship channel and are catching lots of fish but a lot of them are small. They are having to cull a lot of fish to get their limits but action is fast. Also, for the next few weeks he recommends live bait over soft plastics.
Rue stated that they were catching mostly specs but reds and a few flounder are in the mix. Another report comes from one of our regular sources, Elaine Huck, of Calcasieu Point which helped to host the Sulphur Firemen MDA Benefit tournament last weekend. Huck reports, "There were some beautiful Reds and a few nice Specks caught with the largest trout weighing 6.13 pounds.
It took two reds weighing 13.93 pounds to win first place in that division. Camp Fire USA is having a fishing tournament this coming weekend, according to Huck, and they are also having a free bank fishing derby for children. As far as the lake's hot spots Huck says that they are still catching fish along the upper ship channel and Turners Bay' is still producing some big trout. LNG is still producing some flounder and Haymark area has been giving up good numbers of Redfish.
