BIG LAKE
"Night fishing on the Night Stalker is drop dead stupid" is how Captain Buddy Oaks of HR&G described recent night trips on their new high tech boat especially designed for catching specs after the sun goes down. Early limits of 100 fish are being caught in quick order every night. On day time trips the reds and trout are hitting both live bait as well as soft plastics with Berkley Gulp! and sand eels top plastics.
Trout in the 3 to 4 pound range and a few even larger trout are coming on top water baits for those anglers wanting to catch bigger fish....and who doesn't? Mirrorlure's She Dogs and Super Spooks are a couple of local favorite top water baits. You can throw them a mile which helps to keep from spooking the school.
A representative from Gulf Coast Tackle sent a report saying that numerous anglers have been staying on the south west side of the lake fishing the Steam Engine, Nine Mile, and West Cove. Also, that birds have been working all over the lake from the Saltwater Barrier to Johnson's Bayou.....now that's a lot of water.
Also mentioned was top water for quality trout with Super Spooks, Skitter Walks, and She Dogs all producing fish.Popular colors have been speckle trout, holographic chartreuse, and bone. Soft plastics like the Gulp! Shrimp have also been doing well in the 4" and 3" sizes in colors like new penny and sugar spice glow. The lake is full of mullet, shad, and shrimp. Match your lure with the bait your catch ratio will increase.
The Lady at Calcasieu Point
When I talk to anglers about Big Lake fishing, oftentimes I hear the following: "That lady at Calcasieu Point". Well, that lady is Elaine Huck who operates Calcasieu Point and she has her finger on the pulse of the fishing and related activities around Big Lake. We use her fishing reports almost every week because few people talk to more local anglers than she does. This week Huck says "We had a great week of fishing and despite afternoon thunderstorms, a lot of fish have been caught." The Weirs continue to be pumping out trout and reds and may remain the #1 spot but Nine Mile Cut and the Washout aren't far behind. Huck adds that this week she has witnessed a lot of big, 5 to 6 and 7 pound trout brought in to the cleaning area.
Nice Reds and Trout have also been caught around the Jetties all the way to Johnson Bayou when winds on the Gulf allow. Turners Bay continues to be kind to anglers but mostly small/medium fish but lots of limits. The flounder seemed to be hard to catch the past few weeks. Last Saturday The Sulphur Fireman's held a benefit tournament and lake area's Dean Roberts won $500 for a 2 stringer of Reds that weighed 13.56 pounds. Jason Ellender won 2nd with 12.82.
Steven Lanza was the winner in the trout division with a 6.17 pounder which netted him $500 and another $500 for the biggest 3 fish trout stringer weighing 14.94. In the kids division, Seth Ellender was the winner with an awesome 6.11 Speck and a nice $100 prize. Also in the kid's division, Drew O'Quinn $150 for having the biggest Red weighing 6.67 and 3rd for his Speck that weighed 3.35 pounds. The Sulphur Fire Department did a great job and raised a lot of money for their charities Muscular Dystrophy Association and Parkisons Research.