REDFISH CUP
There is a "Battle for the Cup" brewing right here in our back yard. One of the leading saltwater tournament trails in the country, The Redfish Cup which features some of the world's best saltwater anglers. Guess what? We have some of the best of the best right here in southwest Louisiana. After two events this season the top team currently in the coveted Redfish Cup Angler of The Year point race is Eric Rue of Lake Charles and partner Larry Puckett from the Beaumont area with 93 points. In second place and trailing by only one point with 92 points is the Lake Charles father/son team of Phil and Kevin Broussard.
Rue/Puckett had a 19th finish at Punta Gorda, FL and a second place finish($14,000 winnings) a few weeks ago at Kemah, TX which is the Galveston Bay area. The Broussards had a 4th place in Punta Gorda and a 18th in Kemah. There are 56 professional 2-angler teams competing in the Redfish Cup Tournament Trail. You can see these anglers on Saturday mornings at 7:30 central time on ESPN2. This Saturday will feature the Kemah, TX event so tune in to see our local pros in action. Great job guys!!!!
BIG LAKE AND OFFSHORE
"Another good week of fishing, specially for the guys going off shore" says Elaine Huck of Calcasieu Point. She also adds "We had more Red Snapper and Trippletail cleaned here this week than I have ever seen before". She also noted that the trout that were caught a few miles out were huge. On Lake Calcasieu, the Weirs continue to turn out good numbers of both reds and trout with the same being true of Nine Mile Cut and The Washout. Moss Lake also got fished a lot the past week with good results. The Sulphur Fireman are sponsoring a fishing tournament this weekend benefiting MDA and Parkinson's Disease Research. The tournament has a slightly different format where the biggest trout wins $500 but there are additional 3 payouts where an angler adds his/her biggest 3 trout for a total weight. There is also a 3 place payout for redfish adding 2 biggest. Kids fish free and have their own 3 place payout for both speck and red.
Captain Eric Rue, whose day job is operating Calcasieu Charters located at Hebert's Landing on the east side of Big Lake says "Recent fishing has been good, with limits of trout coming in on a regular basis right now and those that miss their limits still end up with a nice box of fish". Rue says that nice trout are being caught on topwaters in the middle and upper end of the lake over reefs. Smaller schooling fish are being found under birds throughout the lake and well up the system to Lake Charles. The ship channel is also producing good catches as the water heats up moving trout deeper.
Rue says their biggest challenge has been relentless southwest winds that are keeping the areas along the beaches and jetties in a hit or miss state for the past couple of weeks by making the water off color. A wind direction change and a few afternoon showers would certainly be helpful to the fishing as well as cooling the air a bit. Depending on the situation, Rue says both artificial and live baits have been producing for his fishing guests.
