North La headed South

[pm-caddo]

Been lurkin for a few weeks. I am coming down this weekend to fish. I have fished the lake before (with a guide) but did not pay enough attention. I have a small aluminum boat 20 mile trip radius. I am thinking, launch south on the east and work my way up the weirs. Any help would be appreciated. I will post: Good, Bad, or Ugly after the trip. Thanks in advance.

[gerald]

First..... welcome to the site.

Fishing right now is not very good due to the rains we have had in the past couple of weeks. The upper part of the Calcasieu river is up near flood levels and this is putting lots of fresh muddy water into the Big Lake area. The upper area of the river got another 1 to 2 inches of rain yesterday and more rain is expected Friday and Saturday. The salt content [salinity] has dropped and this is not good for catching trout.....they move looking for "salter" water.

Weather for Saturday is supposed to be bad...... but the Weather people could be wrong.....

With that said.... some people are catching lots of Redfish. Trout seem to have "lock-jaw" right now. The water has been muddy in the lake but should be clearing up some because the we have had light winds yesterday and so far today. I saw a report of a couple of big Trout that were caught a day or two ago, so fish can be caught.

My suggestion would be to wait a few weeks before making the long drive and hope we don't get much more rain. Maybe by then the fishing / water will be better.

Go catch some Bass this weekend.

[OilmanBC]

You can find a lot of good fishing with your boat if you launch at Calcasieu Point. You'd be able to work the whole ICCW system and the ship channel on most days. You can easily hit Turners bay from there too - great trout spot early in the day - watch for birds working too. SW wind would be the only thing to keep you out of the bay. Several points you may want to try are anywhere along the shoreline across from the launch; or turn to the right and go back into the turn basin. there is deep water in there which sometimes holds trout since the water doesn't move too much in there during rains like they have had. work the rocks at the NW side of the intersection of the ICCW and ship channel too. Use live bait and toss your bait to about 5 ft from the rocks using a popping cork. Reds love it there and they can come out of the channel to feed there.

They had the weirs closed but I'm not sure if they still are or not. If they are open, and you do get there, you generally want to work the down current side (you can go through). Be SURE to pay attention to the "do not fish from here to the weir" signs. STEEP FINE if you're caught in there. If you fish down there, use "chartruese" or "new penny" gulp with a piece of dead, or fresh dead, shrimp with it and slowly drag it across the bottom. No specks this way but reds and flounder will hammer it. Fish about 5 ft from the rocks, not in the middle of the outflow.

The east grass line about 3/4 of the way down to Grand Weir is excellent too. Just fish it with the same i noted for the weir. Fish it just like you'd fish the shoreline for bass. Drop the bait right at the grass line and jig it back toward the boat.