Well U know exactly what the oyster fisherman are saying??? TO MANY Redfish and Drum eating oysters!!!

Bull drum eat lots of oysters. Redfish do not. Lower drum numbers would help the estuary, but so would lower oyster harvests.

I've seen the freeze mentioned more than once, but I haven't seen anyone corroborate this theory with eyewitness testimony. I'm not saying it didn't happen, and it is certainly a plausible theory, but did anyone see evidence? If you have a major fish kill, you typically find lots of dead fish. Maybe someone talked about it and I just missed it? Or was it so cold that no one got out on the water, even LDWF, in time to witness the kill?

I read an article years ago (I believe it was in an old GCCA publication maybe?) that said Big Lake was not very susceptible to fish kills from freezing weather because the fish had quick and easy access to the deep waters of the ship channel. According to the article, fish kills happen primarily in back bays, far from deep water. So I don't know.

dead, frozen fish will sink that's why you didn't see them

to experiment on this, I had some frozen mullet in my freezer and I stuck them in a bucket of water and they sunk to the bottom

Another theory
 

I?d like to add one thing to the aforementioned theory and that?s combining the cold temps with high freshwater flow from flooding to the north. Concentrating those fish in deep water due to cold and then flushing the channel with floodwater was a true double whammy. A lot of those fish never stood a chance. I?ve been guiding on Sabine for over 25 years now and on Big Lake for close to 20 ( just FYI we always only keep Texas limits on Calcasieu and imposed our own boat rule of releasing all healthy trout over 25? unless they were going to the taxidermist) and I can?t remember a tougher year on either body of water. There are multitudes of contributing factors to the decline of the trout population, hopefully we all will see those fish rebound sooner rather than later.

With much respect to all,

Chuck Uzzle
Wakes N Drakes Guide Service

I have been coming to Calcasieu about 1 week a year for several years. Since it has been a easy lake to fish, even a guy like me who does not fish much can catch a few. Last year, we fished the first week of November, mainly targeted flounder. We caught so few flounder and trout that we question coming back this year. Was the flounder catch down this last fall or was it just bad fishing on my part?


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We rocked the first week of November, but the flounder had not turned on yet, so we targeted bull reds. Limited out all 6 days we fished.

Last year we may have only put 2-3 flounder in my boat at Big Lake. Some years its 50-100.
I did see some good reports recently, hopefully it is better. Flounder is normally our go to confidence fish when we are struggling with trout.

By my way of thinking the people with the big *** boats need to put up rocks all along the washout. big rocks leaving 2 50' yard opening on the north and south end of the washout.

Well for one
I don?t know who would ever attempt to go on the water after that big freeze .
Because we didn?t have much left in lake and dead fish in cold wasters will sink before they float .
Also during the hard winter your birds have slim to no pickings.
I would think any fish that popped up were gone in hours by pelicans .

I know lots of reds died behind weirs because I saw those pics but fish didn?t start surfacing back there until a week after sub temps.

This spring has been the best in last few years for sure

2016 was last great spring we had


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I am still curious why it hasen't been mentioned that the most logical explanation is to get the shipping countries make a massive reef across the wash out. It won't change unless they fix it.

There is a plan in place already now for few years
Suppose to start 2020-2021 time frame
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6016beff38.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...03c5f9bc60.jpg


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https://cims.coastal.louisiana.gov/o...projID=CS-0065


http://coastal.la.gov/wp-content/upl...euSalinity.pdf

Great information..... most I have seen, but this covers the topic very well.

I still wonder what all of these new measures would do to salinity further up "stream" like moss, prien etc all the way up to "saltwater barrier". If all of the new measures block saltwater from spreading out and dissipating over West cove and also the East side, would the saltwater just funnel up north? I guess the locks at the south end of the ship channel would help?? Either way, still encouraging to see people giving a sh*t and trying to make the estuary better.

serious question
 

I understand that limiting saltwater intrusion will help preserve marshes, but (this may be a stupid question) if they built those rock walls and all along the ship channel, wouldn't the lake itself be fresher and isnt that a bad thing for trout specifically?
I mean i know i hate seeing 5ppt when i check USGS water conditions.
Is this different?
Thanks.

Which is more important, land loss mitigation or catching trout? But anyways, those cuts through the rocks will provide enough salt water to keep the trout happy. IMO

There is so much water that pushes in on an incoming tide through the old river it will supply plenty of saltwater. Also, some will come through the cuts. We should be good. But what do I know... lol

Old river will be blocked off also
Just boat cut


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Maybe our grand children can catch bass. A 70 yo friend says when his Dad came to SW Louisiana that he caught bass in Black Lake. There are plans to put in rock barriers with boat cuts in Kelso Bayou and in the Salt Ditch off of the ICW and turn all of that marsh fresh. These would be rock barriers across the openings with a lower barrier 75'-100' wide in the middle to allow boats and barges into Black Lake. This would keep most of the heavier salt water from coming in on tide changes. If they get in early and stock Florida bass in Black Lake it could be a great fishery.

The old river may be rocked but the boat passage will have to handle one hell of a large crew boat. That area is home to many of them. It will still fog ungodly amounts of saltwater into the lake.

Would probably put the barrier where the butterfly pontoons are on the lake side of the old river. Not the channel end of the old river.

My dad is 74 and he remembers Cypress trees in Turners when he was a boy.

How the southern end of the estuary used to look like except it was natural land and bigger cuts at nine mile and washout.

Also can say wading past couple wkds we are feeling alot of shell and reef already coming back and the fish are getting on top of it. Very good sign, the bottom is getting a contour back, not just flat and barren.

Will say I hope this helps these big influxes of salt & fresh. Seems to go from one extreme to the next, when it was stable Feb-March fishing was awesome.

Thanks for posting this W haven't seen these plans... hope they are closing cut on north end of Yo's Cove- looks like it