and I heard a couple guides say it so I take their word over anyones. They are out there all the time and know more than anyone. Just ask one

No, but I think SaltyCajun.com is.

So, although counterintuitive, I definitely see the logic there.

My main issue is, why does Texas produce so many huge trout with their lower limits? Is it bc they have so many fisherman their total harvest is equivalent to ours with a 25 fish limit?

Could be. Each estuary is really different with regard to the speckled trout dynamics. I've had a very close eye on Big Lake since our fisheries work began in earnest there in 2011 (in addition to growing up in Lake Charles as a fishing enthusiast). I've carefully reviewed every bit of published data relating to specks and redfish in Big Lake, as well as a lot of unpublished data about Big Lake from LDWF and other private sources. My level of confidence in describing the fisheries at Big Lake is simply much higher than anything in Texas due to much greater care. I've spent thousands of hours studying Big Lake.

In contrast, I've spent between 10-20 hours studying most of the estuaries along the Texas coast, so my knowledge is much more limited. I will note that the variation from the different estuaries in Texas is much greater than the variation between Louisiana estuaries (which is also large). The Laguna Madre is a much different deal from Sabine. In the Laguna Madre, for example, speck on speck predation is a significant component of the diets of larger specks. The waters are clear and very salty and lots of 10-12" specks are not strong competitors for the food of the big ladies, they ARE food for the big ladies. That ain't at all how Big Lake works.

A question I would like to ask. In the past there were guides catching and posting. In the past year there are fewer and fewer post. Also I have heard from someone that knows more than I know about big lake. They say that the washout has been blown out and the fishing will continue getting worse until they put out the rocks like they have done all the way down the channel. Can anyone tell me why they are not doing the last few miles to close off the massive hole we have on the washout. Don't make any sense to me.

The whole issue with the rocks probably boils down to one thing--the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). There was a time (we may still be in that time) that NMFS was adamantly opposed to rocking shorelines because it was "bad for fish". If that sentiment still stands, then it will not happen.

Not to mention the cost to rock that likely isn't small.

Last year was by far the toughest year on Big Lake in my life but IMO those two 18 degree nights with 3 days below freezing took a toll on system.

Last year I ended year with 19 full Trout Limits with customers and several more scouting .
Vs over 50 full trout Limits with customers in 2017 season

The new revised SPR # will be released in April this year .

Think the lake needed a bad year because it thinned out a ton of guides . Most had to get other jobs and now only guide weekends.

Guiding became easy money and easy do to for so many because fishing was real easy and consistent. When you have hard times like last year only strong Fisherman survive .

Ones who put in extra hours searching and scouting to find fish made it . Ones who just depend on cell phones and someone to find fish for them didn?t .
Was not a whole lot of sharing info last year with other guides .
I know when me or Chris found trout we keep it to ourselves until our cover was blown .
Learned a valuable lesson last year also about pictures .
When other guides are not catching and you catch limits of trout .
Do Not post pictures because they will find you !!!
Me and Chris found some trout last March .
We had trips 4 days in a row and limited out 3 days in a row then on that 3 day one guide found us and phone calls started .
It was like vultures that 4th day.
I left hour before daylight that 4th day and had two boats on the spot already I had been fishing last 3 days ..
At least 25-30 guide boats in the area [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]





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Astute observations. Thanks for chiming in. Hope you and yours are well.

I'm no way a guide, but I know what you're saying. Last year during the week I'd see hardly any guides. Weekends, they were everywhere and with no direction. When I could break from work, I'd only come during the week down. Last year I boated 18 limits of reds and one limit of trout. Me, my son and friends that would go down. We caught 4 flounder all year. Haven't been down yet because of bass fishing in east TX but hopefully in the coming weeks will make our first trip. No such thing as luck if you study your craft. Good to see ya post W!

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So if I can only fish on weekends, where exactly should i fish? coordinates appreciated

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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