We've had 3 years of serious fresh conditions in the lake.. and just when it was getting decent again we got the spring rains this year and freshed it up again.
The oyster population was hurt more by the 7 year drought BEFORE the flood years than the oystermen. I'm not saying they shouldn't do a better job and maybe build more reefs but as long as they follow regulations and put back cultch AND as long as we have some favorable salinities for oysters to grow and live, they'll be alright.
Both Sabine and Big Lake are 'lakes' that means they have a narrow single inlet compared to 'bays'. That can exacerbate the affects of fresh water run off into the lake and while the Gulf is 32 ppt salinity, having only one inlet does not guarantee that the lake will be saline enough for trout. Trout can survive very low salinity even if it is fresh on top as long as it's 1-5ppt on the bottom and they'll put up with it for a couple weeks.. after that if the lake is totally fresh they'll move around to deeper areas where they can find the salinity they need.
There is also a seasonal shift of trout and reds and if a freshwater event happens during one of these shifts, trout may appear as if they aren't showing up for almost a year.
Dinks is always the story under the birds except in the very late fall.. the last several years the decent fish havn't gotten under the 'birds' until December and January do to the lateness of frontal passages that would be big enough to flush the lake and force the fish to leave the shallows and finally chase the remaining shrimp in the bay for a short period before they leave.
We've had to deal with a lot of changing conditions that are variable and some big fish have still been caught.
I'm not saying that fishing pressure isn't having any affect, I'm just saying there are lots of variables at play as to why both Sabine and Big Lake have been off the last couple of years.
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