Flounder Pressure in Cameron

["W"]

HOLD UP!!!........... I have to step in!!! If Texas is losing trout its not because there over fishing with rod n reel!! its because there losing something??? What are they losing Estuary, Marshes, or some type of Habitat.... Trout produce in mass numbers under 12inches and survive pretty darn good!!!!

I don't care if you put 20million fisherman on BIG LAKE for a month you will by NO Means fish out the population with rod n reel.......IMPOSSIBLE to do!!! The gulf of Mexico holds billions of trout and they move in and out daily.....If we protect our Estuary and Habitat.....this kind of fishing will last until end of time

[LaAngler]

texas is hurting their trout population with all the guides and fisherman, period.

what else is doing it?

The lowered limits in the LLM are helping the numbers according to what i'm hearing. Rockport and even up to matagorda are hurting more now.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by "W"

HOLD UP!!!........... I have to step in!!! If Texas is losing trout its not because there over fishing with rod n reel!! its because there losing something??? What are they losing Estuary, Marshes, or some type of Habitat.... Trout produce in mass numbers under 12inches and survive pretty darn good!!!!

I don't care if you put 20million fisherman on BIG LAKE for a month you will by NO Means fish out the population with rod n reel.......IMPOSSIBLE to do!!! The gulf of Mexico holds billions of trout and they move in and out daily.....If we protect our Estuary and Habitat.....this kind of fishing will last until end of time

That's why we have so many Flounder. Marshes behind Holly Beach, behind
Cameron, behind Hackberry... Those are full of Flounder.
I can't see fishing them out with a rod and reel either.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by cmdrost

I am talking about TX, but LA aint too far behind. I don't think LA will get to the point of a closed season on trout, but they will have to lower limits statewide, including here again.

I would like to see the same limits state wide. Don't make sense to have
just one lake at 15 and the rest of the state at 25.
I know it was to attract attention to Big Lake area, but at 15, I eat lots
of trout and still can give some to my dad.

["W"]

I know this is for FACT.........NO WAY in HELL can you fish out a breed of fish with a rod n reel in a healthy habitat...NO going to happen by my watch!!! I want let anyone tell me other wise unless they have proof........ Talking with a guide at the landing about a month ago .. we were talking about tagging trout and the number of them.... He was telling me a story about how he drifted a reef 4 times and caught 4 fish.... his 5th drift the WL&F did some kind of trout catching with nets and had 1,000 of trout just were he passed!!!!

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by "W"

I know this is for FACT.........NO WAY in HELL can you fish out a breed of fish with a rod n reel in a healthy habitat...NO going to happen by my watch!!! I want let anyone tell me other wise unless they have proof........ Talking with a guide at the landing about a month ago .. we were talking about tagging trout and the number of them.... He was telling me a story about how he drifted a reef 4 times and caught 4 fish.... his 5th drift the WL&F did some kind of trout catching with nets and had 1,000 of trout just were he passed!!!!

shoulda used a sand eel jr....

[Ray]

That LDWF boat is a whaler. They ran up on us in Turners Bay a couple months ago and
threw a hell of a wave, then shut it down and dropped the net. It looked like a small
shrimp trawl.

It stopped the fish from biting. We had to move.

[swamp snorkler]

The flounder move out after the first 2 or 3 cold fronts. I have an uncle who runs a land net in the Chauvin area and this year no one really hit the flounder like they have in years pass. At Robinson Canal I seen a land net with at least 2 to 300 pounds of flounder and after that they caught maybe 10 or 12.

To say shrimpers modify there nets to catch shrimp is total bs........ catching flounder is being in the right place at the time not altering your nets.

[cmdrost]

W...your ignorance on this matter baffles me. Its a combination of overfishing by rod & reel and loss of habitat. More people are fishing more often and we've had 4 major hurricane's hit LA since the last trout SPR #'s were done (which showed a major decline). If you think LA doesn't have a coastal erosion problem, loss of habitat, you're mistaken.

And thanks to the many internet sites available today, like this one, with a few good reports, you'll get your wish and there will be 20 MM people on Big Lake once TX closes its trout season.

[LaAngler]

W acts ignorant just to call attention to himself and provoke others on purpose

I wouldn't put the blame totally on internet sites. Magazines, books, TV, newspapers, better boats, word of mouth, guide services, and just fishermen in general all equal more pressure

heck i would be willing to bet one guide service does more damage to the trout population than this site, without a doubt CCA's STAR tourny definetly does

[Bluechip]

Does anyone know approximately how many guide services operate on Big Lake and also how many guides' each service employ?

["W"]

Well I have trout records I keep from year to year..... I have not seen a decline in my numbers at all..... End of year totals have been with in a hundred dated back to 2001.....

You want real facts on the lake...ask Jeff Poe who has fished the lake longer than most.... I bet he would agree with what I stated above....if so many are worried about trout population stop fishing.... I have no problem catching trout and until my numbers go down

[cmdrost]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

W acts ignorant just to call attention to himself and provoke others on purpose

I wouldn't put the blame totally on internet sites. Magazines, books, TV, newspapers, better boats, word of mouth, guide services, and just fishermen in general all equal more pressure

heck i would be willing to bet one guide service does more damage to the trout population than this site, without a doubt CCA's STAR tourny definetly does

Oh I don't blame the internet. You're right, its a combination. But never before has someone in Houston(or whereever) been able to get "real time" data on Big Lake like they can now with the internet.

You're also right that STAR kills more big fish than any other organization......BUT coming next year, STAR will be catch and release on Calcasieu, just like the Trout Shoot Out.

["W"]

I would also like to know how many guide boats are fishing. Big lake..... Off hand in the Hebert side area I can count 18 boats .....

[Ray]

Making Big Lake a "Trophy Trout Lake" also drew a lot of fishermen from across
the Sabine River. They wanted the attention drawn to here, they got it.
After it was designated a trophy lake, people I work with from Mississippi to
NOLA to Lafourche Parish to Vermillion Bay fishermen were all packing up heading
here to fish. It didn't just bring in the Texans. Plus the guide services doubled.
At one time there were just a couple on each side of the lake. Now there are
several on both sides and some from Texas who now fish here.
And I can promise you that of all those fishermen who come here in the summer
to catch a trophy trout, go home with dink trout.
Just a few fall and spring fishermen go home with a trophy.

["W"]

Here ya Go.......... Records of my Trout log since 2001

2001- 2750 Trout 199 Reds
2002-2409 Trout 122 Reds
2003-2411 Trout 220 Reds
2004-2101 Trout 101 Reds
2005-1507 Trout 44 Reds--- In a Accident out 4 Months
2006 3125 Trout 379 Reds
2007 3321 Trout 325 Reds
2008 3100 Trout 375 Reds
2009 2759 Trout 249 Reds

Not all this was keep!! lots were tagged and released....Just numbers I keep on fishing trips for my records......These numbers are almost dead on as far as caught trout in each year!!! Margin of error take 10 give 10.....

[LaAngler]

Originally Posted by Ray

And I can promise you that of all those fishermen who come here in the summer to catch a trophy trout, go home with dink trout.

i can promise you different

[Ray]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

i can promise you different

Your opinion, my opinion. No winners.
I am just speaking from my co-workers experiences. They were very
disappointed when they paid for trips that don't produce. They fished with HR&G.
I know even more who bring their own boats and don't catch trophy trout.
I don't think Big Lake is any better than any other trout fisheries in the
state.

[LaAngler]

big lake at times has been the best coastal estuary on the gulf coast for numbers of "trophy" trout

if people would release trout over 25" it would certainly help also

[cmdrost]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

big lake at times has been the best coastal estuary on the gulf coast for numbers of "trophy" trout

if people would release trout over 25" it would certainly help also

You're right.....otherwise national publications like SWS wouldn't constantly name it as a top 3 spot in the world to catch trophy trout.