Big Lake area
First….Big Lake and Lake Calcasieu is the same thing. Big Lake is a “local” name. The lake is Pear shaped and approximately 15 miles long and 3 to 6 miles wide. West Cove is west of the ship channel (Calcasieu River) on the south end of Big Lake. West Cove is about 2 miles (North to South) and about 5 miles (E-W).
On the East side of Big Lake…… Calcasieu Point landing is off Big Lake road south of Lake Charles. They will have live shrimp after the season opens in May. The store opens at 6 AM.
To get there from I-210 in Lake Charles…..get off on the Nelson Road exit and go south about 2 miles to Country Club road. Turn right and go about 2.5 miles and turn left on Big Lake road. You can buy most supplies needed at Cormier Grocery store on this corner but no live bait. Go south 4.5 miles and just past the LNG plant on the right, turn right on the road and go about a mile to the end of the road where the launch is located.
To get to Big Lake……from Calcasieu Point landing go west about a mile to the intersection of the Calcasieu River and the ICWW. Turn to the left and go a little over a mile and Turner’s Bay is on the left.
Hebert’s Landing is about 10 miles farther down Big Lake road. Take Big Lake road (Hwy 384) down about 7.5 miles farther and turn right on Hwy 1144. Look for sign for Harbor Light Restaurant –follow the restaurant signs because the restaurant is next to launch. Go about a mile and turn right on Big Lake Camp road and go about 1.5 miles. Boat launch/marina is about ¼ mile south of this road (third left as you come to Big Lake). There is no store there.
The Ellender bridge boat launch is about 10.5 miles south of Sulphur, LA on Hwy 27. It is about 3 miles from the north end of Big Lake. Go East from the launch (Intracoastal Waterway) about 2 miles and this will run into the Calcasieu River (Ship Cannel). Turn south in the Ship channel and the north end of Big Lake is about a mile on the left side. This area is called Turners Bay. You can buy bait about ½ mile north of the bridge at Holly Beach Seafood.
Other Boat Launches…….about 4 miles farther south in Hackberry, is Spicers and a couple of others. Spicers boat launch, you can see it from Hwy 27 on the left as you cross a small bridge coming into Hackberry. You can buy supplies at there store and they sell live shrimp….when the season opens in May. Not sure if they have live shrimp during to “Off” season. When you leave Spicers landing stay in the bayou channel [keep to the left]…..there is a little open water on the right, but it is very shallow. This bayou connects to the ship channel. To get to Big Lake…..south end of lake is about 8 miles to the right. If you turn left [North]….go about a mile and turn right to go through the Texaco cut. I am not sure just how deep the “cut” is now, so at low tide be careful. To get to the north end of the Lake, keep going north about 4 more miles.
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