Big Lake specks moving to deeper water

Poe recommends targeting Ship Channel, Chenier Reef and Vincent Reef this month

Rising water temperatures have Big Lake speckled trout making their annual July move to deeper water now, according to a fishing guide.

Capt. Nick Poe, with Big Lake Guide Service, said despite “dirtyish” water conditions, the fishing has been excellent for the last couple of weeks.

“We had Tropical Storm Bill come in on the Texas coast, and that was actually great,” Poe said. “It didn’t rain a drop here and pushed a bunch of saltwater up in the system.

“High winds knocked us out of about five days of fishing, but when we came back the lake was in better shape than we left it.”

With water temps in the low 80s, Poe said trout are now making their move to deeper water.

“Deep reefs toward the middle of the lake will be good for us, like Chenier Reef down south, the Brad Vincent Reef in the middle of the lake will be real good, and the Ship Channel will be great,” he said. “We’re already catching fish there.”

The Channel, which is more than 40 feet deep, also offers some protection from south winds, he said.

“The fish will stage on the edges of the Channel,” Poe said. “Work oyster reefs and points on the channel anywhere from 3 feet to 15 feet of water. They are definitely in their summertime pattern.”

Another option now is to fish topwaters at the beaches at Johnson Bayou and Rutherford Beach.

“I fish topwater because a lot of times, you can locate them with a topwater on the beach real good,” he said. “They’re real willing to eat something that’s skipping along on top the water.

“I look for a lot of the same things I look for when I’m fishing the lake. Slicks, bait and birds picking – that’s rare, but you do see it on the beach. Find pretty water and find bait and get amongst all that, and you’re bound to run into them sooner or later.”

Poe recommends MirrOlure Little Johns in glow and opening night because of the water conditions, and usually always uses a 1/4-ounce jighead.

Looking ahead, despite some windy conditions, he expects the Fourth of July weekend to be successful on Big Lake.

“We’re looking at the possibility of some big winds, but we’ve been catching a lot of fish on the south bank of the lake and on the Ship Channel, so the wind is not really that big of a factor,” he said. “It’s predominantly a south wind for the rest of the week and the holiday weekend, so go down on the south end of the lake and you should be able to catch some fish.”

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Patrick Bonin is the former editor of Louisiana Sportsman magazine and LouisianaSportsman.com.