A veteran charter boat captain who grew up fishing Calcasieu Lake, and so many others who know Big Lake, as it’s also known, could always count on the reefs along the lower end shorelines to give up speckled trout every April. Until now.
The speckled trout bite — or the bite from any other gamefish — down there this spring could be iffy so many months after a dredging accident spilled sediment into a bayou and nearby canal, then leaked into the lake’s southwest corner in early August 2025. As a result, oyster reefs favored by speckled trout and other finfish are topped with an “abnormal amount” of mud, a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist confirmed Sept. 2 when he spoke to the Cameron Parish Police Jury.
Erik Rue, who has owned and operated Calcasieu Charter Service for nearly four decades, is among those who realize there likely are consequences following the reported accidental release of sludge being dredged by Venture Global into No-Name-Bayou just south of Big Lake near No-Name-Weir. The dredging was part of construction of CP2 LNG, a liquid natural gas terminal planned on Monkey Island.
“It’s going to be kind of a learning experience during April because some of the traditional areas along the shoreline and southwest corner of the lake are covered with mud,” Rue said the first week of March, noting oyster fishing and shrimping have been impacted.
“It’s still to be seen what to do for recreational fishing,” he said.
Larger fish
It’s the season for speckled trout as they get into the spawning mode, shrimp move in and the water clears considerably.
With that in mind, one of Rue’s top choices for speckled trout fishing in April would be West Cove on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway at the lower end of Big Lake. He believes West Cove was unaffected by the spill and speckled trout averaging 14 to 20 inches long will be biting as usual on soft plastics on a ¼-ounce leadhead, mostly over the many reefs across the cove. Rue favors paddletails and straight tails.
“I’ve always loved chartreuses and whites. Some people like dark colors, too. Water clarity is key as much as anything, and being around fish obviously helps,” he said, adding that popping corks come into play big time now.
Getting away from the bottom-bouncing leadheads often triggers bites from heavier speckled trout, he said. One of his go-to baits for that purpose is a suspending bait, a MirrOdine. Chrome with a trim of any color usually pays off. Topwaters also get bigger bites, particularly around large schools of baitfish.
“The opportunity to catch larger fish is always present on Big Lake,” Rue said. “Sometimes you can change a presentation and catch bigger fish. So you’ve just got to experiment with things, learn where the reefs are and target them.”
Other options
Flounder and redfish offer tasty alternatives to anglers this time of year, too, he said. Flounder have moved in by that time, and while large catches may dwindle, some still can be caught along shorelines. Redfish fishing at the jetty is “always good” if anglers hit decent weather down by the pass as shrimp and pogies move in. The reds should move into the mid-lake and upper areas of the lake this time of year, perhaps more than usual because of the muddy reefs.
The bane of recreational fishing anywhere on this lake this time of year, particularly West Cove, remains the wind, the velocity.
“That’s the most difficult thing to deal with at Calcasieu Lake,” Rue said. “It’s usually a windy month.”
