Draw a line in the Turner’s Bay area from the Texaco Cut across to Commissary Point, put on some hip waders and fish that northern shoreline above the line through Turner’s Bay.
Many speckled trout, including some big ol’ yellowmouths, have been caught that way for many years during December. The approach is one that becomes ultra-popular in December at Calcasieu Lake, according to Kirk Stansel at Hackberry Rod & Gun.
Stansel, 66, and his brothers, Bobby Joe Stansel and Guy Stansel, know all about wade fishing’s popularity as co-owners of the highly regarded charter boat guide service and lodge since 1996. They know from first-hand experience the rewards of getting in the water and reeling in a speckled trout. Kirk Stansel said Guy Stansel is the “master” wade fisherman among the “Stansel Boys.”
It has been an up-and-down year for speckled trout and redfish fishing. Since mid-October, however, speckled trout fishing for solid keepers did an about-face and improved considerably, an encouraging sign heading into December.
“Usually December is the beginning when people like to wade fish,” Kirk Stansel said. “People start wade fishing for trophy trout.”
Often, the veteran fishing guide said, speckled trout are found over shallow reefs. However, they can be picked off mud flats and along the shoreline, especially on cold days because mud warms quicker.
On windy days, fish the lee side of any area. Many wade fishermen stay in knee-deep water. A general rule of thumb for finding fish is to target them along the shoreline at high tide, then out and away on low tide.
Lure selection
Naturally, the biggest key to success is to be around baitfish, Stansel said.
“One thing you want to find is a lot of mullet,” he said. “Fish where the bait is, the mullet.”
As for water clarity, it doesn’t have to be crystal clear.
“Three to six inches visibility for us is OK,” he said. “But we prefer 2-foot visibility. The cleaner, the better. You’ll catch them in muddy water sometimes. (But) too muddy? Nah.”
Remember, he advised, the colder the water, generally the slower a wade fisherman must retrieve and work a bait.
Artificial lure selection is fairly simple, according to Stansel, who began guiding at Hackberry Rod & Gun at age 19 when it was under the ownership of the late Terry Shaughnessy, who died Aug. 21, 2022. (Shaughnessy, a former NFL player who loved fishing and hunting, opened Hackberry Rod & Gun in 1975.) Stansel said wade fishermen need a topwater, preferably a pink, pearl, orange, pearl/chartreuse or white Rapala Skitter Walk, Paul Brown Corky Fat Boy (anything with chartreuse or, sometimes, a dark color) or a soft plastic such as a MirrOlure Lil John or Down South Lures. Chartreuse and watermelon/red are the top colors, but try others. Put the soft plastics on a ¼- or 5/16-ounce leadhead, the veteran charter boat captain advised, and “tight line” the soft plastics.
“You’ve got to have topwater in your arsenal,” he said.
On the western side of Calcasieu Lake, Joe’s Cove is another favorite among wade fishermen who target speckled trout, mostly with Corky Fat Boys.
