Hooked Up Designs Magazine May/June 2017 | Page 32

Flounder often
hit soft plastic
swimbaits worked
slowly along the
bottom.
R
ising tides began to inundate
weeds growing along the shore-
line of this small, winding bay-
ou. The flow rounded a point and began
to push into a tiny tributary connecting
this bayou with a shallow marshy pond.
“Just put the cork along that shore-
line upstream of that little cut,” advised
Capt. Al Winfrey with Hackberry Rod
and Gun, (888-762-3391, www.hackber-
ryrodandgun.com. “The tide will carry
it around that point and into the little
channel. That’s where a flounder should
be waiting for his breakfast.”
Jen Carroll did as the captain in-
structed. The cork dangling a live shrimp
about two feet beneath it drifted along the
weedy shoreline. As it rounded the tiny
protrusion, the cork plunged beneath the
water with another Calcasieu doormat on
the hook.
Flounder often go overlooked in these
waters south of Lake Charles, La. Most
anglers only catch them by accident as
they pursue trophy speckled trout and
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HOOKED UP

big redfish. Besides producing specks
topping 10 pounds, the Calcasieu Estu-
ary also holds many flatfish in the 1- to
3-pound range and some in the 4- to
8-pound range.
Calcasieu Lake anchors the southern
end of the Calcasieu Estuary. Known lo-
cally as Big Lake, it measures about 12
miles long by nine miles wide and covers
52,700 acres. Studded with oyster reefs,
the lake averages less than six feet deep.
Running north to south, the 40-mile
long Calcasieu Ship Channel, a wider,
straighter version of the old Calcasieu
River, links Calcasieu Lake to several as-
sociated lakes, tributaries and marshes
before passing through Calcasieu Pass
into the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron,
La.
The Intracoastal Waterway cuts the
ship channel from east to west just north
of Big Lake. East of Big Lake, the East
Cove Unit of Cameron Prairie National
Wildlife Refuge preserves marshes, lakes
and bayous. Several bayous, including
M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 7
Grand and Lambert flow from the refuge
into Big Lake, but weirs built to prevent
excessive salt water from entering the
marshes periodically prevent access to
the interior. Even when closed off, these
bayou mouths can still offer excellent
flounder action, particularly Lambert and
Grand bayous. Although blocked to boat
traffic, the weirs still allow tides to flow
through gates.
Between the Calcasieu Estuary and
Sabine Lake, the Sabine NWR spreads
over 124,500 acres of marsh dotted by
numerous bayous, canals and lakes. An-
glers can fish the refuge from March 15
to Oct. 15 each year. Kelso Bayou con-
nects Calcasieu Lake and Black Lake near
Hackberry, La. Black Bayou flows into the
Intracoastal Waterway near Sabine Lake.
About 19 miles long by nine miles
wide on the Louisiana-Texas line, Sabine
Lake averages about eight feet deep. Sev-
eral bayous run into Sabine Lake from the
marshy Louisiana side. The lake connects
to the gulf through Sabine Pass. Sabine
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