A Look at the Hurricanes Effect on Gulf Coast Fishing
Captain Jeff Poe
 Editor’s
Note: After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the fishermen
at Lake Calcasieu near Lake Charles, Louisiana, still
had good lives and enjoyed outstanding fishing. The
storm brought in plenty of speckled trout and redfish.
Many of the tourist areas along the Gulf Coast had shut
down, but the fishing business boomed. However, anglers
knew that good times generally didn’t last, and
bad times might follow. Four weeks later, Hurricane
Rita jumped right in the middle of Lake Calcasieu. Although
most people around the nation remember Katrina and its
devastating effort on New Orleans, the anglers at Lake
Calcasieu never will forget Rita. But, on the heels
of Rita came some of the best trout fishing Lake Calcasieu
has had in years. We’ve talked to two fishermen
who guide and operate businesses on Calcasieu –
Captain Jeff Poe of Big Lake Guide Service and Kirk
Stansel of Hackberry Rod & Gun. Let’s listen
to their stories about what happened and what you can
expect this summer and fall, if you’re planning
a fishing trip to Lake Calcasieu.
“Hurricane Katrina occurred in August 2005, and
after Katrina, the fishing was really good,” Captain
Jeff Poe recalls. “We were absolutely hammering
the speckled trout and the redfish. Although Katrina
brought great fishing to our region all summer long
before Katrina, the trout fishing in Lake Calcasieu
had been tough. But, in September we were having some
of the finest fishing we’d ever experienced on
Lake Calcasieu. Then Hurricane Rita started our way.
We’d seen what happened in New Orleans, so most
of the people around Calcasieu packed-up and headed
for the hills. My wife, Mary, who’s also a guide,
and I had just built some lodging for our fishing guests
– a brand-new duplex right on the lake and another
house. Rita caused severe wind and rain damage to both,
and the roofs were torn off the houses. Luckily we didn’t
 lose
any pilings on the dock, although we did lose some of
the decking. We lost the roof over our boat shed and
all of our boat lifts, but fortunately, all the pilings
were in place. All of our boats were fine because we
took them inshore with us.
“The storm hit on a Saturday, and I returned
to the lake on Monday to access the storm’s damage.
I’d heard several rumors about people seeing large
flocks of seagulls diving on baitfish out on the lake.
At first, I thought the seagulls were feeding on dead
baitfish. However, the gulls were diving on live baitfish
with nice schools of speckled trout and redfish under
them. The first day my son could get out, he and one
of my guides caught 25 nice-sized trout in an aluminum
 johnboat
with no trolling motor. When I reached the lake, the
birds were working, and fish were breaking the surface
everywhere. There’s no doubt that Rita brought
trout into the lake. We had plenty of the trout in the
lake anyway. But I think the storm brought more fish
in because the water got so high and washed so much
bait out of the marsh and into Lake Calcasieu.
“I had a 1-acre fresh-water pond 1/2-mile from
the lake, and Rita brought high water all the way up
into that fresh-water lake. After the storm and the
water receded, we pumped out the lake and found 10 flounder,
weighing up to 5-pounds each, 20 small speckled trout,
no redfish, thousands of crockers and spot baitfish,
blue crabs, shrimp and mangrove snapper in it. So, I
know the storm had brought all those fish inshore. The
water level was about 5 feet above the normal level
of the pond. The fishing was so good in Calcasieu that
within a week of the storm, you already could catch
limits of speckled trout.”
For more information on fishing with Captain Jeff Poe
at Big Lake Guide Service, call 337-598-3268, or go
to www.biglakeguideservice.com.
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