Sportsman Paradise Can Be Found at Lake Charles, Louisiana

A falling tide was sucking water from the marsh through a small drain. Three anglers cast different enticements into it and were working them out with the current when a 10-pound redfish annihilated one, a topwater zigzagging on the surface. A moment later, a three-pound flounder slurped a second lure, this one a small swimbait retrieved along the bottom. Before either of said fish made it to the boat, the third angler landed a 2-pound largemouth bass that ate a live shrimp suspended under a popping cork.

When freshwater and the brine overlap in southwest Louisiana’s coastal marshes, it results in a forage-rich environment that attracts a long list of predatory species, much to the delight of anglers.

“Redfish withstand a broad range of salinity levels, from pure freshwater to full-on seawater,” explains Chris Schieble, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fisheries of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “Bass can tolerate up to 10 parts per thousand [of salt in the water], and bluegills, redears and other sunfish can also live in fairly salty areas.” So anglers fishing the river or the various lakes and marshes often catch an impressive combination of fresh and saltwater species.

VAST ESTUARINE WATERS

One of the best places to experience this angling phenomenon is the Calcasieu Estuary near Lake Charles, a city of nearly 85,000 and one of Louisiana’s more significant centers of petrochemical refining, casino gambling and education (it’s home to McNeese State University and Sowela Technical College).

The Calcasieu River—which once flowed into the Gulf of Mexico—now stops at a man-made barrier just north of the city. However, part of the freshwater filters through the marshes and, with the saltwater intrusion caused by the incoming tides, there’s a blurred and constantly fluctuating demarcation. From the saltwater barrier, Calcasieu Ship Channel, a deeper and straighter, man-made version of the original Calcasieu River, runs southward for about 40 miles, connecting the port of Lake Charles to the Gulf. Known locally as Big Lake, 52,700-acre Calcasieu Lake anchors the southern end of the estuary. To the west, Sabine Lake covers 59,700 acres with the Louisiana-Texas border running almost perfectly down the middle, the Sabine River pouring in from the northeast and the Neches River from the northwest. At the south end, Sabine Pass connects the lake to the Gulf. The Intracoastal Waterway bisects Calcasieu Ship Channel just north of Hackberry and continues westward, reaching the Sabine River a little north of Sabine Lake.

The rivers nourish not only the lakes, but also vast marshes pockmarked by numerous ponds, canals and bayous, while salt water comes up through Calcasieu Ship Channel and Sabine Pass, pushing up through their namesake lakes and spreading into the marshes. All this results in a sweet and salty gumbo where gamefish from both realms feast upon a smorgasbord of aquatic morsels.

TARGETS AND HOT SPOTS

Sunfish, shad, mullet, menhaden, crawfish, crabs, shrimp and many other creatures are all on the menu for the opportunistic predators that roam the area. Depending on the conditions and the location within the estuary, they might include redfish, flounder, speckled and white trout, black drum, sheepshead, largemouth and striped bass, blue catfish, crappie and various sunfish.

“We never know what might hit. With a popping cork and a live shrimp, we might catch a bass on one cast and a redfish on the next,” says Hayden Hoffpauir with Louisiana Fish, LLC (337-274-8321) in Lake Charles, who also throws 3-inch Burner Shad swimbaits from Down South Lures and Rapala Skitter Walks to catch redfish, bass, trout and stripers in nearby waters.

“Stripers are a limited type of fishing,” Hoffpauir says. “When [the bite] is on, we throw shrimp on a tight line or under a popping cork against the barrier wall. Spoons and some plugs also work.”

“We routinely catch both salt and freshwater species, sometimes more than 15 different ones, on the same baits in the same places,” says Tom Adams of Fishing Tom Guide Service (fishingtom.net).

Along with the redfish, Sabine and Calcasieu lakes are well-known for the numbers and size of their speckled trout. So is Black Lake, connected to Calcasieu Ship Channel by Kelso Bayou near Hackberry. Salt Ditch, which runs south from the Intracoastal to the Black Lake area, is another proven hot spot, especially during fall and winter.

Black Bayou and East Cut are also worth checking out. The latter connects the north end of Sabine Lake to Black Bayou. The former flows through the northwestern portion of the marshes. Its average depth is 8 to 10 feet, but it drops to 14 in some places.

Several pockets and cuts along the Intracoastal yield action with flounder, redfish and bass. “From September into the fall, we fish grass lines with live shrimp under popping corks for bass and reds. We also catch many flounder on 3-inch Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullets,” explains Adams.

Anglers can also fish Vinton Drainage Ditch, which crosses the Intracoastal from north to south. Hoffpauir says people catch bigger largemouths in that area, including some 10-pounders. For bass in the fall, he throws buzz frogs or white buzzbaits in deep canals with lily pads and slow-moving water.

The tides and the wind dictate what anglers might catch at any given spot and time in the marshes, where dropping water levels flush prey through small cuts and drains that hungry predators know to patrol.

On the eastern and southern side of Calcasieu Lake, the East Cove Unit of Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge preserves nearly 15,000 acres of marshes. Weirs block access to several bayous, but sometimes boaters can fish behind them. And even when they can’t, the water and bait flowing through the gates frequently provide excellent fishing opportunities.

“In the fall, redfish will hang around the weirs in the southeast corner of Calcasieu Lake,” says Brian Hanchey with Louisiana Backwater Charters, in Hackberry. “The Grand and Lambert bayou weirs usually have lots of reds around them.”

Of course, nothing ignites a multi-species feeding frenzy like a crustacean migration. And in the fall, shrimp leave the estuary to spawn out in the Gulf, drawing all sorts of gamefish looking for an easy meal.

CAST-AND-BLAST BLISS

Many guides offer combined fishing-and-waterfowling charters in the fall and winter, hunting ducks in the morning on private-marsh or rice-field leases, then fishing in the afternoon. Visiting sportsmen typically shoot gadwalls, green-winged teals, some mallards, wigeons or pintails, but their daily bag could comprise any waterfowl species found in the southern Mississippi or Central Flyways, including whistling ducks and snow, blue, specklebelly or Ross geese.

Some lodges and outfitters offer other hunting experiences. For instance, Adams also holds night hunts with thermal optics for feral hogs, coyotes and other game.

DIY HUNTING

With nearly 125,000 acres of pristine marshland between Sabine and Calcasieu lakes, Sabine National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best public waterfowling places in the nation. Lacassine NWR, covering 35,000 acres of impounded fresh and tidal, brackish marshes near Hayes, La., is another terrific public-land option.

As a bonus, the 16,000-acre Lacassine Pool, a shallow, impounded marsh, commonly produces giant bass and other fish. Keep in mind, however, that both Sabine and Lacassine NWRs restrict fishing from mid-October to mid-March to provide sanctuaries for waterfowl.

Do-it-yourself hunters looking for deer or small game should consider the swampy Sabine Island Wildlife Management Area, which encompasses 8,343 acres on the Louisiana side of the Sabine River, near Vinton.

Area Atrractions

• There’s more than great fishing and hunting in store.

While in Lake Charles, visit Port Wonder, the city’s newest attraction. It’s located on Lakeshore Drive, right off Interstate 10, and it houses the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Nature & Science Center and the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana. It also features fresh and saltwater aquariums, as well as a covered fishing pier, walking trails, and various educational and fun displays and activities for all ages.

Want more nature? Hike the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) walking trail or navigate the Pintail Wildlife Drive through Cameron Prairie NWR in the comfort of your vehicle. Birders will love driving through nearby Lacassine NWR and the Creole Nature Trail All-American Road, one of the country’s few designated scenic byways.

For other attractions and travel information, contact the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau (337-436-9588) or go to visitlakecharles.org.

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• This article was featured in the October 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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