A Look at the Hurricanes Effect on Gulf Coast Fishing
More on Louisiana Fishing with Kirk Stansel
 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.
“ In
the spring of 2006, the trout fishing has been outstanding,”
Kirk Stansel reports. “We’re locating schools
of trout from one end to the other end of the lake,
even in muddy water, which always has been a tough task
for successful fishing, even before Hurricane Rita.
So many trout are out there in Lake Calcasieu now. We
still have some customers who want to fish with live
bait, and we certainly allow them to, but you can get
your limit of trout with artificial lures now with no
problem. We’ve been seeing big fish since April
2006, at Calcasieu. We’ve already seen a few 6-
and 7-pound specks, and the sizes of fish our anglers
are bringing in now are much better than they were last
fall. I really feel like the big fish will move in with
the first new moon in June, since that’s usually
when we start seeing  those
8-, 9- and 10-pound fish. Our bookings have been slow
up until now because most of our customers who fish
with us prefer to come and stay at our lodge. But many
of them now say they’re returning to fish at Hackberry
as soon as we get our lodge back up and running. Our
summertime fishing is usually the best time to catch
trout and redfish. So, if you’re going to book,
now’s the time, since we have people calling every
day and booking the lodge for when it re-opens.”
To learn more about fishing at Hackberry Rod &
Gun, call 888-762-3391, or visit www.hackberryrodandgun.com.
Tomorrow: Fishing Calcasieu
with Kirk Stansel
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