SLICK FISHING FOR TROUT

Rooting Out Reds

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week, we'll talk with Captain Jeff Poe who has fished Lake Calcasieu, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, for more than 20 years. His wife Mary, also a licensed captain and guide, has fished the lake all of her life. We'll look at the type fish that you can catch at Lake Calcasieu -- a huge saltwater lake off the Gulf of Mexico -- and Poe will tell us how to catch them.

QUESTION: How do you find and catch redfish?
POE: We usually catch redfish in three different ways. We cast baits down the banks in the marsh and fish for redfish under slicks like we do speckled trout. The birds often will show us a school of redfish. Both redfish and trout create slicks, and both redfish and trout force shrimp to the surface where birds can attack them. I've seen some slicks or fished under birds when all of the fish in the school would be redfish. When we go into the marsh, often we can see the redfish tailing and schooling, and we can sight-fish to them. The marsh is also an excellent place for fly-fishermen to cast to redfish they can see.

QUESTION: What baits do you use other than the fly when you fish for redfish?
POE: Redfish will hit the same baits trout will. They come to the surface and take top-water baits, or you can catch them on soft plastics. I also catch redfish on spinner baits and spoons like the Johnson silver spoon. The DOA Shrimp is also a good lure for redfish.

QUESTION: How big a redfish are you catching?
POE: We'll usually have a school of reds that have fish up to 22-inches long and weighing 3- to 4-pounds each. We often hit schools of reds that are all oversized, meaning they measure longer than 27 inches. Right now, we can keep five redfish between 16 and 27 inches, and in that five, we can have one redfish that measures more than 27-inches long. We find most of the schools of reds in the middle of the lake under slicks and/or oyster reefs. In the fall of the year, we'll generally locate them under birds. Sometimes, we do find reds out in the jetties where we fish for them with half a crab. This is often when we catch the really big reds. On some days, we'll get a limit of redfish and a limit of speckled trout, which happens quite frequently.

For more information on fishing Lake Calcasieu, contact Captains Jeff or Mary Poe with Big Lake Guide Service at (337) 598-3268, or go to www.biglakeguideservice.com.

TOMORROW: HOW TO FIND AND CATCH FLOUNDER IN LAKE CALCASIEU