The fertile mix of sweet and saline waters around Calcasieu Lake provides predatory fish with a plethora of forage to feast on and grow big. (Photo by John Felsher)
Two identical popping corks, each baited with a live shrimp, plopped down in the mouth of a marshy Louisiana drain and immediately disappeared. One reel’s drag sang as a redfish powered away into the shallows. A largemouth did tail-wagging tricks at the end of the other line.
Known locally as Big Lake, Calcasieu Lake near Lake Charles, La., has earned a reputation for producing giant speckled trout and good largemouths when it is fishable. However, the 50,000-acre lake can turn dangerously rough when high winds and whitecaps churn the surface. When seasonal winds make Big Lake unfishable, locals and visiting anglers alike can head for its protected marshes and enjoy the mixed...