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Calcasieu Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Calcasieu Lake behind Calcasieu Pass: oyster reefs, speckled trout and redfish, with Louisiana's flounder closure each fall.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 1:28 AM
Air / High
85 / 85 F
Wind
SW 2 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8768094, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Calcasieu Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 85. Tides: high 1:24 AM and 1:55 PM, low 7:44 AM and 7:49 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:50 AM-11:50 AM and 10:17 PM-12:17 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled troutExcellent

Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

Tomorrow: Similar at 83 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Louisiana requires a fishing licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Louisiana licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing redfish (red drum) here? Check the size and bag limits with LDWF before you keep anything. The season dates for Louisiana, read off the agency, are on the Louisiana seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8768094 (Calcasieu Pass). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH1:24 AM2.0 ft
LOW7:44 AM0.9 ft
HIGH1:55 PM2.0 ft
LOW7:49 PM1.1 ft
Sat
HIGH1:28 AM2.0 ft
LOW8:11 AM0.6 ft
HIGH2:48 PM2.2 ft
LOW8:33 PM1.3 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp85 F
High / Low85 / 64 F
WindSW 2-3 mph
Pressure1018.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:20 / 18:34
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Calcasieu Lake this week

The best day on Calcasieu Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:50 AM-11:50 AM and 10:17 PM-12:17 AM
Minor period
4:12 AM-5:12 AM
Sun
07:20 to 18:34
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Calcasieu Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Shallow bays spring and summer; deeper water in winter

Speckled trout is the anglers' name for the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), a spotted member of the drum family that lives in shallow bays and estuaries from the Chesapeake to Texas. Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

When to come: the Calcasieu Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~78 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Calcasieu Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 84 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Louisiana requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Louisiana Basic and Saltwater fishing licenses are required from age 18. LDWF statewide limits: speckled trout 13 to 20 inches, 15 a day with no more than 2 over 20 inches; red drum 18 to 27 inches, 4 a day, none over 27; black drum 16 to 27 inches, 5 a day with one over 27 allowed; southern flounder 10 a day, closed Oct. 15–Nov. 30. Captain and crew on a for-hire trip may not keep trout or redfish.

Access

Sabine NWR recreation areas on Highway 27 (Northline, Hog Island Gully, West Cove) have fishing facilities; check the Southwest Louisiana NWR Complex fishing and boating regulations before launching in refuge waters.

About this water

An estuary in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, connected to the Gulf of Mexico at Calcasieu Pass.

Fishing Calcasieu Lake: the full guide

Oyster reefs in an estuary

LDWF manages public oyster areas in Calcasieu Lake in Cameron Parish. In 2023 it finished 25 acres of new reef on the east side, placing about 17,500 tons of crushed limestone in elevated rows; the cultch plant stays closed to oyster harvest for at least two years. LDWF notes that such reefs also give habitat to recreationally important fish.

Tides and the pass

The lake connects to the Gulf through Calcasieu Pass, where NOAA station 8768094 (Calcasieu Pass) reports live water levels and tide predictions for this page.

West Cove and the Sabine refuge

Sabine National Wildlife Refuge has fishing facilities at three recreation areas along Louisiana Highway 27, Northline, Hog Island Gully and West Cove, with bank fishing open year-round along the highway. The refuge lists spotted seatrout, flounder, black drum and red drum among its saltwater species. In the refuge marsh, boats outside designated canals and natural bayous must push-pole or use trolling motors only.

Common questions

What are the speckled trout limits?

Statewide in Louisiana: 15 a day, 13 to 20 inches, with no more than two over 20 inches.

Can I keep flounder in the fall?

Not from October 15 to November 30, when Louisiana closes southern flounder harvest; the rest of the year the limit is 10 a day.

Is there bank fishing?

Yes, along Louisiana Highway 27 at Sabine NWR, year-round, with fishing facilities at West Cove, Hog Island Gully and Northline.

Is fishing good at Calcasieu Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Sabine Lake31 miSabine Pass35 miNeches River55 miVermilion Bay82 miGalveston97 miSam Rayburn Reservoir98 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8768094 β€” Calcasieu Pass
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 29.8800, -93.3200 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 6, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 6, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.