Check your charts before fishing

Published 7:35 pm Sunday, July 30, 2017

Getting an edge on fish isn’t the easiest thing to do and that’s why among the first things most fishermen in our area attend to before making a trip is collecting data about tidal movement, especially those heading to any spot along the Calcasieu River and ship channel.

Fishermen in bodies of salt water will also check for salinity rankings. 

Dan Denson is one of those.

In fact, he checks data before a fresh water trip for bass as well as a salt water outing for redfish, speckled trout and flounder.

“It’s no secret that most fishermen are going to check tidal movement before they head out,” said Denson, who mainly fishes Lake Charles and the Prien Lake area for salt water fish and above the Saltwater Barrier for bass.

He will view charts on the internet for details.

“Probably the most accurate is the U.S. Geological Survey (watgerdata.usgs.gov) which will give a graphic display of the tidal movement all the way down the ship channel and will also provide the measure of water salinity,” Denson said. “They are right on the money.”

For his bass fishing on the Calcasieu he will search “water level at Kinder, LA” and get info from the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“If you click on ‘downstream gauge’ it goes to Old Town Bay, then Sam Houston Park, Saltwater Barrier and Lake Charles. This is my go-to website for upstream fishing in the Calcasieu,” Denson said.

His fishing is based on what he finds at these websites.

“The thing that I look at more is what is going on in Kinder,” he said. “If the water level is over 4 or 5 feet that means it’s high and fresh pretty much all the way down to Prien Lake.”

Both the USGS and NOAA have stations throughout the Calcasieu River and ship channel from which information is gathered by satellite use.

Denson said that he bases his trips on the movement of water but that he does have a fishing buddy — Ray Bourque — whose comeback is “You don’t know unless you go,” and there is something to that.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced last week that fishermen will be permitted to continue fishing three-day weekends for red snapper possibly through the summer.

The last snapper catch total from the LDWF was 709,595 pounds. The cutoff figure is 1.04 million pounds. Upcoming fishing dates are Aug. 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27 and Sept. 1-4.

When the 1.04 million-pound figure is reached, the department said fishing will be immediately canceled.