The Flush
 

Reading an article today I saw some amazing information. Sabine Lake is 300,000 acre feet in volume. The current release of water from Toledo Bend is 400,000 acre feet per day, meaning there is enough water flowing down the river to replace the water in Sabine Lake every 16 hours. Now I know that hydrodynamics are a bit more complicated, with some of the downstream flow ending up in marshes, bayous and yards and houses and also saltier water is heavier and may persist in deeper areas, but for the near future discussions about Sabine Lake would likely be a better fit in the "Freshwater Discussion" area...I wonder if there are gong to be any specks in Sabine at all for a while with that much fresh water.

might be a grassy spring in those marsh ponds, eh Ron!?

it will take a week or 2 before all the fish leave maybe a little longer. We learned a lot last summer in Galveston Bay (granted from a marine environment the Lake is different from the bay for sure. A bay has more influence from salty flows into it whereas a coastal Lake can have more fluctuation from the fresh side. As long as there is a little salt on the bottom of the bay there will be some trout... as long as there is also food. Trout can survive water that is less than 5ppt... actually they can survive water less than 1ppt salinity.. they just prefer not too since it takes too much energy to 'osmoregulate' (control their internal water content / balance). So it's really a question as to how long the bait can hold in place. How long is the question... a week.. or a month. ... ??? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I can tell you this.. at least for the initial flush, ignore the surface water conditions of color and taste (I tend not to taste it anymore anyway, but what I'm talking about here is the salinity). We caught fish in Galveston all last summer with the surface being completely fresh and ugly. Use a heavier jighead and you have to be touching the deep shell.

Big Lake is getting a little less flow and might be more fishable longer and might not get blown out... Sabine will likely blow out at some point.. (fresh from top to bottom for more than 3 weeks). Might be time to take some scouting trips to other parts of the state soon.

I wish all the guides and businesses the best during this time.

We face this year after year in Vermilion Bay. Welcome to our hell.

Troutsupports advice is spot on.

second that to Vermilion Bay...hell comment. welcome boys. the water's fine...

this is different than what v bay deals with....
this is even different than what sabine deals with periodicly with the fresh water runnoff from toledo and the rest of that water shed. The lake has never seen this much runnoff since the dam was built.

We have been dealing with alot of freshwater for most of the year (with a few spurts of good water only lasting a few weeks). But the trout in the lake have held up pretty good for the most part. They dont seem to be affected as much by the low salinity during the cooler temps of fall and winter as the are in the late spring and summer which makes sense. I think it will play out just like last year did when we were dealing with another flood (not near as bad) and the fish will just be pushed south earlier in the year and we will have to fish dirty water.

Those fish in Sabine will be skinny from all that current

Fish deep slow and dark colors they stacked from garrison ridge south....


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Trout Support is Spot on. I guide in Galveston Bay and last year we thought it was never going to stop raining. We found the fish deep and they STAYED THERE. I suggest you find the deepest reef and work in slow and stay on the bottom. If the fish are not there.....The fish are gone!!