Calcasieu Lake
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| Calcasieu Lake | |
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 Hurricane debris (2006) | |
  Calcasieu Lake  Calcasieu Lake | |
| Location | Cameron / Calcasieu parishes, Louisiana, United States |
| Coordinates | 29°54′01″N 93°16′58″W / 29.90028°N 93.28278°W |
| Primary inflows | Calcasieu River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 76.8 sq mi (199 km2)[1][2] |
| Average depth | 1 m (3.3 ft) |
Calcasieu Lake is a brackish lake located in southwest Louisiana, United States, located mostly within Cameron Parish. The Lake, also known as Big Lake to the local population, is paralleled on its west shore by Louisiana Highway 27, and is located about 17 mi (27 km) south of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The lake is the natural outlet of the Calcasieu River but commercial traffic now bypasses it by using the Calcasieu Ship Channel.
Big Lake is well known among Gulf Coast anglers as a destination for red drum (redfish) and spotted sea trout (speckled trout) as well as flounder and brown and white shrimp. It is not uncommon for anglers to catch speckled trout at seven pounds (3.2 kg) or larger in this estuary.
On June 24, 2007, a rare albino "pink" bottlenose dolphin, Pinky, was spotted by a charter fishing-boat captain based in Lake Charles.[3][4]
See also
References
- ^ Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (n.d.) Calcasieu Lake
- ^ United States Geological Survey notes that the lake is subject to tidal fluctuation, and has given area estimates from 90 sq. mi. in 1963 [1] to 67 sq. mi. in 1970 [2]
- ^ "KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Extremely Rare and Beautiful Pink Dolphin Spotted". Archived from the original on 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ "Rare "PINK DOLPHIN" Photos". Archived from the original on 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
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