"The storm surge spread through the marsh and left with the tide. In many places, people could catch bass, redfish, speckled trout, flounder and other fish in the same spot. During bass tournaments, anglers sometimes had to move because they were catching too many speckled trout. Above I-10, people couldn't catch any fish."

In the spring of 2006, the state sampled the Sabine and Calcasieu rivers, but found few fish. By the summer, though, they found more fish of all kinds, although way below normal levels. However, both the Sabine and the Calcasieu enjoyed huge bass spawns in the spring of 2006. Free from predators and with little competition, those fry should quickly repopulate the river. By October 2006, some bass had already reached 8 inches long.

"The rivers are already on their way back," Reed said. "On the Sabine and Calcasieu rivers, we saw the best spawns in 20 years during 2006. We've seen higher largemouth bass numbers than in 20 years. A lot of the garfish, bowfin and other big predators are gone so smaller fish can survive.

"We were planning to stock the Sabine and Calcasieu rivers, but with the numbers already generated by Mother Nature, it will be hard to justify stocking the rivers. In the summer of 2007, people will have a lot of fun catching a bunch of small fish. By 2008 and 2009, people will see some of the best fishing they've seen in years."

The Calcasieu River began producing a few bass before torrential rains struck the area in October 2006. A good flood creates long-term benefits for a river system, flushing out organic matter and debris and redistributing fish. Undoubtedly, raging waters washed some bass from the upper reaches of the Sabine and Calcasieu Rivers into areas with few fish.

Marshes east of Lake Charles suffered mostly from salt water. The storm surge demolished the Big Burns Marsh. Salt water also poured over the levees of the 16,000-acre Lacassine Pool on Lacassine NWR near Bell City. Historically one of the best places in south Louisiana at which to land a double-digit bass, Lacassine Pool previously produced many lunkers in the 10- to 11-pound range, some nearly hitting 12 pounds.

The shallow, marshy impoundment averages only about 3 feet deep, except in several perimeter canals. Hurricane Rita demolished the water-control structures and topped the perimeter levees with salt water. Salinity levels ranged from 2.5 to 4 parts per thousand -- but largemouths can tolerate surprisingly high levels of salinity.

"In February and March 2006, we sampled Lacassine Pool with gillnets," Reed said. "At that time, we found plenty of broodstock. We caught some fish over 5 pounds in the nets. The hurricane didn't kill everything. Nature finds a way."