Calcasieu Lake is a brackish lake located in southwest Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, located mostly within Cameron Parish

Cameron Parish, Louisiana

Cameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron and as of 2010, the population was 6,839...

. The lake is paralleled on its west shore by Louisiana Highway 27

Louisiana Highway 27

Louisiana Highway 27 is a state highway that serves Beauregard Parish, Calcasieu Parish, and Cameron Parish. It spans as a north south road with running west to east...

 and is located about 17 miles (27.35 km) south of Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...

.

The Lake is also known as Big Lake to the local population. Big Lake is well known amongst Gulf Coast angler

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

s as a destination for large amounts of red drum (redfish

Redfish

Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to members of the deep-sea genus Sebastes, or the reef dwelling snappers, Lutjanus. It is also applied to the slimeheads or roughies , and the alfonsinos ....

) and spotted sea trout (speckled trout

Speckled Trout

Speckled trout may refer to:* Brook trout , a freshwater fish in the Salmonidae family* Spotted seatrout , a coastal saltwater or brackish water fish in the Sciaenidae family...

) as well as flounder

Flounder

The flounder is an ocean-dwelling flatfish species that is found in coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Taxonomy:There are a number of geographical and taxonomical species to which flounder belong.*Western Atlantic...

 and brown and white shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

. It is not uncommon for anglers to catch speckled trout at seven lbs. or larger in this estuary

Estuary

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

.

On June 24, 2007, a rare albino

Albinism

Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...

 "pink" bottlenose dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...

, Pinky

Pinky (dolphin)

Pinky is an albino bottlenose dolphin found in Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana.Pinky was first spotted in 2007 by a boat caftain, Erik Rue. The dolphin has become a tourist attraction, and conservationists have asked visitors to leave the dolphin alone....

, was spotted by a charter fishing-boat captain based in Lake Charles. http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=6749452 http://calcasieucharters.com/index.cfm/MenuItemID/125.htm