Fishing in the New Year

I planned to start the New Year off with a fishing report, but I won’t guess at it or take second hand information that I don’t trust. So here’s what I can confirm with relative certainty:  Fishing the next few days will be cold and wet.

Okay, okay, okay.  You were expecting more? Let me start with this. Lake D’Arbonne is up a foot and a half today from the lowest level of the lake drawdown about a month ago (75.0 feet). U.S. Geological Survey projections are for the lake to reach nearly 78 feet by the end of the week (remember you can check lake levels for D’Arbonne and other area lakes by simply clicking the “lake level” link on this site). After the rain, the temps will get near freezing again.

But here’s a more serious shot at a fishing report. The cold weather seems to have really bunched up the crappie fishermen, I mean, the crappie, on Lake D’Arbonne.  Fish are being caught in 15-18 feet of water for the most part and seem to be best out in the middle of the deeper parts of the channels. That’s a little deeper than the fish have been. There is good action near both major bridges on the lake and in the deep water by the spillway. Fishing has slowed down a bit from the milder days, but this weekend the boat launches were full and many fishermen reported relatively good success. Not many people were in danger of breaking the new 25-fish limit, though. Fish are still running a half pound to a pound for the most part.  Gray and silver jigs or blue or green back plastic lures are working well. Shiners are consistent baits, too. Remember to weight your bait down with an extra sinker when fishing this deep.

I was not able to get a lot of reports on the bass. Up until a few weeks ago, they were still being caught in runouts and along the steep dropoffs where the water level had exposed the banks up the creeks. Those fish have probably moved into deeper water with the cold weather as well. Jigs and slow-rolling spinners should work.

Catfish are still biting on cold worms and are reported being caught in water from six to eight feet deep all the way down to 20 feet deep.

One of the area’s other top crappie lakes, Poverty Point, is still producing some crappie in deep water. But on a scale of 1-10 with 10 as the best, it’s only about a 3 right now. Jigs and shiners are both working. The south end of the lake seems to be the most popular.

Lake Claiborne fishermen have reported some good catches, but again the fish are deep. It takes some patience to locate the schools of shad and the crappie won’t be far away. Again the spillway area is one of the top spots right now.

With the rain, the Ouachita River fishing may slow up a bit. It has been fair to good for bass on crankbaits and spinners in 8-10 feet of water off from the main bank. Stickups and fallen logs have been producing. This may slow a bit more if we get a lot of rain to usher in the New Year.