The rise and fall of D’Arbonne

Sounds kind of like a reality TV show on the History channel, doesn’t it?

But it’s not. It’s the story of Lake D’Arbonne this year. The lake entered the year five feet low, came back up to normal, then two feet higher before finally leveling off a few weeks ago. Then, last week, torrential rainfall raised it back up to 81.8 feet, almost two feet above flood stage (80.0).

And now, it’s falling again. The lake was at 81.6 feet late last night and trending downward. It’s a situation totally controlled by Mother Nature and while no damage has been done, it has sure thrown the “spring fishing” into a tizzy for most of us. The trend downward should continue downward, even with a little rain this week. The fluctuation has also kept water muddy, which has kept a lot of the fish out deeper.

Getting a consistent fishing report is like trying to figure out whether George is going to set the hook when he gets a bite or wait to see if the fish is going to grow. But that’s another story. Bass fishing has been good in the shallows, but fishing is tough and lure presentation has to be slow. Jigs, plastic craw baits and slow-rolling spinnerbaits are working. Crappie fishing has still been okay in some of the channels. Some fish are moving into the sloughs. And a few have been caught on yo-yo’s at night up the creeks. Action on the big lake is slow.

One day soon, that report will change and we’ll be glad to let you know! We’ll have an updated report later this week and see how things are going on our area lakes. You can check the lake levels and projections on any day by clicking on the “area lake and river level” link at the right.