Summer Fishing Report

Summer is officially here! The first hint is that I work up as sweat going to get the mail, but the most obvious sign is on the lake. What is it? The pontoon boats are here!  I counted 21 on the water Sunday.  So that officially means that summer fishing is here. Here’s a look at what we know:

Saturday’s rain that stormed across the area has left some of our waters muddied, but that should clear up in a couple of days. Right now, bream and catfish are tearing it up on Lake D’Arbonne. The bream are bedding up and you can catch small ones in most areas. Some of the biggest catches are coming out on the flats in 2-4 feet of water. Crickets work best and are easiest to use, but when you fish with worms you

A nice mess of D’Arbonne catfish !

have the double chance of bream or catfish.  Catfish have been really doing well the past couple of weeks anywhere around the shallow banks out to 5-8 feet of water.  Bass fishing is still pretty good early and late and fish are hanging near grass. Worms, big plastics and shad-colored crank baits are working well. With the water color change, some chartreuse, orange bellies and brighter colors may work. Bass are still eating crawfish as well. Expect quite a few five and six pounders in this weekend’s MAJESTIC Big Bass Tournament (for more information, see May 28 post on this site). It should take a seven or eight pounder to win it. White perch fishing is slow. They are in deeper water and are still in transition. If you put out tops, this is the time of year it starts paying off. Fishing in 10-15 feet seems best.

At Lake Claiborne, catfish and bream are also being caught in abundance. Claiborne also has a lot of fishermen who put out floats and catch catfish as well as stump hooks for the really big catfish – mostly flatheads. Bass fishing has also been good on plastics and jigs. There is one bonus to fishing Claiborne in the summer. The stripers are beginning to school a little and are also being caught trolling. Best baits are shad-color lures or bucktails for the schoolies.

There’s nothing like catching a big bass at night, and if that’s what you want, it is a good time to give Caney Lake a try. Some of the best catches are coming at night, including some 7-8 pounders. Night fishing is funny. You can catch fish around lighted piers or on dark banks. The key is fishing slow and using a dark colored bait fished really slow. Some big bream are being caught, including some of those signature Caney chinquapins that weigh over a pound.

The Ouachita River is high and rising, but some good bass catches are still being reported. Fishing in the tops along the edge of river lakes with jigs and worms seems good. Crankbaits are being used to catch fish around the current points.  The D’Arbonne Bayou area has been fished heavily recently, including the recent McDonald’s Big Bass Tournament. Cypress trees and grassy areas off the bayou are producing good catches.  No reports on bream or white perch.