Crappie Fishing Atchafalaya Basin

Though minnows well, David believes that jig-fishermen catch more crappie in the basin because they can cover the water more quickly and proficiently. “lots of people think of the basin as a place mainly where you may be able to catch big numbers of crappie but not essentially big crappie, ” he observed. “but, we had an angler last March who caught a crappie that weighed 3. 7 pounds, which was the second-biggest black crappie ever taken in the state of Louisiana. This fish was caught on a jig in Henderson Lake, which has about 60 black crappie and 40 white crappie. (gameandfishmag.com)

In September 1992, Hurricane Andrew s 100-mile-per-hour-plus winds churned usually-placid waters, stirring decades of decaying vegetation into warm, late-summer bayous and lakes, depleting dissolved oxygen Basin-large. While some fish escaped to the deeper oxygen-rich waters of the Atchafalaya River and Intracoastal Waterway, more than 200 million fish, from two-oz shad to 80-pound catfish, died. Miles of bayous and canals were left totally lifeless except the birds and alligators feeding on the decaying fish. Violent stocking efforts by local bass anglers and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries also as floods from the Mississippi River brought life back to the Basin in less than two years following the storm. (wateryrave.com)

Fishing habitat. Also, many big lakes, ponds, and bayous add to this mecca of freshwater fishing opportunity. Largemouth bass, crappie, catfish and many sunfish are prolific in these waters. Caused by the vast amount of natural habitat and the management efforts of the LDWF, these fisheries are some of the best to be had. The LDWF and the Sportfish Restoration Program work hard to create and maintain public access to great fishing around the state. (fishla.org)

I rely on the depth finder a pretty bit. It shows me how deep the fish are. If the water is 10 feet deep, I may set the jig below the cork at around 5 feet. There’s a comfort zone fish are at or where fish should be. If that bait is above the fish above the comfort zone, they will come up to get it, however will not go below that comfort zone. So I attempt to keep my cork and bait right at their comfort zone. (fishinglouisiana.com)

Spawning activity begins in the spring in open waters. White bass school and feed on shad in open regions of lakes and rivers. A member of the temperate bass family they feed mainly on shad and other baitfish. They may be found around gravel and sandy regions of rivers and lakes. When these fish are feeding in schools they may be fun to catch. They’re fish eaters and or an asset for controlling forage fish populations. (rosslynstone.com)

Now and when the fish move shallower on flats, the two do have a couple of favorite tempt combos they do not mind sharing. One of the best is a double rigged Garland Baby Shad and Minnow Minder jig, tipped with a shiner. They like double rigs because ‘the more baits you have in the water, the more fish you have a chance to catch’. They also use eight poles, the tournament bound, in the Crappie Masters Event. As for color, I will have to wait till Saturday afternoon to learn…. (lakedarbonnelife.com)

Unlike the reservoirs, although, the fortunes of sport fishermen here rise and fall with the basin s yearly cycles of flooding in winter and spring and de-watering in summer and fall . Mike Wood, biologist director of Wildlife & Fisheries Inland Fisheries Division, sees Louisiana as the perfect cold-weather destination for anglers. For a traveler who wants to fish in 50-degree weather in the winter, there s a ton of stuff in a distinctive habitat, he says. It s a nice area, the people are nice and the food is great. There s just nothing wrong with it. (louisianatravel.com)

The slight breeze pushes the ship toward the cypress trees, however Hulin quickly brings it back into the stump field with some bursts from his trolling motor. He checks the jig to be sure it’s still filled with nibbles and with a flick of his wrist, he casts his jig back into the flat. Inside times, he’s reeling in another crappie, somewhat bigger than the 1st. (thebaitpump.com)

Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, about 30 miles west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and one mile east of Krotz Springs, Louisiana lies just east of the Atchafalaya River. Its 15, 000 acres are part of the biggest bottomland hardwood swamp in the country. This beautiful swampland offers a mass of recreational alternatives. Hunting, fishing, hiking and some of the best wildlife looking at opportunities in the country exist in the Atchafalaya Basin. The refuge is managed cooperatively with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sherburne Wildlife Management Area and the Corps of Engineers Atchafalaya Spillway Water Diversion Project$. (ohranger.com)

The State of Louisiana’s Sherburne Wildlife Management Area is in the upper 3rd of the Atchafalaya River Basin between Interstate Highway 10 and U. S. Highway 190. It covers roughly 11, 780 acres and was established in 1983 by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The area manager’s headquarters is east of Krotz Springs, Louisiana, on La. 975, roughly three miles south of U. S. Highway 190. (gorp.com)