Thread: Northwest Louisiana

I've been fishing Lake O the Pines near Jefferson, Texas a bit this spring(?). The crappie show up well on both side and down imaging. I have a Humminbird Helix 5 DI on the front and a Helix 9 SI Mega on the console. I can turn the console around so I cansee it from the front of the boat and have a remote control so I can mark waypoints on the console unit from the front. If you look on you tube for side imaging or downimaging crappie, you can find lots of info and screen shots of different fish. If you get in one of the major creeks at LOP and cruise along at 2-3 mph with your big motor trimmed up so you get an even signal onboth sides, you should be able to see shad like balls of tiny dots, and crappie like a rough estimation of a crappie's shape in a vertical pattern when schooled up, but sometimes just a few here and there(right now mostly like that), bass more elongated shapes. I'm not sure about bream yet. There are plenty of great lakes in the Shreveport area, Cypress, Bistineau, Black Lake, Claiborne, D'Arbonne. Lake O the Pines has been my training ground for the last year, and has been consistant. I usually catch at least a few crappie, and the few times I haven't I've caught a few bass or white bass. Corps of Engineers Lake so Launch is $5, with nice ramps although they are steep and a bit tough on my arthritic knees. 10" minimum length on crappie except in winter when all must be retained and no catch and release(because fish are deep near dam and bloat with reeled up). Lots of loons and other birds to tell you where the bait is. There is a web site that has some fishing structures that you can download the location of. Cross has some crappie, but I haven't tried it much. Caught a few bass there, but I like LOP much more.

Let me know if I can be of more help. Oh yeah, look of Capps and Coleman on youtube they have a 5 part seminar they did at Memphis Bass Pro. It rambles and is hard to hear, but there are some real nuggets of info if you have the patience to hang with it. Also look at beginners in mentoring on this site.

Welcome aboard from Natchitoches parish
Black Lake and Grand Bayou are only about an hour drive south down hwy 71 from you and both are great lakes for catching crappie. Send me a PM and I'll give you some more detailed info

I have been using electronics with down imaging for the last several years and it has been a game changer. It helps to see what you are looking at when running 2D and down imaging side by side. Before with just 2D, sometimes you would just see blobs and have no clue what it was, but the down imaging next to it can really clear things up. I recently purchased the same unit you installed and had my second trip yesterday, so I'm new to the side imaging thing. It is pretty cool the last two trips to see those side images. It's going to take some time on the water to figure it all out. Best advise I can give at this time is; youtube is your friend.

Thanks for the advice