Lake St. John is an oxbow lake in east central Louisiana just outside of the town of Ferriday. With approximately 2,200 acres of water, the lake is .5 mile wide and 6.5 miles long. Access to the lake is obtained by traveling U.S. Highway 65 to Ferriday, Louisiana and then turning east on Highway 568 which leads you to the lake and a boat ramp at Spokanes.

As with other lakes in Louisiana, St. John provides anglers with a large variety of fish to catch including bass, bream, crappie, white perch, catfish, and others. Lake St. John is loaded with structure to fish, as both banks of the lake are lined with docks and cypress trees. Anglers will also find seawalls, grass beds, and brush piles located throughout the lake.

Due to the openness of the lake, St. John provides a wide variety of water activities, but bass fishing is one of the major attractions for this lake. Summertime is the most popular times of the year for the various water sports, but this doesn't present a big problem to the angler other than some wave action. When fishing St. John in the summertime, you will want to bring along your favorite topwater lures, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and lots of soft plastics. The banks of the lake offer good areas for early morning topwater action, along with spinnerbaits. Weaving in and out of the boat docks and cypress trees, there is plenty of bank access to work your lures. During the day, soft plastics on the docks and cypress trees is the way to go. Lots of the boat docks have brush piles, so you want to concentrate on these. Deep-diving crankbaits and lipless crankbaits around the ends of docks and deeper trees are great areas to fish in the summer.

Once the temperatures begin to cool and fall arrives, the topwater and spinnerbait action will pick up. One of my favorite places to fish during this time of year is the seawalls. There will be some grass along these and the bass seem to move to these areas. Catching a limit along a 100 feet long seawall is not uncommon and working the area back and forth can produce fish regularly. Crankbaits and plastic are also a must in fall.

Wintertime can bring very cold temperatures but that usually doesn't kill the bass bite. Of course, jigs around the cypress trees and boat docks are an option that many anglers choose. But if making a trip there in wintertime, you will also want to have a supply of lipless crankbaits. The second coldest day I ever fished was a tournament on Lake St. John. It was 24 degrees at blastoff with a 15 to 20 mph north wind. Most every team brought in a limit of bass and rattletraps/crankbaits were the lure of choice.

Making a trip to St. John in the springtime can make for a great time of fishing. Senkos and flukes are a must for springtime fishing on St. John, but you also need to bring your spinnerbaits and shallow-diving crankbaits. Spending time on the shallow banks of the lake and of course the seawall banks are a great place to find spring bass.

If you are traveling to the east central area of Louisiana for some bass fishing, don't forget to check out Lake St. John. Not only will you enjoy the fishing, it is a beautiful lake to spend time on.

Mike Noble is the Vice President of Advertising and Marketing here at UltimateBass.com and can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .