Well I came back from leave to fish a tournament on D'Arbonne today. My partner and I had never even seen the lake before, so I was just aiming to not come in last! We were fishing against 72 other teams, all from the Monroe/ Farmerville area. We started the day by going to Stowe Creek. We went to the back, past the bridge and fished the banks. The water temp was 89 degrees and clear to stained. Shawn caught one early on a Pop 'n Image, and he proceeded to catch two more in the same spot. I then hooked a fish on a black buzzbait. When I tried to swing the fish in the boat, I flipped it over the whole boat and out the other side; bye, bye fish. :-\ Then the storms came. There was lightning everywhere and it was raining so hard that I could only see about 100 yards or so. The radio later said that the storm dropped 3-4 inches of rain in less than one hour! We headed for a bridge and beached the boat there for thirty minutes or so. I learned the hard way that I really need to get a better rain suit! ??? After the storm passed the cloud cover stayed with us until about 1:30 PM and the water temp dropped to 84 degrees. We then went right back to the same spot we caught our fish at earlier, but no takers. Shawn missed a NICE fish on that Pop 'n Image today; I also missed a good 4 #'er, too. After an hour or so, we made our way to the very back of Stowe Creek and fished the grass. We stumbled upon an area that was 4-5 ft deep, with a 7-11 ft deep channel running through it; there was grass and trees all around as well. We literally put the anchor down and fished that area the rest of the day. On my second cast to that flat I boated two 1.5 # fish on the same Rat L Trap!!! ;D I literally caught 4 fish on three consecutive casts! 8) We caught in all about 20 fish! ;D Most of our fish were caught on chrome Rat L Traps and a few were taken on a white Bandit crankbait. We weighed in our biggest five and took 4th place out of 72 with a 9.87 stringer. 18.00 won it, but the guy was a B.A.S.S. pro who lives on D'Arbonne, so he doesn't count! Still you got to give him credit for getting 18 #'s out of only four fish! Needless to say we had an awesome time catching all those fish and the prize money was just icing on the cake!
Trey 8)
Awesome trip for a first time shot. Good job on finding fish and a pattern to catch them.
Outstanding Trey and Shawn!
Does anyone have any advice/tips for D'Arbonne? I am thinking about heading out there Saturday morning to get out of the northwest lakes for once. I've been on the lake before skiing but never fished it.
I have never fished it either but I know some of the guys have and it sounds like a fun lake with regular timber points flats grass and best of all Cypress trees. Hopefully someone will post, if not p.m. the guys that have been there.....
It's been a ong time but try this...Fish the rip rap by the hwy 2 bridge, then or before then run up to the mouth of corney creek and fish the flats with the stumps on the right side...WATCH OUT FOR STUMPS!!!!!!!!, be careful and have a safe yet productive trip....Dave
Sears,
Did you ever fish D'Arbonne? You should have told you were heading that way before I left town, I could have shown you where I caught all those fish!
Trey 8)
Wasn't able to go. I'll make it over there sometime, though.
Hey,
I'm a new member and looking for some info on Darbonne for a 2 day tournament at the end of February. I know some Federation members are on here, and don't expect to get much information, but would just like to find out a couple of productive areas. Thanks in advance-
Welcome to the site Hairdaddy ~c~ We do have a few federation members but Dave the Dope Man will be on later and he knows a little bit about the lake but hasn't fished it in several years. He is also fishing that tournament but is very open to sharing information. I am sure he will get you at least some info.
HairDaddy, I haven't pre-fished and I am unable to fish the tournament. I have no problem telling you what I have over there. #1. (Got a Map?) try the area called "the Mixing Hole". Trees leading up to the bank or next to the creek channel. I am not sure but I believe that the gates at Claiborne are closed and the lake itself (Claiborne) is still below pool, so don't look for much current back there, It may turn out to be "the Place" though. #2. Corney creek Hog pen area. I like this side for the one reason that is is outflow of Corney Lake. It has a fairly well defined creek, shallow and deep, Stumps, ditches, trees, and PLENTY of pockets with spawing areas.....Good luck Brother, and be sure to post back after the tournament and let us know what you find and how you do. Look a guy named Barry Falon from Slidell, If he is there, good guy and great to fish with. ........Dave
fished the district 45 ABA on Sunday, tough day. Put in at the Hwy 2 ramp, only 9 people showed, i think the weather had a lot to do with it, rained off and on all day with some really hard downpours at times and along with the rain, wind, at least it wasnt 30 degrees.
Ran to the hogpen area, my old bass club used to fish it when I lived in AR so at least some of it looked familiar, kind a hairy run past boatwright the channel really winds around, and the water was falling so if you ran out of it you could run aground very easily( did it once). Picked up one at 8am on a jig off a stump in 16ft on the channel edge ( 3.96). fished hard for another 2 hrs then decided to move back toward the main lake. caught a 1.75 on a SB in 3 ft at 10 am and did not get another bite. fished shallow, deep, mid range, channel, channel edge, jig, SB, crank, rogue, trap, worm, brush hog, lizard, june bug, black, amber, brown, pork, plastic, double willow, colorado, nothing, not a bump.
good news, my 2 fish was enough to win 5.65lb and take big bass, my RMTT partner JR Burt took second place with one fish 1.55 lb. only 3 other fish were weighed. I really think the falling water affected the bite.
water temps were mid 50's and heavy stain to muddy , the water cleared further down the lake -- the water is in the buck brush so a couple of warm days between now and the federation tourney and their should be some good sacks weighed
see you there Hairdaddy, I'm going to head there on Thursday and see if I can find a few.
Quote from: gunter1309 on February 21, 2005, 10:44:48 AM
fished the district 45 ABA on Sunday, tough day. Put in at the Hwy 2 ramp, only 9 people showed, i think the weather had a lot to do with it, rained off and on all day with some really hard downpours at times and along with the rain, wind, at least it wasnt 30 degrees.
Ran to the hogpen area, my old bass club used to fish it when I lived in AR so at least some of it looked familiar, kind a hairy run past boatwright the channel really winds around, and the water was falling so if you ran out of it you could run aground very easily( did it once). Picked up one at 8am on a jig off a stump in 16ft on the channel edge ( 3.96). fished hard for another 2 hrs then decided to move back toward the main lake. caught a 1.75 on a SB in 3 ft at 10 am and did not get another bite. fished shallow, deep, mid range, channel, channel edge, jig, SB, crank, rogue, trap, worm, brush hog, lizard, june bug, black, amber, brown, pork, plastic, double willow, colorado, nothing, not a bump.
good news, my 2 fish was enough to win 5.65lb and take big bass, my RMTT partner JR Burt took second place with one fish 1.55 lb. only 3 other fish were weighed. I really think the falling water affected the bite.
water temps were mid 50's and heavy stain to muddy , the water cleared further down the lake -- the water is in the buck brush so a couple of warm days between now and the federation tourney and their should be some good sacks weighed
Congratulations Steve and J.R. always good to see homeboys do well ~c~
papa :)
Thanks everyone- Am going up Thursday morning to prefish for 2 days- Hopefully jigs and plastics will be a favorite food this weekend, cause thats prob what I'll be serving. I'll put up a post report on Monday. This is a pretty neat site!
Congrats Steve, see even when it is hard for you it is for everyone else. Great Job to you and Jr. ~c~
Good Luck Hairdaddy and Cmegee. Let us know how it goes.
Welllllllll, I'm planning on handing out some serious ~shhh ~shhh,
or getting one handed to me ;D ~shade
From what Steve said it looks like it could be timed right and big stringers for all ~c~
I've been saying my little fisherman's prayer... :help:
well it looks like at least one of my little areas paid off for someone lo ..Good job Steve and J.R. I would love to be there this week but it looks like I will be out for sometime....Good luck everyone and bring it home for N. La..........Dave
Hello,
I will be fishing the BFL on Lake D'arbonne on March 19th. I have never been to the lake and would like to find out as much information as possible. Does anyone have any advise about fishing this lake in March?? Any help would be greatly appreciated. :) :) :)
Thanks,
Fern27
There is a thread below this one a little ways for D'arbonne, that has quite a bit of info and I am sure you can get more as more guys read your post
Check it out below
papa :)
Quote from: Mike on February 17, 2005, 07:22:04 PM
Welcome to the site Hairdaddy ~c~ We do have a few federation members but Dave the Dope Man will be on later and he knows a little bit about the lake but hasn't fished it in several years. He is also fishing that tournament but is very open to sharing information. I am sure he will get you at least some info.
Looking for information about D'Arbonne for a BFL in march. Can anyone help :-\
Hang in there Tr 20. I am expecting reports in the next few days from our guys that fished the State Bass Federation Tournament..........Dave
Quote from: dave the dope man on February 27, 2005, 05:40:31 PM
Hang in there Tr 20. I am expecting reports in the next few days from our guys that fished the State Bass Federation Tournament..........Dave
Dave
Any help you can provide would be a great help :-*
Thanks :roll2:
Hey there Tr 20. I didn't fish it myself however like I said we did have a few members here on the board that did and I am expecting a report from them soon. Where are you from, what do you do, what are some of the lakes you fish? We would all like to hear from you and maybe see some reports of your activites Dude....Sign up on the board....its free.........Dave
Hey did anyone hear that sound like a vaccum that was my fishing this weekend on
D'ArBonne. Two days took 20 something to win, but there were not a lot of limits weighed in. Two cold fronts in three days didn't help, TR20 for the BFL if the weather will hold out you should be looking good, my suggestions would be to go up Corney creek past the boat wright creek areas, we caught some good fish pre fishing Thursday, but those two cold blasts moved them back out and shut them down. A lot of pitching a flipping was done on green cypress trees, the dead ones didn't seem to hold fish. Also a few fish were caught on Senko type baits as well.Don't know if this helps or not.
The few weight fish I caught each day were post spawn fish caught under bridges on crank baits. There were some big fish caught in pre fishing though. I saw at least 8 people that said they had caught 7's or better with one that shook off a 10+ fish.
Here's my Federation Post Report-
Thursday prefishing was very good. Tried several spots flipping trees shallow (Stowe, Dozier, Mixing Hole) and caught 2 over 5#. Shook the rest off and think I could have had 20#. I was very excited, but there was MUCH fishing pressure. Friday was nicer weather, but a little tougher fishing. Shook 4 bites off but they were big.
First day of competition -wasted the first 2 hours fishing docks (partners area) then ran to the shallow trees. There were at least 10 boats in a 10 acre spot and didnt think i'd stay there long, but within 20 minutes caught a 4.3 and a good keeper and my partner caught a 2.5. Thought it was about to be "ON" but soon found out it was "OVER" for the day. I ended up with only 2 for 5.72#. The cold weather had obviously SHUT ER DOWN because there were 60 ZEROS - I was DISAPPOINTED but glad that I was not one of them.
Day 2 headed straight for the trees, thinking I may catch them good before the pressure got too bad. It did not pay off. I left after about 2 1/2 hours of no bites, knowing it was gonna be a long day. We then drug a c-rig for awhile and my partner caught 1 keeper. Finally went to a main lake pocket and I caught a 5.00 (LUCKY) out of a shallow brush top and he caught another small keeper. I ended the tournament with 3 fish for 10.72# and 34th place. I stuck with the jig most of the tournament thinking bites would be good ones, ( they were, but there were just not enough of them). I think the tournament was won on tubes, and I should have thrown more of them, but thought I could maybe get a big sack on the jig. Well, I was very fortunate to get what I did. The weekend was very tough- everyone thought it should take 36-38# to win and it only took around 21.
BFL should be MUCH better.
Hey Dave thanx for the info-- I prob went into a little too much detail, but said I'd put up a report so there it is.
Steve,
glad you found them, I was lucky to get points both days and that was it. Like you said, I wish I just had half the bites I had thursday. Oh well, be after them in Sept. at the Basin, are you headed down there too?
congratulations guys, you did good. I just hope I was able to help out a little. I wished I had been able to fish this year but....well there is always next year.......I am still waiting for a few others to post thier weekends results....Dave
Hey Chris-
Yeah I'm looking forward to the Basin. The ones with 2 day pts should all be in real good shape. I dont know what the points list looks like - hopefully they'll be on the Fed. site soon. They've been a little slow with info on there this year. You fishing the BFL? I may but haven't decided yet.
No I was going to, but have too much other stuff to fish and afraid, I'll end up divorced if I pick something else to fish.
Hey Fern-
I just fished the Federation tournament and am not going to fish the BFL (wish i was). I'll tell you what I know after talking to a local friend and catching a few big fish. The tournament was won by my roommate, but the first day he fished docks and deep trees somewhere up Corney. He was pretty tight lipped and I didn't even go in that arm of the lake, but he did say that he was getting reaction bites by using 1/2 oz sinkers on tubes for a fast fall. The second day his partner blew the lower unit and they trolled to the south side of the lake just west of the bridge. He scratched out a limit on the docks with the tube.
A Darbonne friend told me that Cypress Island is VERY STRONG this time of year but will receive alot of pressure. He said to pull back and fish the lily pad stems if you cant catch them around the bushes. I tried that in practice and only caught one. Didn't go there in the tournament. Word was the first day leader (17#) was fishing there. Alot of good looking bushes and cypress trees. If i was going back I'd explore that alot. To get there, take the Darbonne Arm (southwest) and after Tech Lane there is Cypress Lane boatroad. The islands and brush are back to the right of Cypress Lane - you can't miss it.
I caught some good fish (4-5#) in Stowe Creek but there was ALOT of people pounding that. After you go under the bridge and to the end of the boat road IDLE straight to the back and there is a duckblind with a bright green tarp on it. CANT MISS IT - The creek channel (5-7') winds around in there and the fish were close to it in about 3 feet of water. If you get too far to the left you will get alot of slime on your bait. I threw jigs (black/blue/purple) with blue pork and had some 5's in practice and a 4.3 in the tournament. All bites were within 75 yds of that duck blind. I didnt see anyone else catch a fish in there, and alot of people were fishing the right side close to the back. Alot of winning stringers come out of there, but alot of people do too!
Here's a couple more spots where good stringers come from. Dozier Creek- a small pocket under the bridge- you have to idle a long way to get there, but you'll see the bridge. Its only about 5 acres but supposed to be hot this time of yr. Caught 2 5lbr's on the same jig in practice, but none in the tournament - too much pressure in there. (I was told the key was a light jig in there)
A main lake cove just south of Forks Ferry did produce a 5 for me on the second day. To get there, take the Darbonne arm from the fork, and where the channel gets skinny and angles to the left(south) you'll see it about 300 yds to the right and idle in. There will be alot of boats beating the docks and banks in there, but the best place I found was the second small pocket on the left after you go in. Its right before a long peninsula with a swing on it. The little pocket is only about an acre, but there are about 4 or 5 bigs stumps under the water you can barely see.
I didnt do very well in the tournament, the fishing was terrible- but everything i caught was pretty nice. I wish i was going back because I think I could work those areas and come up with a good bag. Hope this helps you or anyone else. These areas came from some pretty good Darbonne fishermen. I hope they dont read this!
Good luck and look for me at the Red River BFL. I'll be in a maroon Champion - 150 Merc. and hopefully i'll be kickin your tail!
Hello Hairdaddy!!
Thanks for all the great information!!! ;D I really believe this will help me figure things out.. I am going up on the 16th to start looking around. Let me know if you ever come down south and I may be able to return the favor. ~c~ Again, thanks alot. I will let the board know what I did when we get back!!!!!!!!!!! I will look for you @ the Red River tour. Are you coming down for the Bayou Black tour??
Thanks,
Fern :roll2: :roll2:
No I won't be fishing anything but the Red and probably the Basin. Never been to anywhere else down there and havent got the time for all of them. Hope you whackem
Hi Fern, I'm not sure if you got my last message about D'Arbonne, I just became a member about 90 seconds ago and replied to you before that. I live about 15 mins from D'Arbonne and fish it pretty regularly. Cypress Island is normaly very productive this time of year. And it is also normaly very pressured this time of the year. Still, alot of tournaments are won there despite 1000 boats\day. I don't fish that side on a regular basis, but I've heard jigs, brushhogs, sb's, and some kind of fluke. Sluggo's, Tiki sticks, weightless straighttails, etc. Some good all around colors: Jigs- Black and Blue, soft plastics- watermelon red, flukes - baby bass, white, and bubble gum(depending on water clarity and aggressiveness). I normally fish the northern end(Corney). There are a few places that I would try up there. 1. There is a place called "The Flats" up there, it's a big area of about 2-6' water with scattered stumps most of which are just under the water and a back bank full of buck brush and some cypress trees. This is always a good area to check out during the spring. To get there go under the hwy 2 bridge going north. There is a spot where the channel gets really close to a steep bluff bank and then makes a hard left. After the channel straightens out, you'll pass a couple of islands on your left. When the channel turns back right, start looking on your left for some boat run markers (they're big and new...easy to see) Thats the entrance to the flats. Pretty much everything left of the channel is concidered the flats. Like I said, it's a pretty big area, but it's full of ditches, stumps, humps, grass, sand,and pretty much everything else that says "Spawn here!". Another place I'd try is up the lake as far as you can go and still be in the main lake called "Boatwright creek". It's almost to the end of the channel markers and will be on your right. I think there is still a sign up on a tree but if not, you can see some white boat run markers on your right. I hope this helps. D'Arbonne is one of those lakes where if you ask 10 different people where to fish, you'll get 10 different answers. It's a good lake with alot of good fish though.
mjp79 thanks for signing up and providing such great indepth information ~c~ we look forward to seeing you around the site. Be sure to check out the new members threads and the contest threads to take full advantage of the site and posibly win some great prizes. ~c~
mjp79, Have you heard anything about Corney lake itself? I haven't been up there in about 4 years and if I get the chance would go back next month. I practically spent the first 1/3rd of my life up there and I miss it. I heard that it was lowered a few years ago and I don't have any recent information......Dave
I live closer to Corney Lake than I do D'Arbonne. I fished a tournament there on the 5th and came in 3rd. We'll be fishing there again on the 19th. I know it sounds kinda' funny fishing 2 tournaments back to back on one lake, but if you wait until later in the year, the whole lack turns into one big lilly pad field. There are a lot of good bass in that lake, but it gets very difficult to fish. After the water warms and the lilly pads start growing, there's just a few boat runs that you can motor. The rest is trolling and that's only if you have a serious trolling motor, or my preference, push poles. The dam broke on Corney several years ago and it stayed drained for a couple of years...as soon as it filled up the lilly pads were back. If you like fishing really thick pads and grass, you'll love Corney! Drop me a line if you would like some more detailed info.
mjp79
Quote from: mjp79 on March 09, 2005, 09:37:59 PM
Hi Fern, I'm not sure if you got my last message about D'Arbonne, I just became a member about 90 seconds ago and replied to you before that. I live about 15 mins from D'Arbonne and fish it pretty regularly. Cypress Island is normaly very productive this time of year. And it is also normaly very pressured this time of the year. Still, alot of tournaments are won there despite 1000 boats\day. I don't fish that side on a regular basis, but I've heard jigs, brushhogs, sb's, and some kind of fluke. Sluggo's, Tiki sticks, weightless straighttails, etc. Some good all around colors: Jigs- Black and Blue, soft plastics- watermelon red, flukes - baby bass, white, and bubble gum(depending on water clarity and aggressiveness). I normally fish the northern end(Corney). There are a few places that I would try up there. 1. There is a place called "The Flats" up there, it's a big area of about 2-6' water with scattered stumps most of which are just under the water and a back bank full of buck brush and some cypress trees. This is always a good area to check out during the spring. To get there go under the hwy 2 bridge going north. There is a spot where the channel gets really close to a steep bluff bank and then makes a hard left. After the channel straightens out, you'll pass a couple of islands on your left. When the channel turns back right, start looking on your left for some boat run markers (they're big and new...easy to see) Thats the entrance to the flats. Pretty much everything left of the channel is concidered the flats. Like I said, it's a pretty big area, but it's full of ditches, stumps, humps, grass, sand,and pretty much everything else that says "Spawn here!". Another place I'd try is up the lake as far as you can go and still be in the main lake called "Boatwright creek". It's almost to the end of the channel markers and will be on your right. I think there is still a sign up on a tree but if not, you can see some white boat run markers on your right. I hope this helps. D'Arbonne is one of those lakes where if you ask 10 different people where to fish, you'll get 10 different answers. It's a good lake with alot of good fish though.
Thanks so much Mjp. I look forward to my trip up there. I think we are leaving Wed. morning @ 2:30 am so we can get 3 practice day in before Tour on Sat. I will look at everything said here and I'm sure I will be able to figure something out. Will let ya'll know when I return.
Fern
MJP, My grand-dad grew up there before it was a lake. he showed me all the areas that most people won't or can't go. I like the lake alot and it really brings me back to those years with my grand-dad. I fished below the old dam before the new dam was built. I know the "bottoms' like the knobs on the back of my head, and who can leave out Kidd lake...Are you familiar with "the holes"? . I still have lots of family up there but I don't get many chances of getting up there. In the next few months I think that I may have a lot of time on my hands and I may try to get up there...Dave
Hi Dave, It's very difficult to get to Kid Lake now...a four wheeler is about the only thing that will get to it. If this is the Kid lake I'm thinking about, you can't get to it from the main lake. I'm not familiar with "the holes" I don't guess. I went today for a few hours. There were 20 mph gusts with about 10-15 sustained winds. It was pretty tough fishing. Did you ever fish the creek any? My best friend and I like to get in a canoe in late summer, when the water is down, with ultra-light rigs. You don't catch many big fish, but a 2# bass on ultra-light is a blast. It's not unusual to catch 20 or 30 a day on the small part of the creek. Until next time...good fishing!
mjp79
I will be fishing the BFL 19th as a co angler and wondered if anyone would have a back seat open during the pre fishing this week dint know if you are fishing as a boater or not
thanks
Shawn :-\ ::)
I will be fishing this lake in early May. Any ideas on what the summer bite will be like? Can anyone give me a "bait" and a place? I've never even been there.
Scott
Quote from: mastertech on March 14, 2005, 06:23:29 PM
I will be fishing the BFL 19th as a co angler and wondered if anyone would have a back seat open during the pre fishing this week dint know if you are fishing as a boater or not
thanks
Shawn :-\ ::)
Shawn,
I am fishing the BFL on the 19th as a boater, but my non-boater will be coming with me. If you choose to go up there early, I am sure that there will be a lot of boaters without their non-boaters and you may be able to hitch a ride with one of them. Sorry about that!! Good Luck to you.
Fern27
You can pick your non-boater? I thought it was strictly by draw.
We can't pick the non-boater we fish the tour with, but we sign up for the tour with a non-boater. My non-boater I signed up with will pre-fish with me to get a feel for the lake.
Fern27
~c~ PoPo
OK...That makes sense!
Scott, In early May, you wouldn't expect to find many fish still on beds. If you do, they would be in some of the pockets on the spillway side of the lake...but like I said, not likely. There are some good lilly pad fields down D'Arbonne creek, you can't miss them. I've found that some sort of top water bait early in the morning, before it warms up, works pretty well around the pads. This also works pretty well in the grass up Corney. If you're going to be fishing at night, which wouldn't be a bad idea depending on how early May and how warm the weather has been, There are some pockets on the south side of the hwy 33 bridge on the west bank that have been fairly productive...not so much for me, but I have several good friends that fish this area and do very well. One of my friends has a fish on the wall from this area, that if I'm not mistaken, is over 9 lbs. that he caught early in the summer at night. If you need some directions or a little more detailed info, let me know and I'll see if I can be a little more specific. Good luck....
mjp79
Hey guys,
How about some reports on that Darbonne BFL? Looks like it was pretty tough fishing for this one too.
Just interested,
Hairdaddy
hairdaddy, thanks for the great info. you posted for fern. i pre-fished two days, thursday and friday and finished fourth on the boater side with 3-fish for 8-13 pounds. darbonne lake fished tougher everyday because of the fishing pressure from the 115-- boat tournament field pre-fishing and the two big tournaments that fished the weekends before us. i started the tournament morning in the small cove when you go left a forks ferry on the right side. i caught two solid keepers on the right side of the pocket on boat docks the fish were positioned on the last pilings of the docks closest to the bank. i caught both keepers on a zoom watermelonseed ultravibe speed craw, 3/16 oz. tungsten weight and 5/0 gamakatsu straight shank heavy wire flipping hook . my co-angler caught a 6-2 pound big bass on a 3/8 oz. black/blue slam dunk jig with a zoom flippin blue super chunk trailer. he caught the big fish on one of the five stumps on the left side of the cove in that second little pocket before the peninsula you talked about . i guess i didn't throw on the right stump that big fish would have really helped my stringer but i was happy for my co-angler he told me that was the biggest bass he had ever caught in a tournament. he placed third stringer and also won big bass on the co-angler side. there was six boats who started there that morning everyone was pitching jig and pigs. i feel that smaller profile zoom ultravibe speed craw was something the bass hadn't seen before. we left the cove around 9:30 a.m. and ran to the bridge at stowes creek i proceeded down the left bank after i went under the bridge and caught another keeper on a watermelon-red zoom brush hog on a boat dock. i lost another keeper around 2 pounds at the boat on the same brush hog. we left around noon and ran to bear creek. all the way in the back of bear creek after the channel markers end to the right there is a little pocket behind a bunch of outside cypress trees. on the left side of the pocket there is three or four stumps under the water way out off the bank in about 3 feet of water. i had another keeper about 5 lbs. on a lucky craft rc 1.5 black/chart. crankbait that hit off of one of those stumps that came unbuttoned at the boat before my co-angler could get the net under it. losing fish in a tournament is hard to overcome especially when the fishing is tough. i burned around 2-gallons of gas the day of the tournament i deciced to fish really slow and only fish those three areas instead of running all over the lake which i did in practice you can't catch them with the outboard motor running. i will post my two days of practice sunday night because i have to go and tend to my easter bunny duties. god bless and good fishing. thanks again, hairdaddy for posting some good info. on lake darbonne. kjv
kjv Awesome informative post, thank you. Congrats on your 4th place finish on what appears to be a very tough day of fishing. Looking forward to your prefish reports as well. Thank you for all the detail in your fishing report. Do you remember what the water temp was?
me and a friend of mine who registers as my co-angler left at 9:00 a.m for the 5 1/2 hour drive to lake darbonne. we arrived around 3:00 p.m. at the darbonne lake motel it was cold, cloudy, windy and raining. the local news reported farmerville had set a record for that date with the lowest high temp. on record. we stayed in wednesday. thursday morning we launched from the motel landing and i went to forks ferry took a left turn then idled to the right into the small pocket i went to the peninsula on the left bank. i passed up the second little pocket with the four or five stumps because i didn't want to fish it until the tournament. i started off slow-rolling a 1/2 oz. chart./white tandem willow terminator spinnerbait when whe went into the little pocket on the other side of the peninsula there is a home with a boat shed dock and a new dock just built my friend caught a keeper around two pounds on the outside piling on the inside of the boat storage dock on the ultravibe speed craw. i kept slow rolling the terminator there was a lot of outside grass in the back of that pocket and towards the back end of the creek but no takers on the spinnerbait. i was now on the opposite bank and decided to try a watermelon/red zoom brush hog there is two white pvc pipes off of the bank about twenty five feet out . i threw the brush hog between those pipes and bounced off an underwater stump between the pipes and my line set sail i hooked and landed a 5-pounder. we continued down the bank and into a little dead end pocket which has three cypress trees right together on the right bank my friend tossed that ultravibe speed craw on the middle tree and caught a 2 1/2 pounder. i told him it was time to go and try something else we didn't pre-fish the docks going back out where i caught my two keepers in the tournament. we left out and took a right to cypress lane and went to the island in the back fished for about an hour with the spinnerbait, brush hog and speed craw my frien caught a 10'' bass on the speed craw. there was eight boats besides us in cypress decided to leave and run to the darbonne bayou area where the channel markers end. we continued to idle for a ways until there was a small pocket to the left with a cut and a shallow lake at the end of the cut the pocket was stained but the cut and lake was clearer. i threw the spinnerbait in the pocket with no luck the switched to a gold, black back, orange belly floating rogue there's about five or six cypress trees in the middle of the cut going into that lake on the fourth tree i hooked and landed another bass close to five pounds. stayed in the lake until it was only a foot deep fished out with the rogue couldn't get another bite. we was back in the main drag went towards the back passed up a small boat landing on the left bank kept going aways the there was a 25 foot wide slough maybe a 100 yds. long caught a 15 incher on the grass on the right bank on the spinnerbait. came out into the main bayou went left until it opened up into a lake went left and right fished for about three hours with nothing. that lake was beautiful two other boats were back in there one was another angler i know well and he told me he had launched at the landing back there and that he had caught two nice fish on a spinnerbait and one on a senko. we left and ran all the way back to forks ferry and took a left and idled a good ways under the bridge at dozier creek there was two other boats in there we tossed brush hogs, jigs and the speed craw with no success. we idled back out under the bridge and started fishing the left bank by the houses my friend hooked another 2-pounder on a cypress tree on the speed craw we worked that bank for ever but no takers. it was 5:00 p.m. so we headed into the landing. kjv
we launched today around 6:30 a.m. from the darbonne lake motel landing and went under the bridge to stowes creek went all the way to the back looking for hairdaddys duck blind with the bright green tarp on it. we found it as did about 10 other boats we pitched brush hogs, v&m bayou craws, rattleback jigs and the speed craw for about two hours without a bite. i then idled up to the channel markers and went to the left bank looking at the bridge. threw the brush hog and speed craw caught a 2-pounder along a patch of grass fished all the way to the bridge. went across to the other side and fished for a mile maybe and i caught another keeper on a stump on the brush hog and my friend caught a nice 2 1/2 pounder on the watermelonseed speed craw. he had two other fish roll at a white zoom trick worm on top. we left stowes creek and headed to bear creek we followed the channel markers in until they ended. we went to the right bank and fished boat docks i threw a brush hog and my friend decided to throw a 200 series bandit chartreuse with black stripes and black back crankbait he had tied on. on the docks he caught a 1 3/4 pounder off of a boat dock. towards the back there is a 100 feet or so little ditch about 25 feet wide that ends by the road i caught a nice 2-pounder on the brush hog on a boat shed piling on the right bank about midways. we fished back out and towards another nice looking boat dock and down towards the clump of outside cypress trees i talked about with no success we then proceeded to go behind the clump of trees in a little pocket where my friend caught a nice 2 1/2 pounder on the bandit crankbait on one of those underwater stumps to the left side of the pocket we then fished around the other side back to the channel markers with no success. we left out of bear creek back to the hwy. 33 bridge instead of going under the bridge we went to the left and fished the bank along the highway thinking we might find some release fish from a previous tournament. we fished until 3:00 p.m. with no luck by the highway bank. for the tournament i decided to start in the cove by folks ferry first thing and to make three or four passes in there and then run to stowe creek bridge and fish the left bank and then go to bear creek and then finish up back in the cove by folks ferry if i had enough time. i also figured i had to fish very slow with the speed craw and brush hog in the folks ferry cove and stowes creek areas. then throw the crankbait and brush hog in bear creek. i decided not to go back to the little bayou darbonne area because of the long run and all the idling involved in slowing down for the thirty or so crappie fishermen in the main channel. hope this lake info. helps someone on lake darbonne since i will not be back until next year if the bfl returns. god bless and good fishing. kjv
i dont know i fished out of a 17 foot new alumnium boat and my garmin 240 bow fishfinder was wired wrong and it would beep and turn off saying it was receiving to much voltage. i had it fixed when i returned. i can tell you it reached 73 degrees air temperature the day of the tournament. it warmed up everyday we were there. but was really cold when we arrived, sorry i couldn't be more help on the water temp. kjv
Thats cool, I hate it when my equipment won't work correctly. Thanks for the indepth reports on the lake ~c~
KJV,
Congrats on the BFL. I'm glad I could help some. I really enjoyed your indepth report, and am always glad to see that my spots were a "little" good. Guess its the next best thing to being there ~c~ . See you on the Red.
My club fished a tournament on the 2nd, sorry so late....I've been busy. I pretty strong cold front had just come through so fishing was lousy. 9 boats, 18 anglers, 3 boats had fish to weigh. I was 3rd with 2 fish that went 1.96 lbs......together! 2nd place was won with 3 lbs and some change, however 1st was over 10 lbs. I know the guys that won it very well and got some info from them. They caught them at D'arbonne Village(hwy 2) were the actual channel runs to the nw corner. Back there by some camps there is a type of grass that I don't know the name of. It's a very green, thick leafed floating grass. When the wind gets up on D'arbonne, you'll see alot of this grass floating throughout the lake. The fish were under this grass and only this grass...it was the only grass that I didn't fish. They caught them on a white fluke. Sorry so late..Good fishing
mjp79
Better late than never, thanks for the report. If you ever find out the name of that grass I would love to know so I can do some research about it and get familar with it.
Mike, I'll try to find out the name of it, but in the mean time what I can tell you about it is that it has a very thick, rigid leaf kinda like a lily pad. The leaf is about the size of a regular ivy plant(the kind you see hanging in people's houses) and it's very green. Oh yeah, and it floats, like I said, after a storm, you'll see it floating throughout the lake, especially on the Corney end. I'll see what I can dig up on it.
mjp79
Fishing a tournament on D'arbonne in July. Any info on summer patterns, baits, locations, etc. would be appreciated.
Quote from: Red Ranger on June 26, 2005, 09:28:05 PM
Fishing a tournament on D'arbonne in July. Any info on summer patterns, baits, locations, etc. would be appreciated.
Red Ranger
How soon is this tourney? I have a buddy over there who will give you some good info. I wish I could get over there and fish with him more but its a little too far.
Red Ranger
I fished a tourney there in early May and I used a 4.25 YUM vibra king tube in Black/Blue.It worked very well for me as I had bites all day long and won the tourney as well. I fished solely in the Corney creek area along the banks. I was warned by the locals that the banks would be a prime target for most anglers and I would probably have no luck there. I stayed on that pattern anyways and caught a 6 lber and several 4 lbers.
Scott
It's the NELBA tournament on July 16th.
Congrats on the win in May.
I'll be fishing the NELBA tournament also. I fished a tournament on D'Arbonne on the 9th. It was a night tournament and not alot of fish were caught. I'm the weighmaster for our club so I happend to have some #'s. 1st -- 12.34 lbs (4 fish) All I know is on the spillway side of the hwy 33 bridge. 2nd and big bass -- 11.59 (5 fish) waaaaaaaayyyyy up Corney. Big bass was 4.74. I didn't do so well....2.26. But I think there is a good chance that I caught West Nile Virus....the mosquitoes were definately biting!!! Like I said, that was a night tournament......for what it's worth. See ya' there, I'll be in a grey home made bass boat.
Good Luck and God Bless mjp79
mjp79, thanks for the update ~c~ What is the name of your bass club?
I'll look for you mjp79. First time to fish Darbonne or the NELBA. We'll have some others from our group there also. Maybe stating the obvious, but look for a red ranger - I'll have on a white shirt with a Broadmoor Baptist Anglers logo.
Red Ranger have you concidered getting your club their own forum on the site for doing club business, having polls and posting your standings? Really it is wide open for what you want to use it for :-*
Mike,
I am in the same club as RedRanger, what is the process to set up a club forum? It sounds like a good idea.
Kent
It is really easy, just drop Laurie a PM with your club name and a little info about it and she can set you up as soon as you are ready.
Looking forward to getting your club on line :-* ~c~
Fished the NELBA tournament this past Saturday. 12+ #'s won with only two fish. He had a 9.6 kicker! :shocking: She sure was pretty. I had three fish that went 5.59. There was only 1 team out of 82 that had a five fish limit. It was a slow bite all day. I caught all my fish in Stowe Creek on cypress trees in 3-4 ft of water. One bit a redbug ringworm and the other two hit a sweet beaver. Did have a few bites and one dink on a Yozuri Bannana Boat. Water temps were 82-89 depending on what section of the lake you were in.
Trey 8)
Fished the same touney as Trey on Sat. We had two fish that went 3.04, one on a 5/8oz white spinner bait, and one on a BPS rattle trap copy. Both in Stowe Creek. Hard day of fishing but won a A/G 5500 c3 as a door prize.
Kent
Thanks for the update guys ~c~ ~c~
Fished the NELBA too. Caught a couple of fish for a total of 2.78# in Corney Creek area - one on 3/8 oz white spinner bait and another on white buzz bait. Both were in about 4' of water close to grass. Had a few more strikes at a buzz bait and horny toad, but they didn't take it. First time to fish the lake and was impressed with it - wish it were closer to Shreveport.
Congrats to Trey, of our local group he was top gun......as usual ~c~. Another good weighing fish and he is in the top ten again in the tournament.
For $40/boat the tournament is the best deal going. The entry fee includes a Friday night fish fry, an opportunity to meet, hear, and talk to a professional circuit bass fisherman, a good lake to fish, and great door prizes for drawings after the weigh-in (see KW4570GOV's post for winning a 5500C) . Shaw Grigsby spoke at the fish fry Friday night (got the autograph).
Next year Trey is going to have company in his spot :).
Red Ranger,
Thanks for the accolades; I am undeserving. ~an~ I had a great time fishing with everybody this past weekend and I look forward to Saturday on BB!
Trey 8)
Fished D'ardonne yesterday with my Dad and Brother. It was a hard day fishing but we still had fun. Came up short, but o'well. I hope to get back tomorrow for a few hours before I head back to Bossier.
KennyP
Fished D'arbonne Sat. Boated a nice 3.5 pounder first thing and then my son boated a 2 pounder about 3 cast later and that was it for the day. Both came on a 1/4 white/chart spinnerbait.
KennyP
who's boat did you get it from lo. Good job now do that Dec. 4th and will be ok.
Mitch
You're funny. I hope I can keep it going.
KennyP