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Big bass still lurk in waters of Caney Lake
Glynn Harris, Writer
07-01-2010
I can give testimony that this past Saturday was hot on Caney Lake.
I know because I sat on the shore of the lake at Brown’s Landing mercifully under a pavilion from 8 am until 2 pm and even in the shade, it was sweltering. The weatherman said temperatures Saturday hit triple digits and I have no reason to doubt that as I watched asphalt pavement melt.
Seventy-five bass fishermen didn’t have the pavilion for cover; they were taking part in the 22nd Annual Big Bass Tournament sponsored every year by the Jackson Parish Chamber of Commerce. As hot as they had to have been, most stayed with it until the final weigh-in at 2:00, the main reason being that the big fish were biting. This year’s average weight of big bass brought to the scales, 5.95 pounds, was the highest average in the 13 years I’ve kept records for this tournament.
Ryan Daniel, fisheries biologist with the LDWF who oversees Caney Lake, was pleased but not surprised when he learned about the number of big bass caught Saturday.
“That is certainly some good news but not unexpected,” said Daniel. “I look for the fishery to keep improving on Caney.
“The habitat is starting to come back in the lake. The carp are basically gone along with the hydrilla which is a formula for continuing success on the lake.
“We have planted different types of good vegetation in the lake and some of it has taken quite well which means there continues to be more and more aquatic vegetation showing up in the lake, and this gives the bass the cover they need. Also, we have had very successful spawns the past couple of years along with a very good forage base which works in Caney’s favor.”
The big bass of the tournament, an impressive 8.19 pound fish, was caught by Jonesboro’s Craig Dark and weighed in during the 11:00 o’clock hour.
“I caught this fish on a Carolina-rigged 11 inch worm and I was fishing in 7 foot water,” Dark said. “I probably caught 35 bass in the same area during the tournament with most of them being ‘slot’ fish.”
Scott Savage, another angler who had two fish in the winner’s bracket, caught his fish in deeper water using a different technique.
“I caught my fish with a deep diving crank bait. I was using a long rod to get the bait down to around 15 feet where they were holding. I didn’t get many bites but those I got were good ones,” said Savage, who brought one to the scales weighing just under 7 pounds with another over five pounds.
The top three fish were paid each hour for the seven hours of the tournament for a total of 21 bass earning pay checks for the fishermen who caught them. Of that total, six bass weighed between 4 and 5 pounds; three were between 5 and 6 pounds; nine were between 6 and 7 pounds; two were between 7 and 8 pounds with one over 8.
The state record was caught in Caney Lake 16 years ago, a 15.97 pound monster landed by Greg Wiggins. We asked Daniel if there was a chance that an even bigger fish could be swimming in Caney.
“Absolutely; there are still some mighty big bass in Caney although there aren’t as many of those weighing in the ‘teens as was the case 15 or so years ago. Caney, like any new lake, was in good balance early on with aquatic plants and forage like it’s supposed to be. After a few years, any new lake hits a level where things are basically sustained. When somebody asks me which lake they should fish to have the best chance at catching a bass between 5 and 10 pounds,” said Daniel, “Caney is the lake I recommend to them.”
After seeing what I saw Saturday, I would too.
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