Research Shows The Best Louisiana Lakes For Bass Fishing
Kudos to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries!
Once again they have released the results of a year-long survey that prove to be an incredible resource for bass anglers not only in Louisiana, but for any angler outside the state that might be planning a fishing trip to the Bayou State.
The survey, entitled the Louisiana Annual Tournament Report and Information Project or LATRIP.
LATRIP compiles voluntarily submitted bass tournament data. The 2023 report focuses on the compilation of data submitted from 271 tournaments representing 42 waterbodies.
In order to be considered for comparisons, waterbodies had to have a minimum of 3 tournaments to reduce biases from limited datasets.
Below is a map indicating which water bodies submitted data for the project.
While some might argue that this would only be applicable to those intending on fishing a bass tournament here in the Bayou State, I believe the results are beneficial to any that might wonder which of our public lakes have the most potential to catch lots of bass or possibly even the largest bass.
Where Did LDWF Get Their Information?
Information used for this report was voluntarily submitted by bass clubs and tournament trails for analysis by LDWF.
This data has proved over the past couple of years an invaluable tool to help promote Louisiana's quality fisheries. The report tracks several metrics, such as the average number of bass weighed per boat, the average bag weight per boat, the percentage of boats with 10+ pound bags, etc., and compares the results for different waterbodies.
For example, should a person want to know what lakes might have the best potential for catching a lot of fish, those lakes where most the most tournament anglers caught their full 5 fish limit would be a great gauge.
Want To Catch A Lot Of Bass? Head For The Delacroix Marsh
The Delacroix marsh ranked the highest for the average number of bass weighed in per boat, with 4.23 fish per boat, but D'Arbonne, Claiborne and Black Bayou Hosston also proved to yield a large number of fish as well.
Grand Bayou, Toledo Bend, and Caddo Lake ranked lower, and likely were influenced by slot limits and minimum length limits.
Want To Catch A Big One? Lake Bistineau Is The State Champ
And when it comes to big fish, the lakes where it takes an average heavier 5-bass limit to win, would also be a good indicator.
For 2023, Lake Bistineau provided the largest average weight per bass of 3.38 pounds. Venice had the lowest average weight of 0.99 pounds.
How Long Does An Angler Have To Fish To Catch A 5+ Pound Bass?
Another indicator of which lakes might be loaded with big fish is found in this piece detailing the amount of time anglers had to fish before catching a 5+ pound bass.
For this one, Black Bayou Hosston rules the roost, requiring anglers the shortest investment of time to score a big fish.
Some of their other findings included:
- LATRIP tournaments averaged 27.72 boats per tournament, including championship tournaments with reduced fields.
- Approximately 75% of anglers were successful at weighing in at least one bass.
- Tournament anglers brought an average of 2.76 bass to the scales per boat, per tournament.
- The average individual weight was 2.17 pounds for all bass coming to the scales.
- The average bag weight per boat was 6.23 pounds.
- The average winning Big Bass per tournament was 5.16 pounds.
- On average, it took a bag weight of 14.52 pounds to win a tournament.
- Third Place bag weights were tracked throughout the year in an attempt to estimate what it would take to “be in the money.” Average 3rd Place bag weight for all tournaments was 11.06 pounds.
- Only 0.1% of boats weighed in more than 20 pounds of bass.
- It took 270.18 angler hours to catch a 5+ pound bass.
The full report can be viewed at wlf.louisiana.gov