There’s one piece of structure on Lake D’Arbonne — or any lake, for that matter — that Sam Roberson said you don’t need a depth finder to locate.
“Well, looky here: It’s a bridge,” Roberson said during our trip. “I don’t care where I’m fishing, if there’s a bridge, I am going to have to give it a try for crappie. The areas around bridges are popular fishing spots, and there is a good reason.
“Structure there is going to hold crappie, especially in the winter.”
Roberson said it might be deeper water where the bridge was constructed or maybe the pilings and rocks below offer good hiding spots for baitfish and crappie.
Maybe the narrowing down of a lake where a bridge is serves as a natural funnel to bring fish to one location.
Or maybe the current creates ridges and gullies on the bottom.
No matter what the reason bridges hold fish, Roberson said they should all be probed with lures.
“Don’t pass up a bridge,” he said.
On D’Arbonne, there are three areas with major bridges: the main lake bridge on Highway 33 between Farmerville and Ruston, the Highway 2 bridge on the Bernice Highway, and the Stowe Creek bridge on Highway 15 to West Monroe.