Cross Examination

This Northwest Louisiana lake frequently lives up to its name.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the seventh installment in a 12-part series exploring the best bass-fishing areas in the Bayou State.Cross Lake is aptly named. The Lake Patrol will get a little cross if you don’t have the yearly permit sticker on your boat. The perchjerkers get a little cross when a ski boat blazes by. And bass anglers get a little cross when they find out their next tournament is on the lake.

Of course, there are plenty more examples of crossness at Cross Lake. Pull up to the City Park boat ramp on Memorial Day, and you’ll see what I mean. Listen to the conversation between two boats fishing the same spot, and you’ll see what I mean. Fish a dock that the owner doesn’t want you fishing, and you’ll see what I mean.

Cross Lake is kind of cross because of our ever-growing population and our ever-shrinking public recreation areas. Couple that with the general decline of good manners and politeness, and you can imagine why this approximately 8,500-acre lake within the city limits of Shreveport might turn a few people off.

Fortunately, perception isn’t always reality. In fact, this city-owned lake can be quiet tranquil. It can be very scenic. And it can also produce heavy five-fish limits and double-digit bass.

Cross Lake is actually the main water supply for Shreveport. Water is pumped from Caddo to Cross Lake, where it is treated below the I-220 Bridge. The lake lies east to west, and is only about a mile wide and nine miles long, and it’s more or less a featureless, nondescript bowl.

Nevertheless, Cross Lake gets a lot of bass fishing attention. While the lake isn’t all that big, it does have approximately 60 miles of shoreline that harbors plenty of places for largemouths to hide. Some of the best anglers in the world found that out when Cross Lake played host to the 2002 Wal-Mart BFL All-American and the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship.

But something else they found when they arrived made them a little cross.

These visiting anglers discovered they had to contend with Cross’s stringent 14- to 17-inch slot limit. There’s not much crosser than a tournament angler having to release a 3-pound bass when he doesn’t yet have his limit.

Cross Check

Northwest Louisiana bass anglers often have a love/hate relationship with Cross Lake. Nobody embodies that sentiment more than well-known tournament angler Jeff Pate. Pate and his tournament partner Eddie Shaw fished a Media Bass tournament on the lake not too long ago.

According to tournament director Dale Taylor, Pate was the first one to gripe about having to go to Cross Lake. However, Pate and Shaw walked away from the weigh-in with the first-place check in hand after they weighed a 16-pound limit.

“That’s one little old place that can be tough at times,” Pate said. “And sometimes you can bring in a big sack of bass with a double-digit fish thrown in to boot. Some people love it, some hate it. It’s a fun lake to fish, though, because you normally catch a lot of fish like you can on most any slot lake.”

Minden pro Homer Humphreys echoed Pate’s opinion.

“It can be hot and cold,” he said. “You can go out and catch a 25-pound limit one day and not get a bite the next. The lake is full of Floridas, and they got that attitude thing going on. They can turn off in a hurry.”

Cross Cover

There aren’t very many cover options available to fish at Cross Lake. In fact, the best patterns typically fall into one of two categories — cypress trees and boat docks.

“There aren’t any deep structures like channel drops or humps out in the middle of the lake,” Pate said. “About the only thing available to fish is whatever you see on the bank. Cross Lake doesn’t average but about 6 feet deep, so pretty much all the fishing is on shallow-water cover that you can see. And the only thing you can see are docks and trees.”

Humphreys concurred, and added that anglers can sometimes find good fishing around lily pads, duckweed and riprap.

“The key is to fish the same cover as everybody else while looking for the tiniest bit of something different,” Humphreys said. “Take one of those cypress tree lines for example. If you’ll put your boat right on the edge and look down the line, you’ll see maybe one or two trees on the line that are sticking out from the line. That’s the kind of subtle stuff you need to look for, and that can make a difference in getting bit or not.”

Pate added that the secret to fishing Cross Lake is to realize that there aren’t any secrets. Everybody knows everything, and you can’t keep a hot lure hidden because somebody is going to have his or her eye on you.

“You’ll meet half the people in a tournament running the same bank or trees,” Pate said. “Since everybody is fishing the same thing, you get to visit with your tournament buddies pretty regular.”

Seasonal Patterns

Spring — Cross Lake sets up well for spring, as there is plenty shallow spawning cover. It’s not like the bass make a mass migration up to spawn, though, because they never really went anywhere in the first place.

“Most of the spring tournaments are won on the cypress trees in the west end of the lake,” said Pate. “The area known as the 40 and 8 Club is a well-known cypress tree hotspot.

“The key to catching them in spring is to not let all the other boats bother you and to accept the fact that you’re going to be fishing used water all day long. If you mentally can’t fish behind somebody else, then I wouldn’t recommend going to Cross.”

Pate’s three most productive spring lures are spinnerbaits, jigs and Baby Brush Hogs. Since he expects everybody else is throwing the same three baits with only minor color or size variations, he concentrates on precise presentations rather than tinkering with his baits.

“I stick with a chartreuse/white or chartreuse/blue/white spinnerbait with either a double willow or a Colorado/willow blade combination,” he said. “I’m old school when it comes to spinnerbait fishing. If a bass is going to hit a spinnerbait you’d be hard pressed to make me think that a little bit of color difference matters.”

Pate doesn’t get very fancy with his jig or Brush Hog either. He favors either a black/blue or straight black jig and a watermelon Brush Hog 90 percent of the time.

“I guess if I have a secret it’s that I’m bad about throwing pork on my jigs, especially during the spring,” Pate revealed. “That, and I concentrate on the trees with big root balls and those that are in little clumps.”

Humphreys also concentrates on the trees during the spring. He likes a jig or lizard, but admitted to becoming a big fan of the ReAction Sweet Beaver.

“That’s been a hot bait over here lately,” Humphreys said. “They make a color called Fried Melon that has been really strong. Most any of the dark-colored plastics work well though. The key is to find out which trees the fish are spawning on.

“Here’s something you ought to try: Idle through a group of trees with your big motor and watch the trees. You never even have to pick up a rod. When you find an area where you see 10 to 15 bass spooking off a tree as opposed to only one or two, which area are you going to fish?”

Summer — Pate and Humphreys expand their fishing area to include the docks during the early summer. However, there will still be plenty of bass on the cypress trees, so covering water becomes the name of the game in the summer.

“This is the time of year you want to stick with the main lake as much as possible,” Humphreys suggested. “There’s plenty docks on the main lake, and you’ll even find a lot of trees on the main lake.

“Summer is a great time to go through those areas with a little Divin’ Ace square-billed crankbait in the Tennessee Shad or chartreuse/blue patterns.”

Humphreys is known for fishing a Carolina rig, but he admits that the lake isn’t set up very well for his favorite technique. He can’t help but give it a try, though, and he sometimes finds a few willing bass out in front of the docks.

“You can also do well during the summer on topwaters like a Pop R, Yellow Magic or Sputter Ace on the little chunk rock areas and on the seawalls,” he said.

Like the rest of the year, Pate’s summer patterns involve running docks or cypress trees. He continues to fish his favorite jig and Brush Hog, but he will add a Rat-L-Trap, small crankbait and a buzz bait to his line-up.

“These fish will scatter on you during the summer,” he acknowledged. “I just wind up going dock to dock or tree to tree. You can sometimes get on something on the deeper trees and the deeper brush around the docks too.”

Pate always keeps a Rat-L-Trap tied on to fish the open areas between the docks during the summer. He likes a lipless crankbait in this situation because it allows him to comb an area thoroughly while easily adjusting the depth at which the lure is running based on retrieve speed.

“I also like to get on the early topwater bite off the points,” he said. “Some of these points have big rocks and rip-rap on them to keep them from washing, and those fish will come up on a Spook or Pop R.”

Fall — Patterns don’t change much during the fall. According to Pate and Humphreys, however, the fish do get a little harder to catch because they scatter even more so than they did during the summer.

“Fall is moving bait time,” Humphreys said. “It can get tough, but if you cover a lot of water with small crankbaits and little spinnerbaits like a white/blue 1/4-ounce Homer’s Clown you can usually wind up with a limit of small fish. They’re liable to be on anything, though. Fish hard and let the fish tell you where you ought to be fishing. One place you might key on is the first line of trees back in the thicker woods.”

Pate said one of the things he looks for during the fall is some pseudo-schooling action back in the trees. What typically happens is one bass will start chasing a shad and all the others nearby want in on the action. It doesn’t last very long, but if you can get a bait in there quick, you’re likely to catch some of the largest fish you’re going to catch in the fall.

Winter — Cross Lake is probably at its toughest during the winter because of the lack of deep water. Humphreys said there are some big fish to be caught if anglers will recognize the super slow bite and slow down accordingly.

“One of the best ways to catch winter bass at Cross is to slow-roll a 3/8- or 1/2-ounce spinnerbait on the bottom near the docks,” he said. “You can catch a good fish every now and then doing this. A Trap can come in handy during the winter too. Head up to the west end, and chunk that thing long enough and you’re subject to get a big bite.”

Pate said he would fish a jig as deep as he could and as slow as he could during the winter.

“I look for the few docks that have 5 to 6 feet of water off the ends, and soak my jig in those spots,” he said. “This is the time of year to slow down and fish a big bait for a big bass.”

Cross Confidential

While Pate and Humphreys agree that most anglers are fishing the same places with the same lures, Humphreys went on to reveal a few tricks that Cross Lake anglers have to try when the bass are hanging out in the pads and under the duckweed.

“The first technique really isn’t a trick,” he admitted, “but a Stanley Ribbit or Zoom Horney Toad will absolutely kill them in the vegetation.

“Now here’s the secret. Take a Zoom Speed Worm with a 3/16-ounce weight, and throw it as far back into the vegetation as you can.

“Hold your rod tip down and crank it in like a spinnerbait. If you want to throw it farther back in the pads just put on a heavier weight because it has absolutely nothing to do with the action. They will annihilate this fast-moving worm, and nearly jerk the rod out of your hands.”

As you can see, there isn’t really any reason to be cross about Cross Lake. Further examination has proven that there’s actually a lot to like about the lake.

Yeah, it’s in the middle of Shreveport. Yeah, it can get a little crowded. And, yeah, it has that dang slot limit.

But, man can this little lake pump out the bass for those anglers who realize the secret to fishing Cross is that there aren’t any secrets.

About Chris Ginn 778 Articles
Chris Ginn has been covering hunting and fishing in Louisiana since 1998. He lives with his wife Jennifer and children Matthew and Rebecca along the Bogue Chitto River in rural Washington Parish. His blog can be found at chrisginn.com.