Planning a trip to Union Parish to take on Lake D’Arbonne’s famous crappie? Well, you can also — as the T-shirts say —eat, sleep and fish, and stay a while.
The crown jewel of lakeside accommodations by size alone is the state-run Lake D’Arbonne State Park, a 655-acre propery including cabins, camper spots and all kinds of facilities.
There is D’Arbonne Pointe, a brand-new campground that opened last month. The facility at 147 Old Highway 15 includes cabins right on the water just a couple of hundred yards from the Highway 33 bridge.
And trailer spots, a store, bait and all the comforts of home are also available at Lester’s on the Lake near two public ramps at 9606 Highway 2. It’s also on the lake’s bank, right beside the best Corney Creek crappie hotspots.
Lester’s and D’Arbonne Pointe are the only places you can get boat gas on the water.
There are also bed-and-breakfasts, modest motel rooms and cabins around the lake to rent.
If you don’t feel like frying fish, the D’Arbonne Diner is right on the reservoir, and it offers some delicious food. So do unique Union Parish dining spots like the ’50s Diner, LBK’s Soul Food Restaurant, Sevin’s Cajun Restaurant, the Main Street Grill and KD’s BBQ.
There are also several fast food restaurants, a big Walmart, a Brookshire’s and a Big Star if you want to do your own cooking.
Numerous convenience stores also offer gas and supplies you’ll need within a couple of miles of the 16,000-acre lake.
And one of the best attributes of all this eating, sleeping and fishing is the peace and quiet. They don’t exactly roll up the sidewalks at dark, but it’s close. And when you’ve had a hard day fishing, that’s a good thing.
D’Arbonne will be the site of the first-ever Crappie Masters tournament in Louisiana this spring. The national tournament tour will hit the lake on April 18. The lake’s crappie fishing also will be featured this spring on the nationally syndicated Krappie King TV show.
For more information on the area, check out the Union Parish Tourist Commission at tourunionparish.org or the local chamber at www.unionparishchamber.org.
