Paul Keith isn’t sure whether an earthquake back in the early 1800s or a logjam on the Red River backed up water into the lowlands of north Caddo Parish to form Caddo Lake. But he doesn’t really care. What the Shreveport fisherman does know for sure is that lots of big largemouth bass live in the 25,400 acre lake that flows partially in Louisiana and Texas. And May is a good time to catch them.
“This time of year, there are basically two patterns,” he said. “First, we fish the grass flats where there is plenty of hydrilla and lily pads. Caddo is a shallow lake and the fish can’t go deep, so they get up in the grass. We throw baits like the V&M Paddle Tail frog and work it across the grass just like a buzz bait. We also fish weightless swim baits or rig up a punch rig with heavy weight and creature bait like the Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver to get the bait in front of the bass.”
That technique is best early and late. The second favorite pattern is to concentrate on the bends and intersections of the creeks, like Alligator Bayou, Pigeon Creek and Big Cypress River.
“On the creeks, we still aren’t talking but about 5-6 feet deep for the most part and we are still fishing grass,” he said. “I like to throw a 6- or 7-inch V&M Curltail worm with a small weight. I stick with darker colors like black/blue, junebug or black/red. We also fish Flukes and Senkos in that area. The Zoom Trick Worm is also good, rigged Texas style.”
Paul fishes plastic worms without a weight in the shallower water and with a weight in the deeper spots. Topwater baits or “anything with a treble hook” are pretty much out of the question on the lake most of the year due to the grass, Paul said.
The lake has a great variety of small to big bass. The lake record for bass there is 16.17 pounds and was caught in 2010. There are two public boat launching ramps on the Louisiana side with boat mooring facilities and four commercial marinas as well, Shady Acres, Shady Rest, Pelican Lodge and Drift-In Landing.
You can get more information about the lake or trips there by calling 318-455-3437 or visiting Paul’s website at caddolakefishing.com.