This Baton Rouge-area oxbow lake makes a Rubik’s Cube seem elementary, but for those who know the code, it’s a joy to unlock.
Just at the edge of the shadow cast by Baton Rouge lies one of the most underestimated lakes in the entire state of Louisiana.
In fact, anglers traveling up from the capitol city to False River probably bad-mouth it when they return home because they didn’t catch very many fish.
The bad-mouthing must not have much effect, though, because as sure as Jim Hawthorn bleeds purple and gold, there will be another long line of bass boats traveling up Highway 1 the next Saturday morning. Some will get lucky enough to catch a few fish, but others will return home with empty livewells and even emptier promises of never returning.
The reputation of False River changes the closer you get to New Roads. In fact, the locals who fish the lake every weekend know that the “River” isn’t a tough place to fish. You’ve just got to know where to go and what to throw.
False River’s reputation is quickly changing from a lake for losers to a pond to be proud of. Just look at the size of the fish that have been pulled from her waters recently by those who know the intricacies of the lake.
“It’s starting to turn into a big-fish lake,” said False River expert Ken Vosburg. “It seems like there’s a 10-pounder caught every spring. This year alone, there have been seven or eight 10-pounders that I know of. There’s probably been more than that caught, though.
“I walked into a taxidermists the other day, and he had three 10s in there that he said came from False River this past spring.”
The future of False River wasn’t so rosy just a few short years ago. Chad Vosburg, Ken’s brother and Skeeter State Team member, said two forces coincided back in 1998 to sour the fishing for a while.
“It used to be a slot lake,” Chad Vosburg said. “It wasn’t anything to go out there and catch 20 to 30 fish that were 16 to 17 inches. However, they lifted the slot in 1998. Ken and I won the first tournament on the lake after the slot was lifted with 27 pounds. It seems like it kind of went downhill after that.”
About the same time the slot limit was lifted, the lake suffered through the largemouth bass virus that was hitting most of the oxbow lakes up and down the Mississippi River.
“For whatever reason, it started coming back around 2002,” Chad Vosburg said. “It’s been getting better and better ever since, and it’s just exploded the last year or two.”
Sparse cover
A quick glance at False River won’t get too many veteran bass anglers overly excited. The lake looks more like a water skier’s paradise than a largemouth honey hole, and there aren’t even any cypress trees in the lake. I know that’s hard to believe about a Louisiana oxbow lake.
The obvious cover is the numerous piers and boat houses that line almost every inch of the shore. Farther observation reveals that many of these man-made wooden structures also have plenty of planted wood cover underneath them in the form of brushpiles.
While the lake doesn’t offer a variety of cover for bass to hang around, there are a few more characteristics of the lake that visiting bass anglers should be aware of.
“There are some canals off the sides of the lakes that can really produce a lot of fish at times,” Ken Vosburg said. “In fact, the canals are probably the easiest places to fish on the lake because there’s less room for the fish to roam.”
The canal that gets the most attention from bass anglers is Bayou Chenal on the island side of the south end of the lake. There are actually two canals in this area that offer plenty of fishing opportunities.
“Bayou Chenal veers off to the right as soon as you enter this little backwater,” Ken Vosburg said. “The one that goes straight is known locally as the discharge. It drains a bunch of fields and tends to get too muddy to fish after a big rain.”
Other than the piers and the canals, the only option available to bass anglers is the flats on either end of the lake and the channel that runs along the New Roads side.
“There’s a lot of sunken tops that anglers have put out over the years on the edges of the channel as it winds through the flats,” Ken Vosburg said. “Most of them are in 7 to 10 feet of water on the edge of the drop that falls into about 15 feet at the bottom of the channel.”
Go to our online archives to read the rest of this story, which first appeared in the May 2006 issue of Louisiana Sportsman magazine. Subscribe to ensure you don’t miss a single information-packed issue.
