Public access to small bayou and stream fishing in North Louisiana is almost unlimited when you consider the resources available in the five ranger districts of the Kistachie National Forest, located within an imaginary triangle between Winnfield, Natchitoches and Alexandria.
Kistachie is Louisiana’s only national forest, and it covers 604,000 acres in several parishes. In fact, that total acreage makes it larger than the whole of Winn Parish.
And within the forest are miles and miles of bayous, streams and creeks.
Some are sandy. Some are muddy and some are rocky. There are small lakes and remote ponds from one to 10 acres that on most days you can have all to yourself.
In all those bodies of water, you will find bream and bass — and in some catfish and crappie will thrive.
Perhaps the most-popular area is Saline Bayou, which meanders through 20 miles of undisturbed hardwood bottomland.
Many people canoe in and wade some of the best fishing spots, or you can just walk in from access points along the improved trail that follows the stream in many places.
Two of the best-known are the Dugdemona River and Saline Bayou.
The Dugdemona (pronounced “dug-du-mona”) is 129 miles long, starting west of Simsboro in Lincoln Parish and flowing through Bienville, Jackson, Winn and Grant parishes before joining Castor Creek to form the Little River near Georgetown.
Saline Bayou also winds for almost 100 miles, forming the western boundary of Winn Parish along U.S. Highway 71 near Clarence.
Another popular spot is the Beaver Dam located along the upper Caney Lake shore.
The Gum Springs area is also popular.
One of the most-unique streams is Kisatchie Bayou, which has large, white sandbars, rocky outcroppings and even waterfalls along the way.
For more information on fishing within Kisatchie, you can call one of the District Offices in Boyce, Winnfield, Provencal, Homer or Bentley or call the supervisor’s office in Pineville at 318-473-7160. You can also learn more online at www.fs.usda.gov/kisatchie
