The visible structure on 3,000-acre Cypress Lake near Benton won’t give first-time visitors much of a clue about where to fish. But you can look for several things that will clue you as to what type of areas where they might be biting.
April is still a great time to catch spawning crappie on Cypress Lake, and when he gets a chance, Sasquatch will even be there. If you follow his advice, you can catch crappie, too.
Sasquatch, in this case, is Wesley Miller of Doyline. He guides on numerous north Louisiana lakes, and one of his favorites this time of year is Cypress. When you see him on the lake, you’ll understand his nickname.
“At first glance it, might be a little hard to figure out Cypress Lake; there aren’t fish just everywhere, but there’s one thing you can depend on for April crappie,” he said. “That’s the reed lines that you can find almost anywhere around the lake. If you fish up close to those reed lines, you are going to catch crappie, especially white crappie.”
To the naked eye, Cypress Lake is a fairly featureless lake. It is 15 to 20 feet at its deepest point and has one creek channel flowing through it. There are flats along the creek channels and very little sign of standing timber, except for stumps along the channel. That’s why the reeds are good spots and easy for anyone to find.
“I like to fish the pockets in the reeds because that’s where they go to spawn,” Miller said. “I like to fish a shiner or jig up under a cork about a foot deep. Get as close to the reeds as you can. You can find those without electronics, and they are easy to catch. In fact, you can fish pretty fast. If your cork hits the water and it doesn’t keep going, you can pick it back up and try another spot.”
Crappie here run around a pound to pound-and-a-half on average, but there are some real slabs, too. They also hold around the boat docks and piers and off the reds near deeper water. Miller locates them on his depth finder and fishes vertically for them.
His favorite lures are his own, hand-tied hair jigs and Bobby Garland plastics. He fishes several colors of hair jigs and loves green and chartreuse. At the top of the list is also the Bistineau jig, a lure with pink head, purple body and chartreuse skirt. Favorite plastic colors are electric chicken and cajun cricket.
Before you plan a trip to Cypress, know that it is a lake surrounded by residential communities and even though it is open to the public, you must purchase a current boat sticker and follow the lake’s rules and regulations. Information about that can be found at: cypressblackbayou.com.
For safety reasons, when boating, always go counter-clockwise, meaning keep the shoreline on your right or port side. The lake is very busy with ski boats and other recreational watercraft when the weather starts to warm, so it’s also a good idea to plan fishing trips early in the morning and late in the evening, especially on the weekends. The lake is served by three boat launches: Old Palmetto Rd., Rarks Rd. and 990 Highway 162.
To book a guide trip with Wesley Miller, visit his Facebook page: Big Sasquatch Outdoors — Facebook.com/BigSasquatchOutdoors
