Leesville Lake Fishing Report

Current Fishing Report: Very Good To Excellent

SUMMER. Summer is one of the premier seasons for trophy muskies at Leesville Lake. Fish hold along standing timber, creek channels, submerged points, and main-lake breaks, feeding aggressively during dawn, dusk, cloudy days, and before approaching weather fronts. Early and late in the day, muskie cruise shallower cover in search of food in 8 to 15 feet of water. During mid day they prefer the cooler water 15 to 30 feet deep. Ledges, reefs, weedbeds, islands and channel edges are the primary areas to find muskie during the warmer months of Summer. Some of the larger muskie may also suspend in open water, just outside these areas. Trolling or drift fishing reportedly produces some nice catches, using spoons, big spinners and deep diving crankbaits.

FALL. Fall is widely considered the best time of year to target trophy muskies. Cooling water increases feeding activity as fish follow large schools of shad along creek channels, points, and timber. Cooling water moves these predators into shallower water to feed. Early in Fall they spend time on points and flats, from 10 to 20 feet deep, along drops into even deeper water. This is a good time to catch a trophy fish. Main lake channel edges, points around secondary creek inlets, mid-lake humps, and flats around creek mouths, are all popular areas in Fall. Later in Fall, they feed in 5 to 18 feet of water, often moving shallower for short periods of time, mostly in late afternoon when the shallows are the warmest.

WINTER. Ice fishing is possible during winters with safe ice, although muskie are rarely targeted through the ice. Most anglers pursue crappie, saugeye, and bluegill, but an occasional muskie is caught while fishing with large live minnows. Early season water temperatures are in the mid 30's, and dropping. Muskie move deeper and hold on structure in 15 to 30 feet of water. Points, deep weedbeds, drop-offs, channel edges and corners around the mouths of rivers are good places to find them this time of year. Ice fishing can be productive when the ice is safe, but muskie are being caught all through cold-winter season. Cold water causes muskie to be less active in winter, due to slowed metabolism. Slow moving, or motionless presentations are in order. Jigging spoons, ciscoes, shiners and suckers are favorites of muskie enthusiasts.

SPRING. Spring fishing improves rapidly as water temperatures rise. Pre-spawn muskies feed aggressively before moving into shallow spawning areas. Post-spawn fish recover quickly and resume feeding around nearby points and timber. In March, muskie move from their deep wintering habitat into shallow bays and flats for Spring spawning. They prowl 8 to 15 feet deep, once water temperatures get into the 50's. Shoreline flats and weedbeds, in the upper section of the lake are popular spawning grounds. Noisy, flashy, and bright color lures are ideal during this time as they are very aggressive. After the spawn is over and water temperatures rise, concentrate on weed lines, and drop-offs along the edges of weedy flats, 4 to 15 feet deep. Big spinners, bass assassins, and Johnson spoons will all attract hungry muskie.

Current Fishing Report: Good To Very Good

Bass fishing is currently experiencing major changes in the way anglers are approaching the sport. The expanded use of high-tech fish finders is giving anglers, who fish from a boat, a distinct advantage. The fishing hasn't really changed, but the catch rate has increased considerably. The advent of new lures and equipment has improved success for anglers fishing from the bank. Savvy anglers, who study bass patterns, continue to catch nice fish, with or without the new gadgets.

SUMMER. Summer bass are active around standing timber, shoreline brush, submerged points, and creek channel edges. Early morning topwater action can be excellent, while midday fish typically hold deeper in shaded cover and submerged wood. Water temperatures warm considerably in Summer, so bass feed shallow, early and late in the day. As the day warms, they are typically caught in 10 to 18 feet of water. During Summer, keep an eye on the thermocline to determine the maximum depth to fish, as there is very little oxygen below the thermocline. Largemouth bass here feed on gizzard shad, small sunfish and crawfish. During the hotter parts of the day, they are typically caught on points, channel edges, and ledges 15 to 22 feet deep. Drop shots, and wacky-rigged stick worms often catch finicky bass when the bite is slow.

FALL. Fall is one of the best seasons for largemouth bass as cooling water triggers aggressive feeding. Bass follow schools of shad into creek arms and along rocky points, often schooling near submerged timber. When Fall arrives, bass here will follow schools of baitfish into coves and shallow bays where crankbaits, swimbaits, and slow-rolled spinnerbaits have been successful in prior years. In early Fall, anglers typically have success in 8 to 15 feet of water, around points and shallow flats leading to deeper water. As deeper water cools, bait and bass move to ledges, channel edges, points and humps. Here flutter spoons are often the ideal bait in 15 to 18 feet of water. Some of the larger bass will seclude themselves away from the school, often in slightly deeper water.

WINTER. Ice fishing is possible during winters with safe ice conditions, although largemouth bass are usually an incidental catch while anglers target crappie, bluegill, and saugeye. Bass remain sluggish around standing timber and creek channels. The cold of Winter will isolate largemouth around deeper structure, flats, points and creek channels. Water temperatures are usually in the low high 40's to mid 50's, and bass can be found near the bottom, or suspending from 12 to 25 feet deep over deeper structure. In January they may move as deep as 35 feet. Bass often move a bit shallower on warm, sunny days. Also, some of the larger bass will isolate away from schools, 5 or so feet deeper. Here they hold, feeding less frequently, awaiting warmer water to return in Spring. Slow presentations with drop shots, jigs, spoons, finesse worms, or lipless crankbaits are often the key to getting bites.

SPRING. Spring is the premier season for largemouth bass. Fish move shallow to feed aggressively before spawning and remain active after the spawn around nearby brush, docks, and timber. When water temperatures rise into the low 60's, largemouth move from deep wintering holes, to shallower water near spawning areas. Vibrating jigs, crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits are typically get bites just away from the shoreline. In early Spring they feed aggressively in about 6 to 12 feet of water, and prepare for the spawn. Once water warms into the mid to high 60's, they will move into 2 to 8 feet of water, and create nests, then lay their eggs. Immediately afterwards, females move to deeper water and males remain to guard the eggs, and then the fry. After a couple weeks, the males also move to slightly deeper water, around 6 to 12 feet deep. Anglers report good topwater action from mid Spring through Summer, especially early in the morning, and on cloudy days. Deep-diving crankbaits, vibrating jigs, drop shots, plastic worms, jigs, spoons, and swimbaits catch bass when they are not shallow.

Current Fishing Report: Good

Both black and white crappie are being caught using new technologies, reducing the amount of time it takes to locate schools. Forward-facing sonar is allowing anglers, fishing from a boat, to locate schools and focus fishing time on areas with good numbers of crappie. This is true for trolling or casting. Anglers fishing from the bank still have to search the old fashion way, via test casting, until a school is located. Light tackle, with 4 lb to 8 lb line, is a popular choice.

SUMMER. Summer crappie suspend around standing timber, submerged brush, and creek channel edges. Early mornings and evenings often produce the best bite, while midday fish hold deeper in the shade of submerged cover. Water temperatures get quite warm, and crappie fishing is usually pretty good. They feed in 6 to 12 feet of water early and late in the day, until the hot Summer sun causes them to retreat to depths of 12 to 25 feet. Also, a few have embedded in the shade of slightly shallower vegetation. This is a good time to focus around brush piles, standing timber, deep lay downs and deeper docks with shade. Some of the best fishing is early morning, late evening, or night. Anglers are also locating schools of crappie hanging over deep structure and around creek channel edges, using fish-finder electronics.

FALL. Cooling water concentrates crappie into large schools around standing timber, brush piles, and creek channels. Fall offers fast action and an excellent opportunity to catch larger slabs. As Fall begins cooling the shallows, baitfish, move into shallow flats, coves and bays, which draws crappie into these areas. They will be feeding heavily in preparation for the cold Winter, in 10 to 18 feet of water. Minnows, hair jigs, and crappie jigs, are good options during this feeding marathon. Late Fall which turns the shallows cold, starts pushing crappie deeper, toward winter holding areas. Small flutter spoons, fished in 8 to 20 feet of water, are a good option during this transition. Good results typically come around points, creek channels, and brush piles.

WINTER. Ice fishing can be excellent when safe ice conditions develop. Crappie are among the most popular winter targets at Leesville Lake, often schooling around standing timber, submerged brush, and channel edges. The water temperature drop into the 30's and low 40's. The shallows turn cold, causing crappie to migrate to deeper holding areas, mostly off shore. Typically they are caught using a very slow presentation, in 12 to 25 feet of water. Most are caught around creek channel bends, submerged timber, deep brush piles, and main-lake structure. Good reports often come from anglers targeting standing timber and brush piles. When they suspend in open water, they often relate to some cover, or structure change, directly below them. During warming trends, especially warm afternoons, they are drawn into slightly shallower water to feed.

SPRING. Spring is the premier crappie season at Leesville Lake. Fish move shallow into coves and protected shoreline cover before spawning. The spawn provides some of the fastest fishing of the year. In early Spring, crappie begin staging in 8 to 15 feet of water, just outside spawning bays, and on shallow flats. Spring is prime time to be on the water, as both black crappie and white crappie have moved shallow to spawn. At that time, they are typically caught in 2 to 8 feet of water. Vegetation, docks, brush and wood are where most anglers catch crappie using small crappie jigs or live minnows. After the spawn, crappie typically move outside the spawning area and hold on cover close by, in 6 to 12 feet of water. Once they move out of the shallows, anglers report success using fish finders and forward facing sonar to locate schools of crappie, which tend to stack vertically around cover.