#13 Bassmasters

It has long been known that Caney Lake, located in Jackson Parish, is a very good fishery, especially for bass.  What a lot of people don’t realize is just how good of a crappie lake it has become.  This 5,000-acre lake not only produces trophy size bass but the size of the crappie, or white perch as they are commonly referred to, is nothing to sneeze at either. Back in the late 80’s, when the lake first opened, with the focus being on the largemouth bass, the white perch weren’t even on the radar.  During the first few years the lake was open, most of the white perch were caught at night during the fall and winter months by fishing under lanterns out in the deeper waters found in front of the spillway vertically fishing with shiners.  On any given night the flotilla of boats looked like a small city but they caught numbers and they caught big ones as well! A lot has changed since the early days of white perch fishing on Caney.  The seriousness of the fishermen that chase them rivals that of even the most serious of bass anglers.  The techniques have improved, the equipment is much better and the anglers are smarter.  While some anglers still fish for them at night in the later parts of the year, white perch fishing has become a year-round quest.  Here are some tips that will help you get started. Spring The interesting thing to remember about white perch is they will move shallow to spawn about the same time the bass move up.  The magic water temperature is usually around 62 degrees.  Look for wind protected pockets and fish in the 2 to 4-foot range or look maybe just a bit deeper than you would if you were looking for spawning bass.  Shallow flats with wood cover are white perch magnets in the spring time but with the lake having grass in it now, make sure you give those areas a look as well. This is the time of year when many anglers prefer using ultra-light rods and beetle spins and fan cast areas looking for spawning white perch.  The spider rid has become an effective tool for crappie anglers so jig poles are a good method to use as well.  The fish are usually pretty aggressive but pay attention to the how’s and why’s of each fish you catch.  One fish will lead you to the next fish.  Another quick tip: With Caney’s water being as clear as it is, use more natural colors in your lure choices. Summer As the baitfish go, so do the white perch.  Much like when bass get through spawning, white perch will move out to deeper water areas to spend their summers. The key word is “deeper”.  Finding the magic combination of depth, cover and baitfish is the key and since the water clarity is so good, the deeper the perch tend to go in the summer.   Planted brush piles are perch magnets.  When using your electronics pay extra attention to the depths you have located fish.  This can be a common factor throughout the rest of the lake.  White perch in the summer are usually baitfish oriented so the presence of shad in the areas you are fishing are extremely important. Many anglers still incorporate the spider rig technique when searching for summer time white perch but once an area is located, casting to them with an ultra-light combo armed with a double jig set up can be hard to beat.  The most popular jig head size is usually a 1/16-ounce size. Fall Due to the water cooling off, this is the time of year when white perch move the most.  Shad are constantly relocating and the fish tend to follow them.  As the water begins to cool the fish tend to group up more consistently.  When looking for schools of white perch on your electronics always remember perch tend to school in an up and down or vertical fashion. They also will suspend over the top of cover making them quite easy to see on your electronics. A lot of deep-water white perch fishermen prefer to use shiners during the cooler or colder months because a lot of deeper water fishing is more vertically done straight under the boat.  One of the key things to remember is to fish your shiners or jigs above the eye level pf the white perch you are targeting.  White perch are notorious for feeding upward from the water depth they are in. Winter This is the time of year when you will find the white perch in their deepest depths but also in bigger schools.  Focus on deeper channel swings, points or underwater humps.  The deeper the fish are the more difficult it is to fish for them horizontally which is why most people fish with shiners underneath slip corks.  The slip cork allows the angler to set the shiner to the desired depth the fish are using. Another technique anglers use this time of year is to fish with jigging spoons.  This allows the angler to keep a lure in a smaller area and control the action of the lure.  Another bonus for using the jigging spoon is the bass love them too! As you can see, there is a lot of possibilities twelve months out of the year when it comes to catching white perch on Caney.  The lake has both the size and the numbers of fish and the right amount of a challenge to wet the fishing appetite of any white perch angler.  Come on down to Caney Lake and give them a try!