In a joint project with many hands-on deck, Lake Claiborne has received 32 fish attracting artificial reefs.
Last Tuesday, April 25, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Inland Division, MossyBack Outdoors, representatives from the Claiborne Parish Watershed District Commission and a few Major League Fishing (MLF) anglers including Kavin VanDam, Gary Klein, Dakota Ebare and John Godwin, worked together to assemble and distribute the reefs.
MLF donated $25,000 worth of the MossBack Fish habitat structures for use in Louisiana public waterbodies in conjunction with the Bass Pro Tour Heavy Hitters tournament currently going on in North Louisiana.
“We have been introducing 80 thousand F1 Tiger Bass to the lake for five consecutive years,” said Vice President of the Claiborne Parish Watershed District Commission Chad Reeder. “Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has also been stocking the lake with Florida Bass along with our project over the last five years. This year will be the sixth year. We have also been adding 25 thousand Coppernose Bluegill and that is the third year for that.”
Many of the artificial attractors were added near the Lake Claiborne State Park fishing piers and along the shoreline near the camping area to aid bank fishing anglers. Other attractors were added at varying depths and locations throughout the lake to target multiple species.
“The key to the success of our project is providing habitat and forage for the fish,” said Reeder. “The reefs we are putting out naturally enhance the habitat.”
Attractor locations are posted on the LDWF website and can be found using the “Louisiana Outdoor Explorer” interactive map tool at: http://ow.ly/f6b850O1FEM.
To view the locations, simply click on the “Get on the Water” tab and check the box labelled “Freshwater artificial reefs” under the “Layers” list, and the locations will appear on the map. Click on individual locations for reef descriptions and coordinates.