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Black Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Black-Clear Lake near Campti: a 13,800-acre state impoundment of cypress, tupelo and open Prairie water, best known locally for crappie.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
86 / 87 F
Wind
SE 2 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Black Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 2 mph, falling pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 87. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:49 AM-11:49 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Excellent

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 85 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Louisiana requires a fishing licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents. What a Louisiana licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with LDWF before you keep anything. The season dates for Louisiana, read off the agency, are on the Louisiana seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp86 F
High / Low87 / 48 F
WindSE 2-3 mph
Pressure1018.6 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:21 / 18:30
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Black Lake this week

The best day on Black Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:49 AM-11:49 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM
Minor period
4:11 AM-5:11 AM
Sun
07:21 to 18:30
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Black Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

When to come: the Black Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Black Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 86 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 84 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Louisiana requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Louisiana fishing license. LDWF's 2026 regulations (updated September 21, 2026) list no Black Lake exceptions for game fish, so statewide limits apply: black bass 10 a day with no size limit, crappie 50 a day and 100 in possession. Yo-yos and trigger devices on Black, Clear and Prairie lakes may not be anchored to objects driven into the bottom, stumps, trees or the shore.

Access

LDWF counts seven ramps open to the public; the privately owned ones at the LA 9 bridge charge a launch fee, and LDWF named the Black Lake Lodge and Chandler's Camp ramps there as usable during past drawdowns. The abandoned Highway 9 roadbed is open for bank fishing.

About this water

A 13,800-acre state-owned impoundment of the Northwest Louisiana Game and Fish Preserve, Natchitoches and Red River parishes, Louisiana; average depth 8 feet.

Fishing Black Lake: the full guide

Three swamps behind a dam

Black Lake is not a natural lake in its present form. LDWF's management plan says it was created in 1933, when the Allen Dam across Saline Bayou flooded a chain of three swampy areas known as Black Lake, Clear Lake and the Prairie. The Allen Dam washed away in 1981, and since 1990 the Black Lake Bayou Reservoir Dam has held the pool at 99.0 feet above sea level. LDWF gives 13,800 acres, 50.5 miles of shoreline, an average depth of 8 feet and a maximum of 18 feet, across Natchitoches and Red River parishes. West of Highway 9 the water is called Black Lake; to the east it is Clear Lake.

Cypress above the bridge, open water below

LDWF describes extensive cypress and tupelo above the LA 9 bridge, thinner timber between the bridge and the Prairie, and open, shallow water with few trees in the Prairie at the lower end. Levels swing 3 to 4 feet in a normal year and much more in floods: the lake reached 117.9 feet in March 2016, and the Red River can back into it. Giant salvinia has been present since 2008 and is fought with herbicide, salvinia weevils and summer drawdowns of about 4 feet; during the 2018 and 2020 drawdowns LDWF said 7,000 to 8,000 acres of water remained open.

What the surveys show

Crappie are the main draw: in LDWF's 2010 creel survey crappie anglers made up 42% of all anglers, and black and white crappie harvested ran 7 to 12 inches, most often 9. Largemouth bass are the other big fishery, but LDWF's 2021 and 2022 spring electrofishing showed a sharply declining bass population, which prompted a full stock assessment. Florida bass have been stocked since 1988. Bluegill, redear sunfish and channel, blue and flathead catfish are also present.

Common questions

Is Black Lake a natural lake?

Its three original swamps were, but the lake itself dates from 1933, when the Allen Dam flooded them. A newer dam on Black Lake Bayou has controlled the level since 1990.

What are the crappie limits on Black Lake?

Black Lake has no special crappie rule, so Louisiana's statewide limit applies: 50 a day and 100 in possession, with no size limit, in the 2026 regulations.

Can I launch during a drawdown?

In past drawdowns LDWF said boaters could still launch at the Black Lake Lodge and Chandler's Camp ramps by the Highway 9 bridge, and warned of stumps and obstructions normally under water.

Is fishing good at Black Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Caney Lake33 miLake Bistineau38 miToledo Bend Reservoir50 miRed River55 miLake D Arbonne65 miOuachita River67 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 31.9400, -93.0500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 6, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 6, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.