Larto Method?

I have fished this lake one time (this past weekend) and I caught one fish (a gaspergou). I have been mainly a basin fisherman (stumps and downed trees). How do you fish Larto? Is it drop-offs? Sunken structure? I’d like a game plan next time I travel there. Or hire a guide, or offer to pay for gas bait etc. and ask one of you guys to show me around. I usually fish alone with the sole exception of my daughter fishing with me so your honey hole would die with me.

Any information would be helpful.

thanks

Welcome to the forum! Sorry I don't have the info you're looking for, but someone will be along soon who does.

That's really an open-ended question, LOL; and if I knew that answer I'd be a rich a man. But the best advise I can give is fish it like you would fish any other lake. Stick to what you are good at. If you like fishing stumps and laydowns, then there are plenty of both in the complex. I'm a one pole fisherman; two at the most kind of guy and I like the tightlining method. I fish with jigs 95% of the time. I like tightlining around the cypress trees and in the buttonwoods during the spawn. If the fish are deep, I use my sonar to locate brushpiles and I still one or two pole it. I'll mark the brush with a throw buoy and sit on top of it. I don't spend a lot of time in one spot. If I'm not getting bit, I move until I figure out what they are doing. Usually once I get a pattern, I can go anywhere on the lake and catch them doing the same thing. Lots of people spider rig and are very successful, but honestly; its just not my cup of tea. Maybe because I wasn't brought up doing it; and quite frankly, I'm not that good at that method. I have tried it and had some success, but I seem to do better tightlining because it's what I'm good at. Blue and white tubes, Black and Chart and Pink and Chart hair jigs are my go to. If I can't get bit using those then I probably won't catch anything. I find that I tend to catch bigger fish using my method, but not always big numbers. It's very rare that I limit out, but my average trips are anywhere from 20-40 keepers. And I usually do not keep any fish under 10 inches. Keep in mind that I don't usually start fishing until late January and only fish through about May. I spend the summer working projects around the camp and hunt through from October-January. That being said, my method seems to work really good during those months. Sorry for the ramble. Hope this helps and good luck.

Well there are several different methods as was stated. My favorite way to fish larto is to drift the lake, but it is not always as productive. I too would prefer to hold 1 or 2 rods as opposed to spider rigging but I have been known to but a few more out. This weekend was really weird at Larto, the fish were holding in 2 -4 fow and we were catching them in the bayous, pitching a cork and jig about 18" deep. My best color was the bobby garland threadfin shad but others were doing well with blk/chrt. Even fishing in the deeper water, I was catching about 8- 10 feet deep. Hope this helps some. OH YEA, WELCOME ABOARD!

Your response is the exact way I fish. This past weekend I was in a kayak. I don’t have a fish finder. I used blue/white and black/chartreuse jigs. I launched at Uncle Bud’s and went across the lake and fished along the bank and then drifted back across. I thought I’d be offshore this coming weekend. But job was postponed a week. I may be back again this weekend.

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Originally Posted by Kixxor

Your response is the exact way I fish. This past weekend I was in a kayak. I don’t have a fish finder. I used blue/white and black/chartreuse jigs. I launched at Uncle Bud’s and went across the lake and fished along the bank and then drifted back across. I thought I’d be offshore this coming weekend. But job was postponed a week. I may be back again this weekend.

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I was at the camp this past weekend and we got a lot of rain there. Water came up quite a bit, so if you fished Saturday or Sunday, that was probably a factor with the bite too.

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Originally Posted by jfsiski

I was at the camp this past weekend and we got a lot of rain there. Water came up quite a bit, so if you fished Saturday or Sunday, that was probably a factor with the bite too.

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I agree with jfsiski we had over 3" of rain Sat. with more rain in the forcast for the end of this week the water will be rising and a lot dirter with the run off. I would suggest trying a launch closer to where you want to fish instead of padding clean across the lake. There are launches on the game reserve at Yongbloods, Muddy Bayou, Open Bayou and Woodsons Landing. This is a pretty big complex with plenty of options of lakes and bayous. There is a guage for Larto on River Stages when I find it I'll post it for you.

Larto gauge can be found on rivergages.com. Under Vicksburg district and Ouachita Basin. I checked it yesterday and it was around 38.04. It was 37.32 before rain.

Welcome from Natchitoches parish:welcome

To narrow your choices down, I would try this first. Launch at Youngbloods and start fishing right there by the launch. Rig 2 poles...one for each hand. tie 4 jigs to each pole about 18 inches apart in various colors. if you don't have sonar on your kayak, ask other boaters who do have sonar the depth of the fish they are seeing. Everyone will tell you what depth to fish and colors they are using. Just drift and wait for the thump. I may go this Saturday. I haven't started fishing yet and am anxious to go now that hunting season is over. Good luck.