re: Lake Kincaid(cenla)

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We Cenla folks call it the "Dead Sea". That says it all!!!

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Not all Cenla folks!

I live near Kincaid and Cotile. Years back I had a conversation with Mike Woods of LDWF. He told me those lakes - including Indian Creek and Valentine - were "sterile". I asked why. He said "low water hardness" - about 20 ppt CaCO. Water hardness is a big factor in aquatic production, the higher the better.

So I researched. The waters he rated against the "Kisatchie lakes" - Cane River, Concordia, Bruin, Wallace, Black Lake, Toledo Bend, Red River, Larto, Saline - all had 4x the water hardness (or more) of Kincaid. HOWEVER... because catfish and rough species need high water hardness to spawn successfully, the game fish populations of those lakes was only twice that of Kincaid.

Further, the clear water allows the fish to feed by sight all the time. And become very wary. There might be 20 bass in an area and if you can get more than one of them to eat, you've done good!

I'm not complaining. Kincaid is GREAT flyfishing water. If you don't care about putting lots of fish in the ice chest but want a better-than-average chance to catch fish on flies, this is your spot. I've fished alongside guys that were throwing every lure imaginable and outcaught them on flies. Not many places can claim that.