An examination of the Top Ten big bass ever caught in Louisiana reveals that six of the top ten fish were caught in Caney Lake, anchored by the state record 15.97 pound behemoth caught in 1994. A further examination of the top ten, however, reveal that none of these fish have been caught since the 1990s.
The fact that no top ten bass have been caught in Caney since the ‘90s points to a problem that occurred during that decade. Grass carp were introduced to the lake back then to control hydrilla and the carp basically removed virtually all the lake’s vegetation.
Now that grass is returning to the lake, forage fish like threadfin shad and bream have protection for reproduction and the bass that feed on them have been able to increase weights as they don’t have to move around as much to find plenty to eat.
Much of the returning grass is hydrilla, but there is another species of grass growing in Caney Lake now that offers potential as is provides aquatic cover for forage fish as well as predator species like largemouth bass; eel grass.