Kincaid Fishing Chart

Depths. Traced from the U.S. Geological Survey's June 1997 sonar survey of the reservoir (Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4194, 5 ft contours). The tracing was automated from a scanned map and then fitted to today's shoreline from OpenStreetMap, so treat any depth as good to about 5 ft and any position as good to about 15 yards. Depths within about 40 yards of the bank are the roughest. Silt and 29 years have changed things. Not for navigation; the lake is full of stumps outside the marked boat channels.

Weather. Water temperature is estimated from the last few weeks of air temperature, so correct it with the slider if you have a reading.

Reefs. Ten artificial reef sites, 240 structures in all, at the coordinates the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries published in June 2025. Water within about 40 yards of a site is ranked higher when the site's cover, which stands about 6 ft off the bottom (Pond King Honey Hole trees), reaches the day's target depth.

Launches and spillway. Placed from the boat ramps marked on the 1997 survey map, matched to where the roads meet the water on today's map. Treat them as good to about 50 yards.

Scope view. A forward-looking slice from the boat toward the chosen site, drawn the way a live sonar shows one: feet ahead across the top, depth down the side, the bottom as a bright band, reef structures and fish as returns. It is a simulation. The bottom comes from the chart, the reef structures from the published sites, and the fish from the day's rules of thumb, so it can show you what to expect and how deep to fish, not what is actually there. Dashed green lines mark the bait depth.

Block view. A block of the lake about 90 yards across, cut out around one site and seen from the side, with depth stretched 5 times so the shape of the bottom shows. The blue line around the top is the water surface. Dashed gold lines and the gold bands mark where to hang a bait: the day's target depth in open water, and the top of the cover at a reef. The fish are imaginary: they are drawn where, and how deep, the day's rules of thumb expect the chosen species to hold, bunched tighter in cold water and bright sun and looser in low light. This is the charted bottom and not sonar, so it shows no real fish, stumps, or brush other than the marked reef sites.

Bank fishing. With Bank chosen, the ranking changes from the best water to the best places to stand. For each stretch of bank it looks at what a cast of your chosen length can reach in a straight line. Two things count most: a published reef site inside your cast, and a steep bank, judged by how close the surveyed deep water comes to shore. Wind and the season's preferences still apply. Water farther out than any cast scores nothing. The numbered marker is where to stand; the dashed line is the cast. Two limits matter here. Inside casting range this chart's depths are little more than an assumed bank slope, so the bait depth shown for a bank spot is a starting guess: adjust until you find bottom or fish. And the app knows only four ways in: the three launches and the dam. Banks near those rank higher, but other shoreline may be open to you and some is private, so check access before you walk in.

Ranking. General rules of thumb for the species you pick (crappie, largemouth bass, or bream, meaning bluegill and redear): a preferred depth for the season, drop-offs and channel edges, creek arms versus open lake, reef cover, and which banks the wind is blowing onto. In the same survey, oxygen fell to almost nothing below about 13 ft in September, so summer picks stay above that. None of this has been tested against catches on Kincaid yet.