Lance34

That’s a big ol male black crappie... That thing probably pushed 1.7 to 2 pounds. Nice! They probably pushed out a little depending on where you’re at because of the drop in temp... Yesterday pattern for me was the same as last Friday... Catching suspended females in 16 fow... They not gonna leave the area yet. They either gonna go up or down in the water column

Big dance is starting... 15 ladies...

Been fishing with a friend from back home in my boat or him and his dad in their’s. They both recently moved into the area. Last Friday my friend and I jumped in my boat. Fished in gale force winds and put 27 in the boat... Bet we didn’t cover a 30 yard rise/hump. That wind just pushed us all over it. Fish were high in the column 4-6 feet down in 13-15 fow. WT temp then was 50-51 in brown water. This weekend had Friday off and the boss is out of town with the girls! Had the whole day. The bite was slow to steady. My friend and his dad in their boat and I running solo. We put a pattern together and all caught our limit. It was steady bite at 8 to 10 feet down over 12 feet of water. Clarity was dingy and WT started at 54 and got to 57 Yesterday got started early before the rain and before the girls got home. Fished deep for a little bit but really wanted to go shallow yesterday. Just to see what was there. Got in about 7-8 fow and about 6 feet down. Picked off 10 before the rain and needing to get home. WT 54 Just enjoy rigging shallow. It’s that slow movement and having to be stealthy. Usually do it year around but with higher water than normal this year I’ve stayed over deeper water. This week ought to get them on the move God bless and good fishing This post has been promoted to an article

@Johnsfolly good deal👍🏻

Was it a tough bite Friday... Had a hunch after all those really cold days they wasn’t going to be that active. Earlier in the week I heard WT temps dropped to 38 degrees... By Friday it was 43... Clarity a little stained... Pulling water as well 🙄 Took an old coworker along... As always started the spread with various depths.... We caught some deep close to the bottom but the most consistent bite for us seemed to be middle of the road... 8-9 feet down in 13-15 fow Like I said the bite was slow to nonexistent but we put our heads down stuck to what was working for us the most consistent and put 15 keepers in the box... Ready to start seeing the sunshine.... Maybe one of these days... God Bless and good fishing... Lance

Started around 11 Friday... WT was 46 and still that green stain look... Bite was steady at times and then it was dead for periods... Best working depth seemed to be 8 feet down from 11-15 feet of water... Minnows Caught 30 keepers and a few toss backs in the mix... Used all 5 dozen minnows and switch some to jigs but no luck 14.5”, paper thin and sickly looking... I’ve caught several 14-16 inch crappie the past half year looking like this... Are they just old? Be nice to have a little sunshine at some point so March Madness will get here God Bless and good fishing... Lance

👊🏻 yes sir!

Don’t mean to fill up the forum with crappie reports again... Just enjoy this page and again it’s helped me when starting out fishing this 31,700 acre puzzle... Lots of good info buried throughout the years here... I like too as well use it as a journal for myself to go back on... Okay... WT 44, 1123 lake level, and kind of that greenish stain color again... Maybe call it dingy🤷🏼‍♂️🤣 Whatever it is... It makes you have to guess the depth from pervious trips of brown water.... Have to start out with putting rods at various depths until I figure the pattern. Go deep, go shallow, and go middle of the road... With a double minnow rig you got two feet depth ranges to help dial it in... Just need to catch a couple. When you do, stop and ask what just happened... What was the speed, depth of water, depth of rigs, and most important to me personally what kind of lake contour/bottom structure are they relating to... Humps, channel, flat, edges? Then also what way is the wind blowing and direction am I going with that wind... The bite started off fast... Had like 11 in no time. I don’t know if it was because the wind laid some, it started misting rain or their tummies just got full... But them last four you had to work for🤣 Best depth was 8 feet down over 16-14 fow. Fished for 4 hours 11:30ish to 3:30... Culled a few 10.5” fish for a little more meat.... There’s a ton of good eating 11-12 inch fish this year... These high water years are paying off... God Bless and good fishing... Lance

@BilletHead We fried it up last Friday .... Gonna have to learn to catch them with purpose🤣.... It was really good

A little late.... Got out Sunday after church.... WT 44, brown water Fish still were high in the column.. 13-15 fow 5-7 feet down, straight meat... Rigging They bit steady from the start to the end... Limit in about an hour and a half... Played for about an hour and culled several. Froze my tail off but worth it God Bless and good fishing... Lance

@Johnsfolly @BilletHead Thanks gents will do that

Yesterday went about how I expected it with the crappie bite... Knew I was going to catch them but knew it was going to take time... That steady draw down that COE has been doing and then it turns around and goes right back up a foot in 24 hours... The mud pushing through. The cold rain and cold temps... Normally would of just stayed home but the forecast not looking any better.... Figure what’s to loose, go learn a pattern for these conditions Still surprised by the water temp... It was 44-45... Gave better hopes Got started about 11ish and fish till 4 Put the spread out at various depths at the start. Forever, never could zero in on a depth... Fish seemed to be scattered... 6 foot down, 8 foot down, 12 foot down, and 16 foot down... Kept looking for that consistent steady bite. Said to myself shoot just raise them all up to 4 and 5 feet and go small minnow because they seem to be finicky today on their bite... If there’s any active feeding fish consistently they gonna be high in the column with this mud... That’s when it got steady and a quicker bite... Just going on past experience with that call Fished new water too and fish that haven’t been bothered most likely. Got into 9-7 fow just looking to find bigger keeper crappie... No luck with that... But did pick up my first keeper walleye at 24”. Caught 3 shorts in the past seven years fishing Beaver Lake. Hooked up on 3 stripers. Boated two... One was just under 20” and the other was just over 24”... Lost big brother... It straighten the lite wire size 2 hook on the minnow rig before ever getting the chance to get it up close to the boat... The walleye made the trip though... Thought it was a big ol catfish at first when all I saw was a fat white belly and was going to cut it off. Then she rolled over and saw a mouth full of teeth... Said oh baby get in the boat!! Caught several of them pesky whites... Next to gar.... Just can’t stand them things... Luckily no tangles in other lines. Ended the day with 12 crappie from 10-13 inches, walleye and a striper... Can’t wait to fix up the walleye... Never had one God bless and good fishing... Lance

@Greg B. yes they were glued to the bottom and not moving an inch.... I was about a foot to foot and a half off the bottom. Pretty much had to set still or just bump the motor. That lower drop in WT kind of like stuns them bit. It was all about just figureing out the presentation they want it at that given time

@Johnsfolly yes sir it’s good feeling teaching yourself something on your own and putting that puzzle code together... Very blessed... Thank you

@BilletHeadthank ya sir

Man oh Man what a day! Water temp was 38 degrees... Clarity isn’t brown... Like a hard dark stain color... Like milky greenish I guess is the best way to describe it🤷🏼‍♂️🤣 Took an family friend and avid crappie fishermen from back home that relocated to NWA.... Took us a bit to locate them but once we did and put a pattern together it was on.... We put a two man limit together of 11-13 inch crappie with only one crappie that was under the length limit. It was a very subtle bite most of the day.... It was like they were just sucking on the minnow and swimming with it.... Hooks sets are free so if that line just didn’t look right in the water you grab the rod and gave it a whip. Still looking for them hammer fish like caught consistently this time of year in previous years... Think the higher water level this winter has them hidden more. I don’t know Pics below... That one pic was taken when we pulled up to count and sort out shorter fish to cull... 45 crappie game aboard all together Got that fever... God Bless and good fishing Lance

No sir I’m no better than the next guy... You’ll get there.... Rigging is the only way I fish and been doing for several years. Can’t remember the last time I single pole. Maybe 3 or so years... Just following seasonally migrating fish and knowing where they are certain times of year. Your best tool is time on the water. You saw what I did? Don’t fish in a crowd... Go find fish that haven’t been bothered

Got started about 12:45 Sunday after church. Water clarity was brown and at 44 degrees. Light winds and high sun.... They gonna be on the bottom laying in the mud and going to bite lite. Had to move slow or even just stop and bump the button. No real hammer rod tips down or anything, just line movement. Got a limit in just over an hour... Culled a few for another hour and left to stay on good side of my better half.... Nice to finally have great weather conditions and not have the tin can get tossed around all day. God bless and good fishing Lance

@Johnsfolly yes sir next Friday... Thanks

@BilletHead heck not me😂. Probably not all week next week

These yucky weekends are getting old.... Making me miss my weekly Friday therapy appointment...🤣 Finally got to go yesterday. Got started fishing about 11. WT 43 with a gale force wind on and off. Seemed more on than off...🙄 Water clarity wasn’t as muddy as previous reports. Maybe 8” instead of zero inches of visibility... Had 12 within an hour and then they shut down. Took another 30 minutes to get 3 more.... Messed around for about another hour culling a couple and then headed to the house. They seemed to be scattered throughout the water column. From 5 feet down to the bottom at 15 feet.... Rigging I didn’t fish below 6 feet all day. Made that decision just based on the size being consistently caught. Other than the wind tossing my tin can around it was awesome start to 2019. Pics below God Bless and good fishing Lance

Thanks sir... Ice fishing is on the bucket list. The pictures and videos I’ve seen it looks to be an awesome experience... Hopefully you’ll get some hard water soon. Good fishing

Thanks sir... For sure glad to get them quick. Funny though when they bite that fast you forget about that it feels like 20 degrees 🤣 Plus having four layer of clothes on helps🤣

Got started about noon yesterday. Clarity... Well put it this way you can’t see none of your motor in the water... It’s pretty chocolate. WT is up too at 48-49. Had doubts on how it was going to go. But it turned out, it went much better than planned. Rigging, double straight minnow rigs in 12-13 fow, four feet down hammered a limit out in an hour and a half. Pretty wild seeing that flash when they take the top bait at 2 feet under the surface... Now, that’s a version of livescope that’s more affordable 🤣🤣 Good bless and good fishing Lance