Phil Lilley

I need to get some to some places up there. Might have to mail them, not planning a trip to Springfield anytime soon.

I've put them in a brine solution overnight, then in the smoker. Surprisingly good.

Bear Den is.... ? Is that the second cove south of the ramp past the first major point? Has the green MDC sign on the left going in?

My nephew Ryan, borther-in-law Paul and one of Ryan's friends went back last evening. Same area. That said the crappie didn't really start till almost dark. They stayed after dark. Managed 14 keepers. I thought they'd clean up after a warm windy day...

Interesting. I'd call the regional Fish & Game office and ask to talk to the fishery biologist. He should know.

Oh yes! I'll drop some off tomorrow- I'm going close by on the way to Rogers. Good idea.

Help me with where everyone is placing them for pickup... so I can add them to the list.

Dang I honestly thought we were talking about Missouri...

Here's a little video of the morning. Not the greatest camera work. The camera was vibrating in the mount... I didn't hear it when fishing.

Rolan Dufield and I have been fishing together for over 30 years. He's a gentleman's gentleman and mean with a fly rod! His former dog Peppie is responsible for our Peppie Scuds because Rolan used it's fur to tie his flies with. We drove over to Bridgeport on the James River this morning to see if we could find some crappies. We put in shortly after 6:30 a.m.. I was amazed that we were the first to the ramp. It was plenty light to fish--where was everyone!? Water temp was 57 and breeze out of the south. Perfect. For those who launched after us... my apologies for our parking job. I had Rolan park the truck and trailer. He didn't quite pull ahead far enough and partially blocked the gravel ramp. That's what I hate about having a name on the truck... people know when you've done something stupid. My fault... I should have seen it and moved it. We headed for the big brush pile Paul and I had found on Sunday evening. It's marked by a MDC green sign on the bank around the first point south of the ramp on the left. Pulled out our fly rods, tied a white 1/50th oz jig on and set the floats at 4 feet deep. I wanted to work the bank close up because I suspected they'd be close early while the was still hidden from the rising sun. Rolan scored first, and second. It was on! Big slabs both of them. Males. We worked an area 20 feet up and 20 feet down from the sign. Stays about 5 to 8 feet from the bank and caught crappies pretty consistently. Most were slabs, some shorts and all males. After about 90 minutes, it seemed to slow down. I wanted to back out and try the brush pile. I picked up my spinning rod with a 1/16th ounce head and smoke swimming minnow. I wanted to locate the brush edges and depth so I could tell Rolan how to set his fly rod up. I hadn't figured it out before Rolan hooked a nice one on his white jig about 8 feet deep. We caught a few out on the pile but it was slow. The sun was starting to shine on a lot of the water along the bank so before it got all exposed, I wanted to go back to the bank and try it. Went a little deeper on the float--about 6 feet this time--and Rolan started catching them again. We were hooking them close to the edge of the shade, like they were following the shade as the sun rose. There were quite a few boats in the area all morning. Almost all were slow trolling with spider rigs and vertical jigging I think. Some were working the banks too. Guys I talked to were surprised we were doing so well on the banks. They didn't think they'd be there and didn't really switch after seeing us rake them in. I wanted to try the bluff above the 76 bridge before we left so about 9 am we headed up. I knew the water against the bank would be in the shade. As we boated over to it I saw the wind was going to be tough there. We tried several things and caught some crappies. Half short and half keepers but only a handful of fish. Just couldn't get a pattern on them. We quite before 10 am with 20 keepers and may be 15 shorts. We didn't have a ruler AGAIN so I know we threw back some 10 inchers AGAIN. But can't complain about 20 big slabs - no way! We were grateful!! Smakem (OAF long time member) came over to the ramp as we were leaving. He showed me what he said was the biggest crappie he'd ever caught on the James. Big black crappie!

The gentleman at the counter said he'd have OAF Decals for anyone willing to spend at least $20 in his shop... No not really. He was very gracious and put them right on the front counter. So go by and get a few- and buy something while you're there!

Delayed a day... wedding is Friday.

Jerry is somewhat of a jokester... I doubt if he knows where Carroll County is I don't. Can't help you with your lake but ask questions all you want. There are lots of people here that can help. But... as with most public forums... you have to have fairly thick skin and a sense of humor or you won't survive. Good Luck

Send me your address.

Pm me your address.

I'm sending out individual orders now. But I'm asking the question to all who ask: Do you have friends who might want one? More the merrier.

I'm heading to Bridgeport for some early morning crappie. If you see a big white Grizzley with a couple of guy and a black lab on the water, come up and say howdy. I'll have some decals with me too. Actually I'll drive by black Dodge truck with OA decals in the back window. If you see in the parking lot, I'll leave some decals in the bed. Pick some up. (Hope I remember to put them there, now that I say that)

I got out with long time friend Rolan Duffield this morning. We left the dock at 8:30 am, 2 units was running at 707 feet. Boated to the cable below the dam. I threw 1/8th oz white jigs, of course. Rolan is a fly fisher and had a 1/50th ounce pink jig tied on with a #14 red zebra midge 18 inches under it. He fished it 8 feet deep. We made the drift from the dam to Trophy Run twice and Rolan out caught the white jig, in number but not in size. I caught nice rainbows from 14 to 17 inches and his were mostly under 14 inches. They all took the zebra. We drifted on down to Lookout where I switched to a fly rod with a Miracle peach fly and a #14 red zebra under it. Rolan switched his jig out for a oregon cheese Miracle fly and the same midge. We adjusted out depth depending how deep the water was, fishing the shallow flat all the way to Fall Creek. We had doubles on countless times. The wind was tough, blowing out of the NE which is really strange. But the trout didn't mind. They were hungry. No pics... I was taking pictures but didn't notice my camera was telling me, "no card".

Welcome, Jeremy and thanks for joining.

Send me addresses...

All those who have posted here - PM your mailing address to me and I'll start this ball rolling. I need ppl in KC, St Louis, Joplin, central Missouri... If you're close to a tackle store, Bass Pro, Cabelas, fly shop that's frequented by OA members and the owners/managers are willing to keep them at their counters (and not just throw them away), let me know and I'll send you a bunch. If you go in a shop, ask if they have them. This will at least get them wondering what they are and that they need some. Like I said, I have 300 of each design and will order more if needed.

Met good friend Paul Crews at Bridgeport, a little after 2 pm. We tried a few places where Duane and I had caught some crappies the other day but didn't find much. Paul had been over there earlier in the week and caught them off the first bluff on the east side of the lake above the 76 bridge so we went there. Wind was out of the SW but not hard. We started on the south end where the bluff seemed to have some chunk rock ledges- not the steep part. We figured out the crappies were out in 18-22 feet of water, about 30 feet off the bank and may be suspended 12 feet deep. We threw 1/8th oz heads with smoke swimming minnows and let it drop almost at the time it dropped in the water close to the bank. Didn't seem like it would ever hit the bottom and most of the time it didn't. They were very spotty and scattered. Would catch 2 may be 3 in one spot at times but most of the time it was just one. Every once in a while we'd catch one close to the bank. Caught may be 10 keepers and that many shorts till we went looking for a different place about 6:30. Boated back down lake under the bridge to the bluff below the bridge on the left (heading down). Tried it for 15 minutes- nothing. Them went around the point (south) to a mark MDC brush pile. Found the pile- it was very big and about 30-40 feet off the bank and the top of it was may be 6 feet under the surface. We immediately started catching crappies and figured out where the edges were. We pulled another 10 keepers out before it got too dark to fish. We did switch to 1/16th oz heads because they'd sink slower. No wind so feeling the bite was easy. We didn't have anything to measure them so what went into the live well was for sure over 10- all of them were probably over 11. Bet we threw another 10 keepers back. That's ok... we caught enough for both of us to take a mess home. Sorry no pics... It's hard taking pictures when you don't want to stop casting! Hope this helps someone catch 'em. I know I won't be back over for quite a while.

And I for got to give them to you!!! I'll mail you some.

Babler's driving a camera boat today. Covering McClelland.