straw hat

The wife and I Hit a couple spots from the bank on Saturday. Picked up 11 crappie. The first place was near Hartley. I was surprised how clear the water was. Probably around 3 feet visibility. The water wasn't nearly as green as it was two weeks ago. Water temp was 77. Also fished near CC. The water there was a little dingy but not too bad. Water temp was 75. We saw a lot of white bass action on the surface. One thing about all that rain...there sure wasn't any skiers or pwc. lol The crappie were runing 12 to 15' for use and the bite was pretty light.

Good job MH. The wife and I decided to brave the rain yesterday and do a littlr bank fishing. First stop was Ruark area. Nothing. Water was pretty well stained where we were at. Maybe 2' visibility and 83 degrees. Next was near Springfield landing. Three small ones and again poor visibility. Water a littlr cooler at 80 degrees. Last stop was near CC. I picked up a couple of keepers. The wife found a little (6" diameter) stump just off the bank. She pulled 6 keepers off that little stump!! UGG - beat again. lol The bite was still very light. Most fish were caught at 7 to 10'.

I managed to pick up 6 keeper crappie from the bank on Thursday so I figured I would hit it today with the boat and do real well. That just shows how much I know!! On Thur I caught those fish in 5 to 7 ft of water. Today...nothing. We started at 8 AM and by 3 PM had hit a jillion trees, 4 brush piles as well as 2 fence rows and only had two keepers to show for it. I told the wife that I new where there was a big log laying on the bottom along a bluff and I had always wanted to try it. Last stop of the day. By 6 Pm we had 13 keepers and must have thrown back 25 small ones. All were 10 to 12 ft deep.

Greenfield and Ruark are open.

Headed to CC with a boat load of minnows this morning. I think we fished every peice of standing timber from CC to the north end of Shaw's bluff!! We caught a total of 4 small crappie (maybe 5" long each). Water temp was from 82 to 87. We didn't even see anything on the old fish finder. It was nice out though and not too many people out so I won't complain too much.

Thanks for the post minnowhoker! Good post. Tried a new spot near Hawker and sure enough I found some crappie at 20' on a brushpile. Came up with 6 nice ones before the heat got to much. Water temp on the surface was 90 and at 5' down was 88. Whew that is warm.

It was fair in July. Most were at 26 to 30 feet in the morning and by noon were at 32 or deeper. They were on very steep rocky banks. I hope that will give you some idea on where to start. Good luck!

I fished a bluff (north of the State marina) this morning that I had hit twice in the last two weeks. Previously I had managed to catch a handful of fish each trip in the 25 to 30 foot range. The water temp was running 84 two weeks ago and 85 last week but today it was 87. In addition the water clarity was 3 to 4 ft previously but today it was a little less than 3 foot. The water was very green for that part of the lake with streaks if algae in the water like you see during turnover. Only caught 1 crappie and 2 channels and this time they were running 28 to 34 feet. I really hope the lake doesn't get any warmer.

Powerdive got it right. That is the way I start nearly all my trips. (unless I am bank fishing. lol)

Great weekend 9lber. I am impressed. What I want to know is how you beat the pleasure boaters? They have been thicker than fleas on a hound dogs leg.

I hear you blue79. There is so many pleasure boaters lately it is almost impossible to fish. The wife and I ran down to do a couple of hour of bank fishing after she got off work last friday. we were overrun with skiers, canoes, kayaks and tubers. We were about 2 miles from the State Marina so that area is big enough for everyone but after we had our lines run over several times we just gave up and went home. This is the second trip in a row that we have had this problem.

Not bad guys. Considering the temps and all you did pretty well.

I would agree with you crappiedude. While I sure catch a lot that aren't legal size, I am catching very veryt few below 9 inches. Not a good sign.

The bobber that oneshot just decribed is on youtube. There are several videos on making bobbers with pool noodles and other ways. You might check it out. I have used some of the pool noodle bobbers and they do well.

WOW Now that is a fish. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Good luck tomorrow. With those water temps the bite may be tough. That water is warmer than my bath water!! lol

You know I was wondering that. It has been 89 and 90 around CC but Hawker point is much further up the lake and it takes a lot more time to heat all that water and the corp is reporting 83 at the dam so I guess it could be right.

I am getting older and my memory fails, I was also going to mention that I saw a million small 3 to 4" bass running the bank. It looks like there will be a good year for recruitment.

OH, I forgot to mention that the water temp was 82 and the water clarity was just over 3 feet.

Been picking up some nice channels along the Stockton bluffs in 28 to 32 feet in the mornings. They aren't huge, only 2 to 4 pounds but I am not complaining.

I Fished along a steep bvank in the Hawkers Point area. Found them in 28 to 32'. I caught a total of 4 before the heat got to me. Thay all ranged from 2 to 4 pounds. Not monsters but not bad. Right in the middle of landing one of them I got a bite on one of my other rods. Darn if that cat didn't pull my rod in the wa ter!! I tried dragging the bottom but had no luck. The cats had moved on by noon so I tried drifting minnows for a while. It was getting warm so I decided to go. As I was reeling in my last crappie line I noticed it was heavy and I could feel a light pull like I had a small fish. As it got closer I could tell That I had hooked another line. The line on the rod that had been pulled in the lake!!! I reeled in that other rod, grabbed it, set the hook and the catfish was still on it! I can't beleive I hooked that rig in 30 foot or more of water way out from bank. That was my fourth fish. All in all a good day.

Thanks Zarraspook

Justin, are you sure you are suppose to use power tools without supervision? lol No wonder you don't catch more fish, that ak47 scares them!!

That is so funny Justin. It is good to see you have a sense of humor after your boat problems. lol I have been called worse names than "brush pile". lol Here is a picture of me if it will help; Looks like everyone else on the lake right? lol

Tough day. Fished from CC to Shaw's Bluff today. Water temp had picked up another 1 and 2 degrees. It ran from 88 to 90. Ouch!! We only managed 5 keepers. We noticed that most of the crappie had dropped below the thermocline and the bites were really hard to come by. The few keepers we had were above the thermo at 5 to 10'.