straw hat

Well the wife and I went to a different spot today to see if we could find some bigger crappie or some cats. This was a chunk rock bank not too far from CC. We fished for 7 hours and not one cat bite. I really don't understand. That has always been a good spot for us this time of year. As far as the crappie? Well, same as before. We caught about 50 crappie and only one keeper. They were running 7 to 12 feet deep in 15 foot of water. The water at CC was still very dingy with about 4 to 6" of visibility. Oh well, we were in the shade of a tree, out of the wind and it was very relaxing. See you guys on the lake!

I just tried to send you a Pm but it said you can not recieve any more personal messages at this time. I will try again tomorrow.

Yep, Predator1, The flu has flown! Most of the time I bank fish but I do have a boat. With my heart condition I move fairly slow so I usually wait til the number of boats drop off for the summer before I take mine out. First of all I don't want to deal with all the craziness at a busy launch and I also don't want to slow people up who are waiting to launch. I was suprised how many people had put in at CC on Tuesday, even with the dingy water.

Decided to go to CC today for cats. Arrived early this morning only to find the rock rip rap pertty well packed with people. Went on to where a small creek enters the lake near Cedar Ridge. The water coming in was clear as was the back of that cove. Fished there one hour with no hits. went back to CC and the area had cleared out so I picked out a spot and set up shop. After about 30 minutes a guy came down and sat beside me, literally, I could have touched him with my rod tip! I gathered up my gear and crossed to the other side of the rip rap. Both areas were fairly murky, about 6" of visibility and only a slight current. If you are going to boat in that area keep an eye out for floating debri. There was some pretty good size trees floating around. After about 30 minutes a couple kids came down with their fathers and the kids started to throwing rocks in the water. Time to move again. I picked up some minnows and headed to a channel drop about a mile away. Over the next 3 hours I caught around 40 or 50 crappie with only two keepers. They were 7 to 12 foot deep in 20 to 25 foot of water. Definately suspended.

cwater, your annual permit may not be good on LOZ, it is a private lake. If you ever plan on fishing it you may need to check first.

Hey Predator1, if you go tomorrow I would apprecite it if you could please post a fishing report. I am thinking about doing a little cat rod and reel fishing on Tuesday. I will let you know how my trip goes.

If you read my last entry I have been sick with the flu but I figure I am going to hit the lake early next week. I have made a couple of calls to freinds of mine and they say right now the crappie are on brush in 10 to 20 ft of water near channel drops. The problem is that the first 10 peices of brush may not contain one keeper and the 11th may contain several keepers. I hope this helps some.

Normally I could give you an accurate report but the wife and I have been laid up with the flu. I can tell you this; The last time we went catfishing we caught a couple cats with eggs in them. They were about half developed. That means they will really beginning to start hitting soon. The lake and local creeks are already coming up fast from this morning's rain. The area got from 1" to 2" during this mornings rains. That should help turn the cats on.

Excellant report. My thermometer is on the outs so the water temperatures were great to see. Sounds like you had to cover a lot of ground but that it was worth it.

I happened to be in Springfield this AM so I stopped by Trantham's Bait and Tackle. They do carry leachs, $4 per dozen. They looked healthy and decent size. Their number is 417-869-2248.

You might try Trantham's Bait Shop in Springfield. If anyone has them they will.

Yea, you should be able to make it with that rig. There are two old roads to launch from. Both are on the west side of the bridge. Use the one on the north side of the road. The one on the south side was just recently used by the utility company to put in some pipelines and you will sink in up to your axle real easy.

Been there many times. Launch is very shallow and most boats I have seen launched there are small jon boats that can be slid off and on the trailer.

Great report sticksteer. Really appreciate the information. Very nice walleye.

That is a good question. I can often outfish my wife when it comes any species except crappie. We use minnows out of the same bucket, with the same type of rigs and she outfishes me about 90% of the time. You just have to take joy in watching the other person enjoying having fun. There are few things more satisfying than seeing someone you love being happy.

Good job walleyedmike! I bet you can't wit to do that again.

RPS - I agree with source of their actions, simple ignorance. I also have tried the "I will reason with them with out killing them" approach. While it usually has worked I have encountered a few individuals who either can not understand the concept or simply are sociopaths. Speaking of PWC, twice on Pomme de Terre I have experiance people on Seadoos competing to see who can lean over and grab my slip bobber while traveling at the highest speed. Although curious to see what results would be when the hook reached their hand I managed in both cases to resist the urge and retrieved my lines. This example simply illustrates the lack of common sense you mentioned.

Thanks for the info. That is incredible.

I thought that there was a state law reguiring a PFD if your boat was under power. I looked back to flysmallies entry on regs on page two but didnt see it mentioned. Am I just confused? I know that since the unfortunate incident that neither the wife nor I have seen ANYONE wearing a life jacket. Sad.

I fully agree. I bank fish a lot and have had multiple incidents where people boat so close they boat over my lines and cut them. I hate to say it but the worse is the bass fisherman. I have had them ask me to move and/or reel in my lines so they can cast the area for bass!! I use to argue or tell them to move but it is not worth it. They just get made and use foul language. I am afraid that other bank fisherman are even worse. It has gotten so that in the spring I don't even try to fish around CC. They will fish within 10' of you and cast over your lines. I have to keep reminding myself that these are not true fisherman, for true fisherman are sportsman. On a seperate note: After years of bank fishing I have noticed that if a boat goes by using the big motor within 20 or 30 ft of my bait (even if fishng real deep) the bite will slow for 20 to 30 minutes. Trolling motors, even on high speed, make little diference unless in very shallow water (such as spawning season). It amazes me how many times I see a boat motor right up to where they fish instead of approaching with their trolling motor. Have a great weekend guys!! My wife is laid up with a bad back so I will miss this weekend.

I agree with Rick about the Trading Post (417-637-2410)in Greenfield being the best. If they are out or if you are coming from the north or fishing Aldrich I would recommend Square Deal (417-694-2716). They are located about two miles east of hwy 123 on hwy 215. I don't know when either open. I also would NOT recommend Lakey's bait just south of Aldrich. They seem to have a math problem, as does Round Two Outfitters in Willard.

There is no length limit on crappie in rivers. The problem is deciding if you are fishing a river or lake. You can't just go by current. After heavy rains I have seen significant current at places like CC and Aldrich. Are you fishing in an area where the water is backed up from the lake? Just how far up in a tributary do you have to go in order to be in a river? My answer is, if in doubt just keep 10"ers.

Thanks for the report. Great trip!! Keep up the good work.

That is the classic question we all ask ourselves every time we go to the lake. "Where are they now?" I still think that most of the crappie have spawned in the major creek arms BUT I have heard of people still catching a few on the bank. That will probably improve some with the warmer weather. If I was to try to find a significant number of spawners I believe I would head to mid-lake or near the dam. Those areas should still be spawning pretty well. They were not hitting aggressively yesterday so with the warmer weather I think that will improve.

I fished about 1 mile from CC today. Water was slightly stained with 2 ft. of clarity. I caught around 25 crappie from 8' to 23' deep on brush. Most of the crappie were over 18' deep. Only 1 keeper (14"!). Also caught 2 cats. Saw a lot of boats pounding the gravel bank near me. Did not see anyone catch a keeper. A lot of boats, I mean a LOT of boats.