Long/Cricket Report

[Sam]

Awww, you guys ain't doing it right, somehow.

I went out of Gage's with my partner last Wednesday, and we crappie-fished from there down into Arkansas. We got 21 keepers up to 15" plus 5 short crappie.

It was slow, and we had to work for them. We don't use minnows. We're just slow-trolling swimming minnows on a 1/8 oz. jig head about 12-15 feet down in 20 to 40 feet of water near flooded timber around cove entrances. Chartreuse was working best that day.

I tried casting and retrieving and didn't get a bite that way. We talked with guys in one boat who had two crappie, and minnow fishermen in another boat who had zero.

Tomorrow, we're going out of Bridgeport. I imagine the crappie will be shallower there, and we'll be throwing to them. Reports are that all those 9 1/2" James River arm crappie have grown to over 10", and I hope that's right.

[Don House]

Went out today, We fished for 4 hours and only 5 keeper crappies, wind was howling out of the north in the morning, fished just past cricket creek marina into cricket and yokum. Slow rolling a white swimming grub in the trees on the bottom of the channel and also on the pea gravel flats with wind.. Hey let us know how the James trip goes, that is usally where I go this time of year.. Maybe I can figure these crappie out down there in Ark someday!!!

Good Fishing

[Sam]

Hey let us know how the James trip goes, that is usally where I go this time of year. Maybe I can figure these crappie out down there in Ark someday!!!

We went out of Bridgeport Tuesday, 4/4, and found exactly what we've been finding at Long Creek. The crappie are there, and nice size - but you've got to work for them.

Surface water temp was 59, about 5 degrees warmer than Long Creek. Big crappie are all over the scope, suspended 12-15 feet down in 30-35 feet of water, outside flooded tree lines. They're biting real slow and seldom, and sometimes they turn off completely for an hour or so.

We tried going up the river with no success. I can't even get my boat through Ashercane, so if I'm going to get to my usual upstream crappie and white bass holes this year I'll have to take my 12' car-topper. We caught only 1 crappie by casting to stumps in lower Ashercane.

All our other fish came from deep water down in the lake, and we stuck with it and eventually got a nice bunch of crappie. Trolling swimming minnows slow and deep, we came up with 22 keepers and about 5 short ones. Most other boats were working the shallows, the stumps, and the banks. They weren't catching fish any faster than we were, but mostly they were getting short ones. Our keepers averaged about 12", and that's a lot better than we've found on the James River arm in past years.

22 good keepers sounds like a great day, and it was. But we were there from 8 until 6 - two guys fishing for 10 hours. We didn't miss many bites, so that means we were getting just slightly better than ONE BITE PER HOUR, each. That's awfully slow.

But boy, there are lots of crappie in there. Just like in Long Creek, when they finally bust loose for the spawn it's going to be good.

[Don House]

Sam, Thanks for the information.. hard day but I bet alot of fun!! Just don't understand why these fish are slow right now? Last year we were killing them by now everywhere? Well that is why they call it fishing and not catching.. Thanks again

[Sam]

Something interesting about those James River crappie we caught yesterday. We iced them down, and I cleaned them this morning after posting my report.

I found they were ALL females, all 22 of them.

We saw guys on boats working the banks throwing almost every fish they caught back, while ours were almost all 11 1/2" to 14". I think we're in a pre-spawn situation where the smaller males are on the trees and the banks, and the females are holding, suspended, out in deep water.

They'll all be coming into the shallows and getting active soon.