Crappie Won,t Bite If The Dam Is Running Water?

[hogbob]

That's what my neighbor tells me. He said he never caught a fish Tuesday until late in the evening, when they shut the water off. I looked at the generation table and sure enough, the dam was running most of the day on tuesday until late afternoon.I've never put the two together when I couldn't get bit. Does this make that big of an impact or is it like the old saying," wind out of the east the fish bite the least" ?

[hogbob]

I have to correct myself, I looked at the wrong info on the dam. I don't think they were running water on Tuesday. So maybe he was just looking for an excuse as to why he wasn't catchig fish.

[packersooner]

Went out for a few hours Tuesday afternoon and it was tough. Tried the brushpile "bite" and struck out...except for pesky bluegills. Even tried Bob's advice of dropping jigs to the bottom of the piles. Then tried fishing the flats around Googer for walleye and got nothing. Then trolled cranks back towards the Twin Bridges and got one LM.

Besides Bob, the only real positive reports I have heard on crappie have been from the timber. I would be curious to hear everyone's take on why crappie fishing is so slow??? Excessive baitfish, clear water, slightly high water, etc. You usually catch more black crappie around the brush/timber. Is the white crappie bite on in the main lake (around schools of shad)? Perhaps some of you all trolling can chime in.

So many questions...so few answers

Jason

[shockley32]

Crappie fishing on Stockton has been excellent this year. I was doing extremely well until just recently when I had surgery and haven't been on the water. Up to last week the crappie have been in the brushpiles. Not all brush piles are created equal so hit several when you go. There are several things to try:

1) Jigs and Minnows - I'm a jig man, hate minnows and rarely buy them however for some people they work better.

2) Jigs - color: sometimes it makes a difference sometimes it doesn't. I like whites, blues, gray's. Keep switching it up.

3) Vertical jigging - pull up and vertical jig the brush pile use 1/16th to 1/8th oz jig heads. I like to find the brush on the graph and start fishing on top of the brush and then work my way down into the pile. If the brush is 10' deep I will start fishing at 8 and then work my way down into the brush.

3) Casting jigs - sometime the crappie want the jig on the fall. You can cast out count down and real back slowly. Remember that a 1/16th oz jig on 6 lbs test will fall approximatley 1 foot per second.

4) Summer time I focus on main lake brush piles, try to keep them in 15-25 feet of water. Look for brush piles just off points, on the edge of flats near channel drop, etc.

5) Fish can be active on one pile today and not tomorrow. Just keep moving from brush pile to brush pile. I rarley stay for more than 10 minutes, if I don't get bite quickly I move.

6)The bite, although it has been very good, has been very light. If you are having trouble feeling the very slight peck of a crappie try spooling up with floro or braid. Also consider a different rod. I like Outlaw, All Star, Falcon, Fenwick. Just last week I took a guy with me and he couldn't get a bite, switch his gear and he started catching a few.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Brad

[Stockton Lake Guide Service]

That shockley guy is all laid up and bored. you can't listen to him cause he aint got nothing else to so all day but play on the computer.

However in this case, what he has said is pretty much right on, however it was a lucky guess. I've been using jigs only and catching them about a foot off the bottom in 20 foot brush piles.

and it seems that most of the white crappie are on the brush. the shad only adds to the bite. the crappie don't hit the healthy shad, just the injured dieing ones. so the reports of "to many shad" i don't believe, it takes shad to draw in th fish to get them together. then you drop down and act hurt, then you will get bit.

if you are getting on the lake after 9 am and leaving before 6 pm then you are probably, i say prpbably because someone always proves me wrong when i say always, not getting them my bite is over before 10 am or so and picks back up after 6 pm. the bite in between is very very lite, and you better be ready with the hook set.

i'm going out at 6 in the morning. i will be in my stratos with 225 etec and a guy and girl should be with me. if you see me feel free to stop by and say hi and do what i can to get you on some fish. and yes i have noticed that when they are pulling water the main lake bite is tuff. soemthing to think about if you are going out for the day

good luck and keep the hooks sharp

[packersooner]

Thanks for the responses Brad and Bob. My typical rig is an ultralight with 4 pound fluorocarbon. I use the lightest jigs I can get away with and usually tie two jigs about 15" from each other to cover more water. I love to vertically jig. Probably the method I am most comfortable with.

There are several marked and unmarked piles from Googer north to the mile long bridge that I fish. These piles were very productive last year around this time. I would just drop my bottom jig to the top of the pile and you could just watch them grab it on the depth finder. Last time out, I tried lowering to the bottom and still got nothing. I have done very little casting and retrieving Road Runner type lures. When I have tried it, I have never done any good. Bob's comment about the time may be a part of it. Last time out was in the late afternoon.

Not sure when I will be up next. Got a string of midnight shifts coming up.

Thanks again for the advice guys!

Jason