Need A Little Help Here- Crappie

[Biglerma]

So my dad is down at the lake (I'm driving down this evening), flew up from Alabama to try and catch some crappie over Easter weekend. He went out this morning and hasn't caught a single fish. Fished Mill Creek up by Shell Knob throwing the banks and just caught a few small bass. From the reports that I have read everyone was saying the fish are on the banks spawning. He can't catch a crappie to save his life right now it seems. Has anyone been catching any crappie on the banks in the Kings or White river around Shell Knob or maybe Viola? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[riverfish]

me and my daughter she is four years old went on the kinkgs river saturday the 31st and caught em in just a couple feet of water on minnows and a bobber right up next to the bank we went back the next day on sunday for an hour or two (shes not very patient if we arent catching them) and couldnt catch em hardly at all only two little ones but i think the water had fallen about ten inches over night so they may be pretty finicky right now with the continued falling waters. but they sure seem like they want to spawn just couldnt make them self do it. water falling too fast

[Bill Babler]

It is really early and can't believe its over yet for this year, especially in the Shell Knob area. Had a bass trip this morning and then went crappie fishing for about 2 hrs. and did not catch a single one. Fished from Twin Rivers to Viola.

Pretty much a bass lake now. Did see some White Bass chasing around Campbell Point, but did not bother with them.

I will tell you this. Get on the water at 6:30 By 9 AM it is really tough no matter what you are going after unless you get some cloud cover and breeze. Middle of the day is rough. Get back out there at 6 Pm and go till dark and see how those time slots treat you.

Best bet is up the Kings, on either a jig and float up close or a float and minnow as has already been mentioned.

This season the crappie have not wanted anything moving at a very great speed. YOu can really control your presentation by using a float. ie slow it down.

MIght also try moving off shore a bit to any standing timber you see up the Kings Might be a second wave out there or some post spawn fish. Probably main lake White River is a No Go. Use a jig or a minnow and float about 6 to 8 ft. deep and try that. If you see any laydowns that you cannot see the end of in the water as it deepens up, give them a try.

Just got a feeling it is going to be pretty tough from here on out but still could catch a few.

Good Luck

[Biglerma]

Thanks Bill. This crazy weather had me worried that we might be too late. Might end up just throwin shaky heads or flukes for bass.

[grizwilson]

Bill is right around Kings, caught several yesterday morning, lots of shorts and 7 keeps, before 1pm. Seen a few on beds, early or late may be the ticket. All 7 were males, not roughed up.... more color up there than I am used to....pulling the lake so hard is making it tough on a flunkie like me. It ain't over til its over....

[tie1on]

Don't know if this will help or not, but I ran into the same situation earlier this week ( Mon.-Tues.) in the mid to upper James. Hit a few banks where I had success in the past, expecting to tear them up and got zero,nada nothing. After backing off those same banks, and fishing a little deeper, the results were the same. On a tip from a local fisherman from the previous week, my buddies and I started targeting single cedars and pole timber in deep water on bluffs and in deep main lake pockets and BINGO! We didn't exactly tear them up, but we boated 22 nice slabs between 12 - 14 inches with very few shorts. We fished only 4 to 7 ft. deep around that deep timber. Any deeper than that and we wouldn't get bit. Also, we would only catch 2 or 3 fish off of each spot and would have to move on. All on minnows, they wouldn't touch the jigs. Burned up $70. in gas to catch 22 crappie....Boy I love to fish!! Hope this isn't to late to help.

[Phil Lilley]

This is what I've been told.

Pole timber in 20 feet of water close to transition banks. They're about half way down close to timber. You'll catch a few off each tree.

Also we troll for them. Troll down the middle of a cove, slowest speed you can go. Use 1/8th oz jigs or swimming minnows.

[pvspmo]

I was at Shell Knob last week on Wednesday and also this past weekend. I did my best in the KAA cove fishing in about 10 -12 foot of water and throwing to the bank. Get the jig tipped with a minnow and bounce it off the bottom in about 5 foot of water and they would bite it. It was a very light bite, but they were there. I tried the pole timber around the island but did not have any luck. I dont know what the KAA cove is actually called, but it is the first cove on the right after you turn up the Kings past the island. Good Luck!

[Biglerma]

Just want to thank everyone for the help. Lilley was right on, found slab after slab in pole timber in 20 ft of water. Me and my dad both caught out limits. Had 10 crappie over 12 inches with the biggest being 14. Threw a bobber and minnow at the bank and caught some males. All fish were caught on minnows. Males were only on a few select banks. Any tree we could find in 20 ft of water had at least one slab on it, most had 3-4 fish per tree. Only caught maybe 8 short fish all day. All the females still had eggs so I don't think they are done. Water was 68.5-70 degrees. We fished the kings. Thanks again guys! I can't express it enough!

[Sam]

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say the crappie spawn (at least on the James River Arm) is nowhere near being over. I've gone out of Bridgeport three times in the past week, and I'm still finding the best crappie on brush in very deep water, in staging areas near coves and spawning banks. The females are full of eggs that are far from ready. Water temps are in the high 60's and as high as 71, and that's making it a very strange year this early on the calendar, for both crappie and white bass.

I THINK that length of daylight triggers the spawn even more than temperature, and I THINK the peak of 'em coming up to the banks is still a week or two away. It may be that the warm temps will cause an extended spawning period, with a few crappie coming up shallow all month long instead of them doing it all at once.