Late Crappie Report

[Bittle]

Sorry it has taken me awhile to get this up but I've been busy with the new kid.

Saturday 03-31-12 my father and I put in at Cape Fair and started working our way up stream. Fished around Virgin Bluff a little and found a few fish holding on standing timber in deeper water. The water clarity was poor, even for Cape Fair. We were throwing swimming minnows and even tried for a shallow water bite. No luck shallow there. We continued upstream and stopped in a cut in a main lake bluff. I caught one black crappie in about three feet of water here. Not other bites. We continued moving upstream and decided to run all the way to Flat Creek. We started fishing the bluffs working out way almost to the bridge. We picked up a few here and there but no solid pattern. We finally got into a solid pattern just below the bridge. We found some brush in about 5 feet of water. We started flipping minnows into the base of the brush piles. These fish were no doubt on the bed and were sitting in about three feet of water. We were mainly using minnows at this time. But occasionly I would dip a tube also. We ended the day with 14 keepers and one white bass. We had some good fish over 13 and some a shade over 10.5 inches.

Sunday we decided to try the white bass above Blunks. We ran upstream and found the bite to be tough. We only found 5 white bass in a few hours up there. We ran back downstream and tried to flip the brush again and the found a few but not the same. Clearing skies and increasing wind didn't help us at all.

Monday my brother, his friend and I went back up to see if the white bass were there. Not much better only keeping five fish. We drifted downstream and started dipping some standing timber. Found a few keepers and I believe I cleaned eight fish.

Monday afternoon I decided to put in at Cape Fair boat dock and fish downstream. I caught a ton of fish downstream last year and was hoping I could find them there again. I fished from 3 till almost dark. I caught several bass, one keeper crappie and one small channel catfish. Not a clound in the sky and no wind. Rough. The water downstream was a copper color and I'm not sure that helped much either.

I caught my limit of crappie on Tuesday. If you want to know what I was using just read my shirt.

With the wind it was hard to light the fuse but I got it done. Just kidding.

Tuesday I put in at Bridgeport and made a point to stay in the cleaner water. I put in at 7:30 fishing the bluffs and pole timber. I found a few fish in shallow water in the brush again. Tubes and minnows were the ticket again. I located a laydown where there were some fish stacked up. I kept about four out of that laydown. I ran back up to the Flat Creek Bridge but found the brush I was flipping to be losing water fast. I caught two out of the deeper brush but the majority was too shallow. I actually saw a couple of crappie on the beds but spooked them when I got close. I continued downstream trying to replicate the brush bite and was successful in a few spots. Today I was mainly using tubes with a crappie nibble attached. It was important to have a long rod to help get into the brush without spooking them. I was using a nine foot rod for this that worked well.

I ran back to some standing timber where I had caught some fish before. I found some fish in about 10-12 feet of water. I fished two stickups and finished my limit by 2.

This spawn, I hope anyway, is just getting started. I'm not sure that this dirty water is allowing them to spawn like they want to. I fished several areas they were stacked up last year spawning and didn't find a fish. Below Cape Fair especially. So I'm hoping that with the clearer water the fish with continue to move up to the banks downstream. I'm coming back down after Easter to see what happens. I'm really hoping this thing isn't over already but I'm no expert. All the fish I caught still had eggs and they weren't real bloody yet. Lets just cross our fingers and hope there is more to come.

[dtrs5kprs]

Excellent report. If they are ready to go to beds, that dirty water won't stop them. They spawn just fine in dirty lakes all over the country. As fishermen, I think we are still a little ahead of the fish, with all the warm weather.

[bigjohn]

Sorry it has taken me awhile to get this up but I've been busy with the new kid.

Saturday 03-31-12 my father and I put in at Cape Fair and started working our way up stream. Fished around Virgin Bluff a little and found a few fish holding on standing timber in deeper water. The water clarity was poor, even for Cape Fair. We were throwing swimming minnows and even tried for a shallow water bite. No luck shallow there. We continued upstream and stopped in a cut in a main lake bluff. I caught one black crappie in about three feet of water here. Not other bites. We continued moving upstream and decided to run all the way to Flat Creek. We started fishing the bluffs working out way almost to the bridge. We picked up a few here and there but no solid pattern. We finally got into a solid pattern just below the bridge. We found some brush in about 5 feet of water. We started flipping minnows into the base of the brush piles. These fish were no doubt on the bed and were sitting in about three feet of water. We were mainly using minnows at this time. But occasionly I would dip a tube also. We ended the day with 14 keepers and one white bass. We had some good fish over 13 and some a shade over 10.5 inches.

Sunday we decided to try the white bass above Blunks. We ran upstream and found the bite to be tough. We only found 5 white bass in a few hours up there. We ran back downstream and tried to flip the brush again and the found a few but not the same. Clearing skies and increasing wind didn't help us at all.

Monday my brother, his friend and I went back up to see if the white bass were there. Not much better only keeping five fish. We drifted downstream and started dipping some standing timber. Found a few keepers and I believe I cleaned eight fish.

Monday afternoon I decided to put in at Cape Fair boat dock and fish downstream. I caught a ton of fish downstream last year and was hoping I could find them there again. I fished from 3 till almost dark. I caught several bass, one keeper crappie and one small channel catfish. Not a clound in the sky and no wind. Rough. The water downstream was a copper color and I'm not sure that helped much either.

I caught my limit of crappie on Tuesday. If you want to know what I was using just read my shirt.

With the wind it was hard to light the fuse but I got it done. Just kidding.

Tuesday I put in at Bridgeport and made a point to stay in the cleaner water. I put in at 7:30 fishing the bluffs and pole timber. I found a few fish in shallow water in the brush again. Tubes and minnows were the ticket again. I located a laydown where there were some fish stacked up. I kept about four out of that laydown. I ran back up to the Flat Creek Bridge but found the brush I was flipping to be losing water fast. I caught two out of the deeper brush but the majority was too shallow. I actually saw a couple of crappie on the beds but spooked them when I got close. I continued downstream trying to replicate the brush bite and was successful in a few spots. Today I was mainly using tubes with a crappie nibble attached. It was important to have a long rod to help get into the brush without spooking them. I was using a nine foot rod for this that worked well.

I ran back to some standing timber where I had caught some fish before. I found some fish in about 10-12 feet of water. I fished two stickups and finished my limit by 2. i always like to finish with a big bang it's the red neck way lol.

This spawn, I hope anyway, is just getting started. I'm not sure that this dirty water is allowing them to spawn like they want to. I fished several areas they were stacked up last year spawning and didn't find a fish. Below Cape Fair especially. So I'm hoping that with the clearer water the fish with continue to move up to the banks downstream. I'm coming back down after Easter to see what happens. I'm really hoping this thing isn't over already but I'm no expert. All the fish I caught still had eggs and they weren't real bloody yet. Lets just cross our fingers and hope there is more to come.

[Sam]

Dirty water only causes crappie to build their nests more shallow, it won't delay their spawning. Of course, if they nest in very shallow water because the water's muddy, and if the lake level is dropping like this year, that could be bad.

Some of the best spring crappie trips I've ever had have been on Stockton with the water high and yellow-muddy. Nests were up in the cow pastures in ONE FOOT of water and every place a bush was sticking up there was a slab crappie. I tilted the outboard motor up out of the water and took my boat through wire fences a couple of times to get to 'em.