Mythical Table Rock Crappie

[Sac River Jim]

arkansas black nose crappie are native to the white river basin heres an article i cut and pasted from another site,

Re: Black nose crappie

Submitted by wingman on Sat, 2009-03-07 01:29.

Here is what I found..."THe black nosed black crappieⁱ as we call them were first described in the white river basin of arkansas. THey have seen been found in 13 other states. The black stripe is the result of a recessive gene, which breeds true when using black stripe brooders. THere are all kinds of claims about them being sterile, or hard fighters and such. No conclusive evidence has ever been found to support any such theories. THey breed just like regular black crappie. I believe the black stripe adds to the excitement when reeling one in and anglers get an adrenaline rush when they see one, resulting in all kinds of euphoric claims. Do not be confused, some people are using black nosed black crappie in hybridization research which results in hybrid crappie with black stripes (to indicate a successful cross, gene expression of a recessive gene from one parent). Therefore some hybrid crappie have been stocked with the black stripe and some people confuse the black stripe thinking it is the result of hybridization. Bottom line, in order for any crappie to have a black stripe it must have a black nosed black crappie parent.

[Wesley]

I believe a lot of it has to do with fishing pressure. I have had a place down there for 23 years. The first 10 years we caught and released 100s of crappie in April. You could catch all you wanted. These crappies were huge. We caught one 41/4 lbs. 2-3 lbers were common. BUT there were only a few boats back in flat creek and james river catching them. About 12 years ago or longer people started posting on the internet about the crappies in April. It gets more crowded every year. Last year I went back in flat creek and I bet there were 40 boats back there during crappie catching springtime. That is a lot of crappies coming out of such a small concentrated area. In a couple of weeks when they are easy to catch think how many are taken out of there and the james. As soon as they reach legal size they are gone. A posting last year people were saying there are no big crappies around, I believe this is the reason why, fishing pressure. I do not fish very hard I just troll deep all summer catch quite a few crappies, bass, channel cats and a few walleyes again trolling deep, keep none of the fish we catch. All in the heat of the day, bright and sunny get down there deep and you will catch fish.

I read the postings on the internet and I REALLY appreciate all the information. Bill your reports I really appreciate the info you give us amateurs for free.

Just a few of my own thoughts

[Bill Babler]

There is not a fishing boat one in our dock at Shell Knob. It has been there since the 1980's. At that time and really up to about the early 90's you could always just look down and see crappie, not a lot mind you but a school of 20 or so under that dock.

I have never saw anyone fish that dock and the crappie are no longer there. Someone may have but I just think they eventually all died out and did not reproduce or moved on. One of my favorite ways to catch crappie is to walk the big docks.

Used to be under the middle of the long docks all over Shell Knob. Not there any longer. Don't know that we will ever know the reason, but they gone.

[abkeenan]

Bill,

Could it be that the old standing timber from when the lake was flooded eroded away and therefore the fish left?

[Old plug]

If table rock is anything like LOZ the best crappie fishing will be in beds stuffed deep into the center of large marinas this time of year. I would almost bet there are are a few such places down there that a select few are allowed to fish. I used to go to Mill Stone Marina here. I knew the owners before they lost it. I do not know the new owners and am not about to take a chance of getting into trouble.

[ksmybass]

If you want catch crappie go to Truman! that's where all the crappie are in Missouri!!

[Cindyjo]

No science to back this up but I blame the ever expanding abundance of gar. There are very few walleye in the Cape Fair area yet is has been stocked. Very few walleye in the James river arm but State shocking in 2010 indicated a population capable of reproducing. Same story for crappie. The explosion of the gar fishery I have seen in the last 3 years is scary. They consume fry, I'm sure both walleye and crappie. I assume also bass. Or perhaps the explosion in the gar population is coincidental to the ever decreasing population of walleye and crappie.

I remember reading years ago a muskie will consume 2500 pounds of walleye by the time it reaches 20lbs (plus other fish). There and many very big gar here. I caught one 2 years ago in the 40 - 50 lb range. Too big to try to get in the boat. I posted a picture on this site a couple of years ago of that one.

By the way I have fished the flat creek/james river arm and have not caught a walleye, or seen a walleye in 3 years. Yet much of what I use would normally catch walleye!

Anyway, the gar have become the Jihadist of Table Rock and I don't see any way to stop them.

Years ago I lived and fished Castaic lake in CA (for 23 years). The strippers got in there through a broken screen in one of the major aqueducts feeding the lake. They completely took over the lake. There are no populations of crappie left in Castaic lake. There are good Large Mouth populations with some exceeding 20 lbs. And very good stripper fishing with many being caught in the 40-50lb range.

I see the same future for Table Rock and gar pike. Gar are outstanding fighters and remind me of a muskie battle. Perhaps one day that will be a good thing.

[Quillback]

My 2 cents on the subject of crappie in Table Rock- I think it's also due in part to lake characteristics. I have gone fishing with my uncle on Sardis lake in Mississippi the last few summers, we spend usually will fish a couple of mornings from daylight until noon trolling Bandit 300's. We can usually put 15 -20 keepers a day in the boat, and we're not working too hard at it - just trolling open water in the 25-35 feet deep range.

Sardis and the other nearby crappie lakes get pounded by fishermen, especially in the spring. Groups of fishermen come from Chicago, and St Louis to fish that lake in the spring. I forget the exact number, but something like 200,000 crappie a year are kept out of that lake, and it's not nearly as big as Table Rock, I think it's around 7,000 acres. In spite of all the pressure it keeps kicking out crappie. Table Rock just doesn't seem to be a good lake for crappie.

[gatorbitu]

Stockton and Pomme both offer excellent winter crappie fishing. Look for them on the bluffs and bluff ends in 30-50ft of water and don't overlook the flats that have a channel swing close by. A lot of times you will find them just off the bottom, drop down to just above where you are marking them on your graph and let it set....if they don't slam it, slowly reel up and they will usually whack it comming up. I use two 1/8 th oz jigs tied a foot apart and drop straight down to them. Once you find a big school of them, they will be there all winter until early March. Many trips you will limit out in less than an hour. I use the rest of the time on the water after my limit to scan more spots to fish and have found a ton of spots that way. Winter crappie fishing, in my opinion, is the best fishing hands down. Cold fronts have very little effect on deep winter crappie, so any time is usually good. Hope this helps.

[Champ188]

I'm with abkeenan in wondering if it has to do with the natural disappearance of the standing timber. No doubt, gar and crappie share a lot of open water most of the year and that can't be a good thing for the crappie. But gar and crappie co-exist in lots of other fisheries. The common link between the really good crappie lakes (Stockton, Truman and Pomme) seems to be an abundance of flooded timber.

As for "the jihadists of Table Rock" --- that's some funny stuff right there. Love it.