Mythical Table Rock Crappie

[fishinwrench]

From what I've seen/heard, what TR lacks in Crappie it makes up for in decent sized Bluegill.

Here on LO I never see a big bluegill, they seem to vanish at about 6-7", yet in a good sized heavily wooded lake just over the hill the gills run 9-11" but the crappie are hard to locate and paper thin when you do.

[Chief Grey Bear]

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

Oh you are taking me back.

We used to fish, and dad still does, fish for crappie a lot in the spring back in the late 70's through the 80's. It was like you said. Livewells full of 2lbers. Nobody questioned you if you had some topping 3lb. We always worked the Eagel Rock area, Big and Little Indian as well as up and down the Kings.

But a new generation showed up and coupled with other things the fishing suffered. I remember well the blood curdling screams that came with the new 10 inch 15 fish limits imposed on some lakes. I wish it was a 12 inch limit. If you would have kept a 10 inch back in that day you would have been run off the lake!

I have always been amazed that these lake produce like they do. I mean Stockton is beat hard all year.There are literally millions of crappie coming out of there ever year.

[Chief Grey Bear]

From what I've seen/heard, what TR lacks in Crappie it makes up for in decent sized Bluegill.

Here on LO I never see a big bluegill, they seem to vanish at about 6-7", yet in a good sized heavily wooded lake just over the hill the gills run 9-11" but the crappie are hard to locate and paper thin when you do.

Lets find some big Bluegills. I'll bet we can we can find some 9+.

[fishinwrench]

Lets find some big Bluegills. I'll bet we can we can find some 9+.

As soon as that purple stuff (Henbit?) starts sprouting in the corn fields near the pond in March the big bullgills will be easy pickins.

[Quillback]

From what I've seen/heard, what TR lacks in Crappie it makes up for in decent sized Bluegill.

Here on LO I never see a big bluegill, they seem to vanish at about 6-7", yet in a good sized heavily wooded lake just over the hill the gills run 9-11" but the crappie are hard to locate and paper thin when you do.

Yes a bunch of gills in the Rock and very little pressure on them. Some nice redear in the lake also, but they are much more elusive.

[ten_scoach]

One word.......Pressure. In the big picture there's not much water between piney and point 15 with a lot of anglers. Crappie are hit and miss and move place to place much like deer with hunting pressure. There are crappie there and have caught my fair share of limits and had an equal fair share of skunks. All the basic crappie tactics apply, brush, standing timber, docks, structure, bluffs, etc. It's just a matter of moving around until you find some and hunt places no one else hunts which is tough in such small water. It can be great and it can be horrible. It's just finding the fish; pressure from other anglers makes that tough. When 4 other boats hit the same brush pile before you on that same day, catching anything can be tough. My advice, keep doing completely different things in completely different spots until you get on em. Don't do the exact same thing day after day and expect different results. Good luck.

[Sac River Jim]

theres feeding hoops in some the boat slips between piney and cape fair boat dock that hold large populations of crappie

[merc1997 Bo]

cindyjo

i think you are very correct in your thinking about gar having an affect on the crappie and bass population. one other thing to remember is that crappie, just like the bass here in table rock, are becoming open water feeders. they just follow the shad pod around same as the bass do. this just makes them much harder to locate and catch because they are not around anything, just hanging out in open space.

bo

[terryjones]

Good point,I've also noticed in the summertime I can catch big crappieright around a big shad ball.