Crappie 7-12-20

[Lance34]

Got started a little before 6am yesterday and fished until about 11.  The wind picked up about then and plus the boat traffic gets to going and it’s over....   

WT was 84-85 and clarity was little stained or silty...  That seems to be were I’m finding them is in a little off color water line of water.  Goes from clear to stain in the area I’m fishing and that’s where they are.  Been like that the past two trips...  Water Dept too might play a factor..  17-20 fow and about 13 feet down.  I would go down to 15 feet and my minnows would get a little weak or die eventually..  Rule of thumb to me is to fish above that or put my boat in 15-16 feet of water and put my baits a foot off the bottom...  That still kinda iffy with current level...  

It stayed pretty steady...  Shorts, Catfish, and gar keep you busy...  Ended with 12...  You find bait, you’ll find the good ones roaming slowly eating...  Move slowly... It’s a grind but worth the effort. 

God bless and good fishing Lance 

[Greg B.]

Glad you found em.  I struggled yesterday.  Caught numbers but couldn’t find many big girls.  On my sonar I can just see the start of a thermocline (I think).  Keep hammering them!  

[Phil S]

trolling crankbaits has been tough lately around 412 bridge area. I wonder if they have moved north? It was good down there a few weeks ago.

[Lance34]

@Phil S 

Yeah going by previous years...  Usually by mid July it comes a ghost town down there...  Either that or more likely I just can’t figure out where they go down there until late fall returns.  

[Greg B.]

Phil, was that you I saw out there a few weeks ago?  I was in a green g3 and was wearing a straw hat.  I’m just curious cause I met a nice couple of guys trolling cranks out there a while back.  
 

Greg 

[Phil S]

Greg, I’m not sure I remember but I’ve got a xpress center console, 20 ft. Been fishing a lot around bridge area up to war eagle. Trying to figure out what the next move is to finish out the summer. Can’t seem to pin them. Any tips are appreciated. Will look for you! 

[Lance34]

@Phil S

Cover more water and search for lots of bait... Personally  Cranking seems to be more inconsistent the past couple years or I just suck at it. It can be awesome one week and suck the next.  From previous experience Personally summer  seems really good ones WT hits 75 and when it gets above 84 it gets slow...  I would cover shorter passes.  Hit a flat and along the channel edge.  If nothing pull up look at your map and head to the next flat.  Don’t dragging dead water.  Run your electronics over them before you ever drop a crank.  July and on until it cools gets tough from my personal experience on Beaver.  It’s wear I struggle the worse and can’t figure it out.   I don’t know if it because they finally get full after the post spawn feeding frenzy or just get lethargic when it gets hot like it is now...  Have to search a lot.  Find where there is lots of bait holding and they don’t have chase as much.  If that makes since.  That’s what I’m doing know and seems to be working for now.  Usually quit fishing Beaver about now and head elsewhere because it gets difficult but staying pretty consistent for now with what I’m doing.  

[Greg B.]

10 hours ago, Phil S said:

Greg, I’m not sure I remember but I’ve got a xpress center console, 20 ft. Been fishing a lot around bridge area up to war eagle. Trying to figure out what the next move is to finish out the summer. Can’t seem to pin them. Any tips are appreciated. Will look for you! 

I think I was referring to another boat, but I’m sure I’ll see you out there.  I’m usually there 1-2x per week but I’m going to start branching out to new locations soon.  The last few weeks out there have been tough for me.  
 

Lance thanks again for your posts.  They are very helpful.  I’m trolling jigs rather than cranks at the moment as it’s just what I’ve been trying to learn.  Having gained a little confidence I’m going to stick to it a while.  

[rzbker]

Hey,

First post. Interesting reading on our lake, thanks Lance.

 I recently retired to Lost Bridge Village (lake mile 4) from Springdale and have been doing some recon in the area. I know that this is not the time to be ultra serious about catching, it is more about learning the lake better (like pre scouting for deer) so when the weather cools, I'll know where to go.

After reading past posts on the lake, I first feared that I am too far north for consistency for crappie. I read that the striper population really plays havoc on them. Never fished for walleye, but I intend to in the fall. I'll probably be asking for advice on them also. 

I guess I am asking for any hints to where to venture next on this part of the lake. I sure don't want to have to motor all the way to Hickory Creek. I am currently beginning to work up Big Clifty arm. Are there any web sites that have marked brush piles? AGFC's map only goes up to Rocky Branch and shows nothing else further north.

Caught em' good on Lake Ouchita 3 weeks ago, sure like to get into them at home!

Thanks in advance for any advice,  Scott

[Lance34]

@rzbker

I've only fished that far north a couple times...  First suggestion is get livescope...  lol... Seriously though there is a ton of trees and that narrows the search time down a lot.  You’ll go in on several group of trees and they’ll be just all on one tree.  Usually it’s the one you can’t see...  

All those branches up there.  Clifty, RB, Indian and so on have crappie in them all year.   You just got to pick at each one...  Have to come a spot fisherman and run around a lot...  Target depth has been 20-30 fow up there.  Mostly mid tree to the top with a minnow dropped down on top of them...  

I don’t know of any other information than game and site on brush piles 

Happy hunting