Fishing Report

[Trav]

The wind was still blowing from the south so I worked the flats in search of the heftier Largemouths. I did get one nice one (4-9), but like yesterday just the sports seemed active. Got 14, counting the larger one.

Instead of jigging for trout, I spent the rest of my time hunting for crappie to quench some curiosity stemmed from a question posed to me by another OAF member.

I got a big fat zero in that department. But I did learn that my ultra-light was in some dire need of new string. Didnt surprise me much though. I hardly ever use line less than 10LB test so my little ultra-lights and thier 6LB dont get that much attention from me.

Anyway, I will find the crappie so I can answer the question of where they are in the winter. Just give me a little time.

[pumphousebrown]

I am new to the site. Looking forward to hearing about the crappie report. I fish with kevin wcmo. We've been fishing Taney with my Dad and his buddies since the mid 90s. A couple guys in our group fish the crappie masters circuit. Would sure love to surprise them with a few crappie.

If there are crappie in Taney, kevin wcmo will find them.

[Leonard]

heys guy...

When it comes to crappie in Taneycomo you really have to know where to look..

Timing is everything for those crappie...

Time of year.... how much water has been running... most important...LOCATION!!

in the right time of year.. its possible to catch 50-75.. even over a 100 crappie in 1 outting... I have caught the crappie.. alot of them.. they are anywhere from 7in up to 18inches (that has been my biggest)... Just have to know where to look..

Heres a couple of tips..

More then likely you wont find them in the daylight (unless your fishing a feeder creek in the spring)

they hold in water less then 10 feet deep..

try small white or grey jigs...

Leonard

[Trav]

I think the subject was of crappie in the "winter".

Anyway, I had a little conversation this morning with my nieghbor as he was getting ready to leave for work. His family has lived on the lake since before it was built, going on a hundred years. So you can say I sort of cheated. Haha

He is the one I mentioned in an earlier post about pulling out lot of crappie from Taney during the summer.

I picked his brain on the subject and since the old guy knew me since I was a pup he bestowed some of his wisdom upon me.

First thing he did was laugh. He said this time of year the crappie disband and you wont find more than half dozen in any location.

He thinks it is because they are the first fish of the year in the Lower Taney to go into pre-spawn and unlike some species they dont feed heavy until during spawn. Thats why they are paper thin this time of year.

As most people know, fish dont act the same in this lake as they do in others.

Second, he said if I was determined to find some crappie that I need to fish timber just inside of the coves instead of way back in them. Suggesting 12 feet to be the magic depth.

Now, I am not going to compromise his confidence by saying where, but he told me of a few brush piles full of cedar tops that his uncle established in the 20s. Since before it turned into a cold water lake. He said that his family have been stacking cover there for 3 generations now and thats where they catch all thier summer crappie.

He suggested that if I was to fish the side that faces the lake I might pull a few.

I will head over there this afternoon for a bit and give it a shot. If I am correct, I have been fishing those piles for a couple decades now, not knowing how they got there. Learn something new everyday I guess. But I always hunt Bass not crappie.

I will post my results in my next fishing report.

[pumphousebrown]

Thanks for the info guys. We are heading down on the 31st. Sure hope its not as cold as this weekend is supposed to be.