Smithville 9/12

[APKape]

Fishing was better today than the prior weeks. I took the easy road today by hitting brush piles and bridges. I caught a lot of fish, but only had 9 keepers. Looks like the Corp shut the water off on the 8th which cleared the lake up a bit, and the turn-over smell is gone too. The morning started out a little foggy (picture 1) and the winds were calm. Water temp started at 73 and rose to 76 by 1:30pm. Water clarity was 2+ feet at each of my spots. And the best part of the day, the recreational boaters were nowhere in sight.

On to the report…

Area 1: This is the brush pile by the public beach, west of the dam. This was a slow spot today. Fish were small but they were real fat. I was mostly catching blacks here today. The pile is about 40 to 50 feet in front of the no wake buoy (picture 2). It’s in about 18 feet of water and about 5 feet high. Last week, I did pretty well here.

Looks like the Park’s Department tore down the boat slip put at the swim beach (picture 3). This thing was huge. They took this down in one week. They must have been busting their humps to get that thing dismantled in that timeframe.

Area 2: I tried this brush pile for the first time today. It is the one that’s located right in front of the Visitor’s Center east of the dam. This pile is in about 25 feet of water and about 5’ or so off the bottom. As I was trolling round, I believe I saw three different piles all within 10 to 15 feet of each other. This was my best spot today. The fish on this thing were not big - keeper size - but they were chunky. I caught white and black crappie, green and white bass, and a channel cat. Only thing missing was a walleye. Burton has the coordinates for this pile on his website. It’s hard to describe where it’s located. There is a clearing of trees on the bank, and it’s about 100 feet or so from the bank (picture 4).

The rest of my pictures are on this post: http://www.crappie.com/crappie/misso...tml#post888927

After this spot I headed toward the bridge at Camp Branch and the brush piles around the rip raps. As I was leaving I snapped a pic where you may (or may not) make out only three sail boats on the water (picture 5). This shot was taken toward the Little Platte Marina. Where are the recreational boaters?…I don’t know…but I don’t miss’em.

Area 3: I tried this brush pile for the first time. I don’t know if this is an old pile or not, because it’s not very tall. The pile is in about 17 feet of water and only about 3 or 4 feet high. There seems to be two piles very close together. As I was trolling I think I might have hit another brush pile just east of the ones I intended to fish. The finder showed that I went over the edge of something. I didn’t go back to find it because it was not a good spot for the fish today.

As I was fishing this spot, I did hear some guys at the Camp Branch bridge pillars doing pretty good. They were pulling the crappie in pretty fast and keeping what they were catching. I wish I would have hit the bridge first. Oh well.

The last place I fished today was the W Bridge pillars by the Old Trimble Lake. I caught a few keepers there, but most of them were small. I didn’t spend much time here because the clouds were starting to get dark and I read that there was a chance of rain.

As I pulled up to the boat ramp at the Little Platte at 1:30, I was amazed at how few people were at the lake (picture 6). Looks like Smithville slowed way down after labor day.

For my tackle today, I was both dipping and casting around the brush piles today. Casting with a slow retrieve produced the best hit. I was using 1.5” Lil’ Hustler Jigs, black/char and blue/chart, with 1/16 oz unpainted jig heads. Best color for the strike…can you guess?…yes, it was black/chart in the lead again for today.

Well tomorrow is another day, and I’m heading north of the Old Trimble Lake to see what’s going on up there. If anyone has a report for Smithville, please post. I’d like to hear how the rest of you guys are doing.

[got crappie]

Nice Alex,Went out Friday with crappie executioner ( the mans a crappie catching machine), We fished the W bridge and caught alot of crappie didnt keep any. Then fished the first cove south on east side. Picked up a few , we would of had a full limit if we keep fish. Mike if you read this you welcome in my boat anytime. Sorry for the late post. Dave

[wildhunter066]

Congrats guys both sounds like a good day to me!

[beagle man]

got crappie my name is mike you talking to

apkape you sir are one dedicated fishing report person, wish I knew how to do that stuff. thanks.

crappie up

[Joedog]

Well done, Alex. I'm fishing vicariously through you. Wish I had the time to go out as often as you and post such great reports!

Keep after 'em. If I get out to Smithville soon, I'll let you know my results, but I doubt I'll cover the real estate you do!

[got crappie]

Beagle I'm talking about Mike "the turkey killer" But beagle if you get up to Smithville your welcome in my boat also. Dave

[moswampy]

crappie were roving flats on mainlake Friday afternoon, find the balls of shad and the crappie were on them. Keeper size and larger on trolled cranks 2.2-2.4 their favorite speed. Chrome colored seemed to work best.

[SMILES]

well done alex!!!! Thanks for the 110% work on smithville youre a true angler.

[jackb]

As usual Alex, great report. Very in-depth info. We fished it Sunday, very peaceful day. Caught lots of shorts, and you are correct, they were VERY fat! It was a pleasure to be out there without all the pleasure boaters

[got crappie]

Alright Jack is back , I knew you would come back after the big boats left. Dave