lake girardeau ( aka the dead sea) today

[Smitty 79]

me,dad and my buddy eric gave it a try today.

caught 2 fish all day
although it did surprise me when i got the first one it was a crappie!!!!

13 1/2 in. 1 1/4 pound crappie!!!!!!!!! i couldnt belive it
on a orange and black green tail slab daddy jig 1/16th
16ft deep in 20ft of water.

dad said he hasnt seen a crappie like that in lake girardeau in long time.
caught him right at noon. water temps were between 45 and 49 degrees.

also caught little 9in. bass on same jig later round 3:30

talked to couple of other guys they said not much biting either few bass or bluegill mostly. there was quite a few boats out and with weather like today im not surprised 68 sunny a little wind at times but nothing like it usually is this time of year.

even though we didnt get much it was still better than sitting at home.

[bugman]

If you only catch one crappie thats the one to catch.........nice fish!!!

[Speck]

O.K. you've got your annual limit from the Dead Sea now!!!!:p:D Good job guys!

[smilnsam]

Lake Girardeau is hard for crappie. There should be plenty though...just takes time to learn where they're living. To the right of the ramp to the west, that cove with the stumps is good during the spawn.
Bluegill, bass, and redear are real good there at the right time too. Good luck.

[SEMOmike]

"there should be plenty though..." Not really sure if I believe this! I fished it all day Sat. in 50-60 temps, 45-50 degree water temp, and caught the same 9" bass in 20ft of water that Smitty79 did!!!! Outside of that fish, I didn't get a bite, and didn't mark many fish. As far as I'm considered fishing there, and its 20 minutes from my house, is an absolute waste of time! Not that I'm a crappie fishing master, its just if you have 12 poles out, half with minnows and half with varying jig combinations, you should be able to at least scratch a couple crappie over the course of a 9 hour fishing exhibition! The MO dept of conservation will tell you that they are stocking crappie out there every year, however I just don't believe that there are many crappie at all in there. Old timers will tell you that the muskie stocking program years back did that lake in, however the stocking program there was scrapped many years ago and there can't be many muskie left in there. I have fished there 8 times, probably a total of 40 hours and managed to catch two total crappie. Seems like everyone I talk to is the same way!

[Smitty 79]

thanks bugman

speckhunter- yeah that what im affraid of. lol!!!!

smilinsam- hopefully i can figure it out. that place is pretty hard on tackle for the few you catch. last year me and eric got into some big bluegills on the bank there on crickets got 25 big uns and they made pretty good little fry!!!

semomike- i was pretty surprised when i got that one up to the surface and it was a crappie!!! its not the best lake but if u r just wanting to get out close to home its still fun.

[talltimber]

For me, looks are deceiving. That it one of the prettiest lakes around, fishy looking place. I've never done any good there to speak of. I've fished it six or eight times for crappie. I might have caught six fish total of all trips and none that I kept.