In the Alton area, you need to fish the sloughs
Does anyone catch crappie on Ole' Man River? I know there have to be some mean crappie swimming in those waters. Just wondering if anyone has any tactics they would like to share for catching. We fish mostly between Memphis and Dyersburg, Tn. I'm guessing the best place is behind dikes but any info would be appreciated.
In the Alton area, you need to fish the sloughs
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The only crappie fishing i am aware of on the MS river is on the oxbows. They are some of the best places to catch quality crappie at times, it depends on water levels and clarity. Of course there must be crappie in the river itself,i've just never heard of anyone trying to catching them. I can only imagine with the constant changing currents, muddy water, and structure such as whole trees and such rolling down the big muddy that it would be a nitemare to locate anything that would be considered a consistant pattern.
The two best times to fish (when it's raining & when it aint). Proud member of team GitDaFeeshGrease
I don't know about the Miss, but here on the Ohio the fishin doesn't get good till it warms up. We usually fish the creeks and the slews and do pretty well.
Slough and back water areas are great advise, but don't over look points, log jams, and other current breaking things such as lwing dams, islands, bridges, boulders, etc. You can even catch good numbers of them behind roller dams at times, especially along their slip lines that pass by cover. Crappie utilise edges to ambush their prey, and thats a great spot for them to do that in. They generally do not stay right in tough currents in rivers, but if their food source is holding there, they will dart in and out of it to feed, then return back to their current breaks.
Hope this helps ya some! Big bites, full baskets, and God's blessings to ya!
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Just one more cast, I promise!Common sense isn't all that common these days.Take the Time & Take the Kids
There certainly are crappies in the main channel of the Mississippi here in Minnesota. Around here they also tend to average larger and are heavier bodied than lake crappies. Side channels and inflowing streams can be dynamite as it warms up, but don't overlook eddies around bridge pilings, or shoreline pockets and eddies and the other current breaks or warm water sources during cold seasons. At lot of these spots are seasonal, and one has to sort that out, but the crappies are there. Here in Minneapolis one overlooked set of spots are running street drains, better if they do not run dry, but often fabulous as the drains start to run in and after a rain.
Years ago when I was stationed in Millington had a civilian that worked for me that fished the river a lot for crappie. They always fished up around the Covington area down to Shelby forest. They would wait till the river was down where they could get into the oxbows that have no other acess and when it got real low they would fish in the holes below the wing dams. When it was right they could fill a boat up.
Proud Member of Team Geezer
Charlie Weaver USN/ENC 1965-1979
You can catch some hogs in those sloughs
Thanks guys,
I have fished the Tenn. River a lot but when I recently got married and moved within rock throwing distance of the Mississippi, I had to learn new water....muddy water, Ha! The current differences between the two rivers is unbelievable and have to admit, I miss the Tenn. River. Oh well, life is short and as Jerry Clower would say, "are you gonna talk or fish?"