Crappie jerk Bait

[bobberdown]

Some of the Bass tournament angers are reporting catching big slab crappie on 6' jerk baits this week while practising for a tournament.
This is a great sign the fall bite is on for the next few weeks. The crappie they caught were scattered on rock chunk banks on secondary points in 12' of water. Most were about 25 yards from brush piles. Most of the reports came in from the Fort Leonard wood recreation area and PB1.
If no huge cold fronts come in for the next three of four day's they should be on the piles in 8 to 10' deep, By the middle of the week. If a front hits they will still be staged in the deeper water and holding tight.
My son in law caught a limit of 10" to 14" in Two hours, yesterday, 14' deep on a Red/Char jig, using a slip bobber and 2lb test line. When he tried the brush in 8' deep water he only caught dink bass and 4" an 6" crappie. on white jig. He talked to some bait anglers using minnows ans they said all they could catch on the minnows was small bass that were schooling around the brush.
The big cove at Tan-Tar A under the walk way bridge was where he was. That area of the lake has some deep bluffs with hanging brush, and we are going to try them tomorrow.

[mr. baker]

Thanks for the report. I am going first thing tomorrow morning and I will give the jerk bait a try. I love to fish a jerk bait.

[fryguy]

where the heck do you get a 6' jerkbait? and what kind of tacklebox do you carry that thing around in? i'm just giving you a little junk bobber. i've nailed 'em at that big cove at tan tar a before, that's a pretty good spot!

[bugman]

I havent been to the lake since camp but after seeing that report i bet it wont be long till i'm there now.

[bobberdown]

Just an update on the LO bite. Three of us were on the lake today and the wind was blowing out of the north west at 10-15 mph, temp was mid 40's, partly cloudy. We fished over mixed dogwood,and chunk rock piles 12-15' deep. Used slip bobber rigs with Pink/White, Yellow/white, Crappie Magnets.
In 4 hours we caught 65 crappie, of the 65 only 41 were over 9". 17 of the 41 were over 12" and 4 of the 17 were over 13".
They were hitting very easy on the fall, and the jig had to be within 6" of the brush. That tells me that they are starting to settle into the brush. Only one thing that bothers me is that I don't think the lake has turned over where we were fishing. With three nights with the temps under 32 and tonight calls for a 26 temp, the lake should roll soon.
If it rolls it will scatter the fish for a few days, but then they will be settled in for the winter. We were fishing about 1 mile from the Ha Ha Tonka Spring, this area always has a hint of a current and the bigger game fish migrate to the area this time of the year. The smaller Crappie began to bury up in the brush when the big strippers and hybrids show up.
We had one Walleye about 15" on a jig near the end of the day. No crappie was caught after the eye hit.
Take plenty bobber stops with you, I had to wreck a good Spinner bait skirt for stops's.

[fryguy]

that's all good info bobber, thanks a bunch. i have never actually ventured all the way up near the spring to fish(our house is on the 18 mm on shawnee bend). i was married on the glade at Ha Ha Tonka though, and i have heard the big walleyes swim up in that region. i mean big!

[old fuzzy]

bobber-down are the stumps as bad as they use to be geting up to the spring?we use to put in at the 54 bridge and go up but if you got out of the channel it was stump-city,,use to go up there in the very early spring while chaseing those green fish

[bobberdown]

I don't think you could get near the actual spring with the lake at the depth it is now. We were around a mile east of the spring on the main lake Chanel. We were planning to go to Bridal Cave cove but happened to think about a pile we had placed over two years ago and didn't make it to Bridal.

[gonefishingee]

Bugman we need to fish that part of the lake.

[fryguy]

i'm in on that fellas! let me know.