Crappie Fishing in Arkansas

[Jerry Blake]

Since our weather has stablized and the surface temps are back in the mid 40s like they should be this time of year the crappie here (at least on Lake Greeson) have finally settled back into a normal winter pattern.

The last few times out we have found them 18 to 25-feet deep and bunched up pretty well on old brushpiles on points that extend into deeper water.

Today a friend and I sank three bamboo condos (that we built yesterday) and built three more. Then we went scouting and found some gooduns.

He caught the biggest one. It was 15.5-inches long and weighed 1.15 on my Rapala Digital scale but on the certified scale at the meat counter in his store it weighed an even 2-pounds - guess my scale is cheating me a bit!

Her ole belly sure was swollen up with eggs. Several of them had big shad in their stomachs too - big as in over 4-inches. Guess that may explain why they were hitting our biggest Rosy Reds the best.

[Moose1am]

Nice catch there Jerry. My ears perked up when you said that big one was full of 4" long shad. That should tell everyone that big baits catch big crappie. Match the hatch sort of. Most of last springs shad have grown up or died by now and there may not be many tiny bait fish still around until after it warms up and the next generation hatchs.

Most fo the bigger crappie I have seen coming out of my waters have been caught on big 3" long crank baits. Some of the biggest crappie that I have caught in the past on KY lake were when I was fishing for Bass with Crankbaits. I can remember bringing home some nice crappie that ended up with my stringers of bass.

I never caught them in the numbers though which is why I came to crappie.com to learn where the bigens hang out in numbers. Hopefully I will figure this out on my home lakes and be able to use it on other lakes in the furture.

[FalconSmitty]

The fish I caught monday were in 24' water but were up and down on the condo. I caught my biggest right at dark about 6' deep but my double hookups were about 18' deep. I guess they are stacked up here too Jerry and I was lucky to be in such a hot spot. Does the condo produce better after the crappie see it for months. West point lake home of Crappie USA's 2005 Super Mega Bucks Event, $10,000, is just 25 minutes from my house and I might drop me some bamboo in a few days. Is that legal? Ethical?
Ya never no with these condos I could land me 7 2lbers and be in the hunt.
(Smitty slowly floats back to planet earth) I might be crazy but it seems the crappie like the bushy bamboo better than traditional structure in deep water.
The winter pattern could be the major reason I am having success lately, but I think the condos have a bit to do with it.
What is the water temp? Ours is about 47.

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Smitty:

I don't think there is anything unethical about putting condos in to fish in a tournament. The bamboo condos that have been in Greeson almost two years are still producing just as well as they did when they were new.

I added this picture to my bamboo condo building instructions to show what the bamboo looks like after the leaves fall off - crappie gotta love it!

Our surface temps have been steady around 45-degrees this week.

We can catch some smaller crappie shallower but all the good ones have been over 18-feet deep lately.

[whizkids]

legal? Ethical?
It is done every day, by tournament fishermen. Please post GPS coordinates on CUSA or Crappie.com message board.

[Darryl Morris]

There are several teams in CUSA who fish tournaments regularly and only fish their own stuff they've put in. They've been doing it for several years and have their own posts on many, many lakes. That's the difference in prefishing for a crappie tournament and prefishing for a bass tournament. Why do you think the turnout is nominal on a new lake and most don't want to compete head-to-head on unfamiliar waters. There are some I know of who, once they qualify for the classic, start prefishing the classic lake, putting out their own brush and making stake beds. Maybe that's why they've done so well for so many years. It's alot of work, but it's paid off for them. Illegal or unethical - nope. It's the only way to survive the crappie tournament trails unless your the luckiest man alive. Just my thoughts. That's why when I fish a tournament I'm not there to win for the money. Just have fun meeting new folks who love to crappie fish.