Still confused

[Nibbler]

I was in buying bait Saturday, and heard that Melvern Crappie were going pretty good. Everything in Southeast Kansas, seems to have shut down. The only area that I've fished on Melvern was around the breakwater at the State Park Area, during the spawn. The advice that I received was to use a crankbait, and troll until I find where the crappie are stacked up.
Has anyone fished Melvern enough to give me a clue where to start, other then the boat ramp? It's a big lake! Most of my crankbaits are for bass. Will they be too big? Is it better to fish it in the daylight, or at night? With the Kansas heat starting to bare down, the mornings are pretty short before I have to head in! Any tips would be appreciated.
Nibbler

[Moose1am]

Find a good topo map and look for the old river bed or old creek beds on the map. If you can troll over the top of the channels you might have better luck. It will narrow down the amount of water that you have to fish to find the crappies. Also I have caught some nice big slabs on bass crankbaits. I used the old bombers 400 and 500 series to catch largemouth bass and occasionally would hook into a 1lb to 2lb White Crappie. Crappie have pretty big mouths even when they are only 3 years old. Those big slabs are 4, 5 and 6 years old on most lake and can eat a horse. Most of the big crappie were caught along a creek channel drop off that came close to shallow water areas. I fished the deep water edge and caught saugar and crappie and largemouth bass up on the shelf where the stumps were still visible in 3 ft of water. The channel was 15 to 20ft deep depending on the time of year and the lakes water levels.

I was in buying bait Saturday, and heard that Melvern Crappie were going pretty good. Everything in Southeast Kansas, seems to have shut down. The only area that I've fished on Melvern was around the breakwater at the State Park Area, during the spawn. The advice that I received was to use a crankbait, and troll until I find where the crappie are stacked up.
Has anyone fished Melvern enough to give me a clue where to start, other then the boat ramp? It's a big lake! Most of my crankbaits are for bass. Will they be too big? Is it better to fish it in the daylight, or at night? With the Kansas heat starting to bare down, the mornings are pretty short before I have to head in! Any tips would be appreciated.
Nibbler

[Crappie Chatt]

:D Nibbler,,You are right about Melvern being 'HOT' for crappies last weekend. Fish were on and around brush-piles in 12 to 19ft. Next time there,,put in at Arrowrock. It is on the south side about the middle of the lake. The point just east of the ramp has piles around it. Come out of the cove and head down the south bank towards the dam. Lots of piles there too.The chanel follows the south bank in theses areas. I'll be there next friday if the weather is OK. I'll be in a white Scorpion boat with a young lady and her grandfather. Hope they are still hitting like last weekend!!! <*)}}}><

[haugboss]

dont forget about wolfie just down the road
everyone should enjoy the feeling of releasing 30-40 13 and 7/8" crappie a
day
if your not species specific this is the place to go
for a legit chance at 300 fish in one day
al

[Crappie Chatt]

:D Haugboss,,,Looks like you are off the probation period. Glad to see ya here,,,,finally!!! <*)}}}><

[Nibbler]

:D Nibbler,,You are right about Melvern being 'HOT' for crappies last weekend. Fish were on and around brush-piles in 12 to 19ft. Next time there,,put in at Arrowrock. It is on the south side about the middle of the lake. The point just east of the ramp has piles around it. Come out of the cove and head down the south bank towards the dam. Lots of piles there too.The chanel follows the south bank in theses areas. I'll be there next friday if the weather is OK. I'll be in a white Scorpion boat with a young lady and her grandfather. Hope they are still hitting like last weekend!!! <*)}}}><

Thanks for your reply Crappie Chatt. As I had said earlier, I'm new to crappie fishing, and really new to this computer age. I didn't know if anyone would take the time to reply to a novis. I won't be at Melvern today(Friday)-$$$ gotta work. I'm going to try to make it up there late Saturday, Sunday, if the weather permits. Hope it didn't rain you out today. By the way, you answered about everything I could think of to get me started, except, what are they biting on? Hope you fill your basket today! If I'm ever up that way, and see that white Scorpion, I'll say Hi! Thanks again. Nibbler

[Nibbler]

Find a good topo map and look for the old river bed or old creek beds on the map. If you can troll over the top of the channels you might have better luck. It will narrow down the amount of water that you have to fish to find the crappies. Also I have caught some nice big slabs on bass crankbaits. I used the old bombers 400 and 500 series to catch largemouth bass and occasionally would hook into a 1lb to 2lb White Crappie. Crappie have pretty big mouths even when they are only 3 years old. Those big slabs are 4, 5 and 6 years old on most lake and can eat a horse. Most of the big crappie were caught along a creek channel drop off that came close to shallow water areas. I fished the deep water edge and caught saugar and crappie and largemouth bass up on the shelf where the stumps were still visible in 3 ft of water. The channel was 15 to 20ft deep depending on the time of year and the lakes water levels.

Thanks for your reply - Moose1am - I've got an older boat, and trolling with my motor requires a lot of patience to say the least. It's good for about 10 minutes, before the carbs load up, and then gets really hard to start. So trolling is almost out of the question for long periods of time. I appreciate the info on the crankbaits. I always wondered if a crappie would take something that big. I was wondering if there is any way to access topo maps off the internet? The crappie that I had caught at Melvern during the spawn last spring were running right at 10 1/2". Are there many larger crappie to be caught there? Thanks again for your return. Good luck catching! Nibbler

[haugboss]

nibbler
you might try amsoil for your outboard
it made my old motor (100 hp merc)
idle smooth
more rpm's
no smoke
let me know if you want more info on it
al

[Nibbler]

Haugboss,
I would be interested in knowing more about Amsoil. My fishing buddy uses it in his fuel, and says almost the same thing that you have stated. I talked to my marine mechanic, and he said that he couldn't give it his seal of approval, but I think it's because he's a Mercury dealer! I am thinking pretty hard about trying it out. It seems as though my buddy said - that the Amsoil sales person told him, that he could not go back to normal outboard oil after running the Amsoil. Do you know if this is true, or Amsoil sales talk? Thanks - Nibbler

[Nibbler]

Crappie Chatt,
I made it up to Melvern - Sunday, but the Crappie wouldn't cooperate. The wind was up as usual at Melvern, and I had a terrible time finding brush piles. What ones I located didn't seem to hold fish. The weather pattern took a major change this weekend, so I didn't expect much, but I had an opportunity to go, so... a bad day fishing is better then a good day at work! Did you make it to the lake on Friday? Any luck? Nibbler