Need blacknose pattern for small shallow lake

There is a TWRA lake fairly close to me that is 177 acres and has a max depth of 25 feet. I know it was stocked with a little over 6000 blacknose crappie back in '06, but I had always heard that is was mainly a catfish lake and not very good for much else. I've fished it once but I was bass fishing, never tried to fish for crappie there. The fishing report in the local paper says the crappie have been biting there this week.

"Herb Parsons Lake: Crappie fishing has improved dramatically with the recent drop in temperatures. Several boats have been using minnows to catch their limits from the main lake during the past week."

I've been told conflicting stories about the bottom structure. One of my fishing buddies told me the lake is like a big bowl with gradual depth changes and no ledges or drop-offs, the lady at the bait shops says there is a creek channel and that they recently dredged it. The map book i have does not show depths but describes it as being "well structured with tree-tops and weed beds".

It has been a couple of years since I have fished there, but when I did I caught a bunch of those little pesky yellow bass and some small crappie. I have heard that it is producing quite well lately for small to medium sized crappie. Also if you don't mind catching a bunch of small fish you might want to give Glenn Springs in Munford a try.

Been to Glen Springs a couple of times bass fishing, always seems to be crowded and it is a little bit further from the house than Herb Parsons.

I work afternoons 3-11 in Collierville. I live in Bartlett and my babysitter lives right off of Collierville-Arlington road between I40 and Hwy64. If the crappie are truly producing at HP that would be great for me. I could fish every day before work. Drop my daughter off at the sitter around 9, hit that lake at 9:30, fish a couple hours, get some lunch, head to work.

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Originally Posted by BigKyd

Been to Glen Springs a couple of times bass fishing, always seems to be crowded and it is a little bit further from the house than Herb Parsons.

I work afternoons 3-11 in Collierville. I live in Bartlett and my babysitter lives right off of Collierville-Arlington road between I40 and Hwy64. If the crappie are truly producing at HP that would be great for me. I could fish every day before work. Drop my daughter off at the sitter around 9, hit that lake at 9:30, fish a couple hours, get some lunch, head to work.

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Man that sure sounds like a great schedule to do some fishing. Let me know how you do. I have been thinking about giving it a try as well. Thanks By the way, I have caught some huge bluegill's out of there just in case the Crappie don't cooperate..

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Originally Posted by BigKyd

There is a TWRA lake fairly close to me that is 177 acres and has a max depth of 25 feet. I know it was stocked with a little over 6000 blacknose crappie back in '06, but I had always heard that is was mainly a catfish lake and not very good for much else. I've fished it once but I was bass fishing, never tried to fish for crappie there. The fishing report in the local paper says the crappie have been biting there this week.
"Herb Parsons Lake: Crappie fishing has improved dramatically with the recent drop in temperatures. Several boats have been using minnows to catch their limits from the main lake during the past week."
I've been told conflicting stories about the bottom structure. One of my fishing buddies told me the lake is like a big bowl with gradual depth changes and no ledges or drop-offs, the lady at the bait shops says there is a creek channel and that they recently dredged it. The map book i have does not show depths but describes it as being "well structured with tree-tops and weed beds".

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No special "pattern" needed for Blacknose ... just the usual Crappie patterns/techniques will work. Blacknose are just Black Crappie with a genetic marker, so they're really no different than a regular Black Crappie (other than the black stripe up their face :p ). They're going to come a little shallower, and stay shallow longer (in Spring), than what a White Crappie normally does ... and in the Fall, they're going to come shallow again. They're going to be oriented towards weeds, if they're present ... and if not, they're going to orient towards wood or rock. IF there are any docks or concrete structures (like bridge pilings or wing dam walls) they're likely to be hanging around those. If there's any kind of baitfish/fry/minnows in the lake ... they'll be hanging around whatever structure/cover that these fish congregate around. ;)
Personally, I'd be inclined to scout the lake for any submerged cover ... weedline, brush, tree/stump, hump, rockpile, etc ... and cast a jighead/plastics to them (1/16oz w/1.5" plastic body) or a 1/16oz marabou Roadrunner. Something with chartreuse tails (plastics) or solid chartreuse (RR's) should get you bit. Black Crappie tend to eat more crustaceans than White Crappie ... so even plastics in brown hues will work. I've used the little crawdad plastic bodies, and caught Black Crappie on them. Blues & greens with chartreuse tails are good "minnow" imitation colors, and should work just fine, too. Fathead minnows are always a good bet, as well.
If they have no particular major cover or structure to hang around ... I'd probably opt to longline troll around the deeper banks. If I could find the weedline, I'd work along the outside edge of that. Otherwise, I'd be prone to scouting for any submerged brush/rock or abrupt contour changes ... and be casting to those spots. If I was a minnow user ... I'd be slow drifting along any of the steeper banks, or just outside of the deeper weedlines. Depth would be determined by water clarity ... and I'd be fishing about 2-3ft below the depth at which my jig (or minnow) disappeared from sight. That would be my depth starting point, anyway ... and I'd adjust to fish deeper, if I wasn't getting hits.
No guarantees ... that's just what I'd do, given the nature of the lake you described. :p

... cp :cool:

Find the cover (brushpiles) and fish vertically right down to them not under them. Dangle that minnow or jig in front of their nose and they'll eat it. Find the channel the bait lady spoke of and fish it in a bottom bouncing technique. This is search and destroy method. You'll be amazed at what you will find and learn. Keep an eye on your sonar unit. Inevitably, you will come across some brushpiles. Mark them on your GPS so you can go straight back to them in the future. Build yourself a portfolio of spots and I guarantee you'll progressively catch more fish. Also, do your homework now for the spring spawn. Watch for shallow water cover and fish that next spring when the water starts warming up into the 50's and 60's. The more you go the more you will learn about your lake.

Forgot about this thread. Been raining here a ton lately and rained the morning I was planning on hitting the lake. I went anyway after the rain passed through but did not have any luck. Got a couple of bites but did not land anything. I only had a couple of hours so I did not get to do much scouting, talked to a couple of guys hanging around the bait shop and headed out to find some pallets they told me about and fished around where they were supposed to be for a bit and then just started working my way around the lake along the bank. I think i was too shallow, tried to fish every lay-down that I came across but the fish just were not there. Talked to some guys as I was leaving who said they had been finding them in the middle of the coves earlier that week. I will probably try again this sunday and report back.

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Originally Posted by slimeyslab

Man that sure sounds like a great schedule to do some fishing. Let me know how you do. I have been thinking about giving it a try as well. Thanks By the way, I have caught some huge bluegill's out of there just in case the Crappie don't cooperate..

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Went out to HP this past Sunday 11/15, fished for 2 hours and caught 6 crappie and 1 bluegill, no keepers. All were in the 7 to 8 inch range. Fishing a jig in 17-23 feet of water. Fish were scattered at all depths but I mostly fished in the 10-14 foot range. I was fishing up by the dam about 20-30 yards out from the pier.