I think they all packed their bags, and split .....

Howdy MO members ! It's been over a month since I've caught a crappie, so, I have a proposition for y'all …..

PROBLEM : Finding, and catchin the elusive summer crappie on my home lake.

PROPOSITION : The chance for you to come out and fish my water, and (hopefully) catch some nice slabs, while helpin me with some tips, and techniques on locating, and hookin these summer fish.

DETAILS -

LAKE : Private, 140 acres
Average depth - About 20 - 25 ft
Max depth - 42 ft
Water - Clear, with visibility around 6 to 8 ft plus.
Structure - Rocky, with some steep drops - Rocky mud flats … Used to be corn fields / livestock pasture until the early 60s, when it was flooded. VERY little topo info available, besides what's in my head !
Cover - VERY few brushpiles, with floating docks. The area was logged, and cleared prior to flooding.
Location - Warren / Montgomery county line, 4 or 5 miles off of I-70.

Private dock, with trailer and bunkhouse, AC, restroom, and full kitchen and BBQ.

BOAT : 16' Grizzly, 9.9 Mercury, brand new Terrova with I-pilot, 3 year old HB 999 with SI and DI, transom mounted ducer. 4 holder spider rig on bow, with 4 adjustable holders along the gunwales. Also have 2 green led lights for night fishing capabilities.

There is an option for you to bring your boat if conditions warrant. There is a ramp less than 100 yards from my dock.

FISHING HISTORY : Excellent bass, bluegill, catfish, with good crappie in the spring.

My personal best from this lake …..
Crappie - No weight, but was 14 1/4'' with a few 15"plus caught by others.
Bass - 12lb 2oz, with many in the 7 to 10 lb range.
Redear - 2lb 2oz, many in the over 1lb range.
Bluegill - 1lb 1oz, with many in the 13 - 15 oz range.
Channel Cat - 14lb 10oz, with a new lake record caught this year by someone else, weighing in at 19lb 6oz.

OTHER DETAILS : This lake used to be an excellent crappie fishery, but declined about 12 years ago. Thankfully it has rebounded in the last several years, but still is not as good as it once was. Crappie are fairly easy to catch in the spring, mostly bigger fish over 10", VERY few small ones, but daily limits are rare, even in the spring.

MY DETAILS : I am disabled/retired, with back, and hip injuries, and have trouble sittin in the boat for long periods of time. I just really started getting serious about crappie, and have very limited experience with this summer crappie fishin thing. I fish nearly everyday, (usually bass and bluegill) normally start pre-dawn, and fish till the sun hits me, movin around till the last bit of shade disappears. Then I go out again in the evening, and fish till after dark, sometimes droppin the lights and fishin till whenever …..

If any of you want to take on this challenge, I will adjust my schedule and meds as best I can to accommodate your schedule. Weekdays are best, as on summer weekends, the jet skis, and sightseers come out. This is by no means set in stone, though.

If you are close enough, even just come out for an evening or whatever, as I'm about 50 minutes from either St. Charles, or Columbia, or an hour or so from St. Louis.

Post here, or PM me if you have any interest in helpin me out, or just fishin !

Thanks,
Steve

I wish you were closer as it sounds like fun, but I have never fished a lake like that. Once you find the pattern, I suspect that you will be golden. What methods have you tried so far? I have had the most luck crankin and caught quite a few crappie this year, but each time I think I have them figured out, the pattern changes on the 2 lakes that I fish. Stockton and Pomme are both flooded as well.

@Heartolearn .... I love your screen name ! We are, as they say, in the same boat !

I've been fishin this lake for more than a 15 years, and have tried everything. Back in the day, we would catch many on minners and jigs, but mainly live bait, and I fished for crappie only in the spring.

I did try pullin some cranks a few years ago, but only half heartedly, and only a few times with poor results. Purely my fault I believe, as I had very little knowledge on the subject, and was just "winging it", motorin around, with no specific plan. I think pushin might do better, because of the small water, and turn radius, but that's just speculation.

Since joining here, I have been reading voraciously, and believe I have a better understanding of what to do.

Last year I got a spider rig setup, with two 16 foot, and two 14 foot BP rods. Caught very few crappie, but literally slayed the bluegill in the late summer, and fall ….. Regularly got 50 to 60 nice gills in just a couple of hours !

Lately, the last 2 or 3 years, I've been almost exclusively usin jigs, but always seem to fall back on the minners as they seem to produce better. Once again my fault I believe. I've had sonar on the boat for many years, but really just started to try to use it to it's full potential.

Thanks for the reply, and if you're ever headin up this way, PM me !

Steve

Have you tried putting in a couple of brushpiles on ledges 15-20ft deep? Are there many docks? Cause with the clear water and dock cover dock shooting may be good.

@ripinlips ….. I've dabbled with sinkin a few cedar trees in the past, mostly shallow, but just in the last month I've sunk 8 or 9 piles with sandbags in 18 -25 fow ….. Learned that here ….. And even though MDC recommends we put brush in, some of the lake residents resist and complain, so I have to do it covertly ! Stealth night missions, and all that.

I plan on putting many more out in varying depths, but with back problems I can only do a few at a time alone, and even though others want to know where they are so they can fish them, they do not want to help, so I do what most fishermen would do ….. I mislead (lie) to them as to the locations !!! Hahaha. SOB's Most do not have sonar.

I have been practicing up on the dock shootin, and have had my most recent success with that technique. I don't like to take much hot sunshine, and usually fish low light, and from what I've read here, I gather they are more scattered under those conditions.

Thanks for the reply.

In the summer CRANK CRANK CRANK. If you don't have decent electronics or trust the marks on your screen then set 6 rods with 10 pound mono with different color and different depth on each. Bandit 300s with a swivel. Let out 10 foot of line on one, then 30, 50, 70, 90, 110. This should cover most of the water column From a foot above the average thermocline up to 4 feet below surface. Run 1.6 mph. Run in snake pattern. This will cause your baits to change speeds and depths. 140 acres it wont take too long to figure out what they want and how deep. If that don't work then get out the beer and watch the pretty girls go by on the pleasure boats until spring time. Good luck. Its like combining wheat.