Where and when to go

Fellow Crappie Fisherman, If you lived in WV and wanted to take a trip with the guys fishing for 5 days, where would you go. I have searched the Web but seems most of the good crappie lakes are in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama (War Eagle) etc. I would like to get into some slab crappie and was wondering if there was a lake that would not require a days drive to get there. The group went to Dale Hollow last year and had a Blast. I was wanting to toss it up and try something different. Any ideas and what time of the year would you reccomend. We don't have boats and would need a place to stay as well. Thanks in advance. Papermouthmedic

I would suggest that you go to the Tennessee board here and ask them about Center Hill Lake info. It's about 60 miles from Dale Hollow.

Tennessee (crappie.com)

west virginia is a ways from Texas and you would want a guide if you didnt have a boat
but to be sure some of the guides here will have yawl leave with 25 slabs each if you ride with them :highfive

Being you are planning a five day trip somewhere please be aware of possession limits and plan accordingly. Some laws are interpreted different from state to state.

I don't know where in West Virginia you are but around a 5 hr drive is Norman Lake in NC. If you go and see Hank Parker be sure to say hey. It's his home lake.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

My two cents, I catch fish. That being said when traveling further than I would tow my own rig I hire a guide. Usually I end up playing my own game in the second half of the day but a good guide really gets the day off to a good start.

I fish Center Hill and Dale Hollow...although this past year have not made it to Dale Hollow. Center Hill can humble one even if they know the lake. It has an abundant supply of black nose crappie and they do get large. If it was me I would plan the trip for April time frame. The crappie will be very active and so will big bluegill...shellcracker, and the smallmouth fishing that time of year can rival Dale Hollow. The cabins at Edgar Evins are nice place to stay. As others have said it would be beneficial to hire a guide.



Regards

Jerry Hancock (he and his partner won the Mr. Crappie tournament this year) is a guide on Lake Lavon near Dallas. Lavon isn't a trophy crappie lake, but has good numbers.

Sardis, Arkabutla, Grenada, and Enid in MS have a 12" minimum length limit and 15 creel limit. You can get BIG fish or lots of fish, but rarely both.

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

west virginia is a ways from Texas and you would want a guide if you didnt have a boat
but to be sure some of the guides here will have yawl leave with 25 slabs each if you ride with them :highfive

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Alphahawk, thanks for your reply. I tried looking up your YouTube videos another member had spoke about but could not find them. Can you give me a link. Definitely good advice on a guide. First step is just finding the right lake. Thanks again. Papermouthmedic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Papermouthmedic

Alphahawk, thanks for your reply. I tried looking up your YouTube videos another member had spoke about but could not find them. Can you give me a link. Definitely good advice on a guide. First step is just finding the right lake. Thanks again. Papermouthmedic.

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Here is link to my channel. You won't find but maybe one video of Center Hill on there.....very rare for me to do a video there....for several reasons.....but I do fish it.



Regards
TroutMagnetMan - YouTube