Thread: New to crappie fishing and Ray Roberts

Welcome!

You have the right idea. The timber in Buck is usually productive. Along/near the channel, depending as it's deeper near the ramp/bridges and you are yaking. 6-15 fow is always a good start (structure and/or cover/timber). Never hurts to scan the pilings for suspended fish or back off from the riprap either if you have the time. I don't know if the Buck ramp is open, but you can park and walk in if you have a cart if it's not. Or put in at the creek and work back.

The area on the dam side of the Isle park holds em in the spring. Same for a few of the little coves on the far south bank that runs from the this area over to the dam. One or more of the COE piles in there could easily still have some fish on it. You can put in from one of the few parking lots southeast of the lot with the pier and save some time if you're going to this area. The ramp area with the pier has some fish too. I've caught em on the rocks and banks around there shallow so I know there's some hanging out a little deeper. You're definitely going to have to put in time to cover this area in a yak. Johnson Branch should be a good yak place.

Whichever, find an area you think is a spawning area and fish out from there. 6-15 fow is good. Try shallow like 3 ft if you like it.

There are a couple recent threads where Kenny C was asking about Buck. Check those out. SK's been making some videos that might help you too.

I really appreciate the reply. That was more information than I was expecting to be honest. I think I'm going to try to put in at Buck Creek tomorrow afternoon and see if I can get on anything. I think I'm going to try the bridges then work west out along the southern shoreline where it looks like there's some rip rap and a tree line. It'll be mid day when I get out, but hopefully I can find some active fish. I'll report back good or bad afterwards.


Thanks again!

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water clarity dictates to me what I drop and haven't seen RR water in years
I would carry bright chart ,bright orange ,something in white/pearl and something with lots of sparkles
timber in buck creek holds fish this time of year and the channel edge would be my choice
wear a life jacket ALWAYS as the bass chasing jack wagons like to do 70 down the channel with little or no respect to others as I remember vividly
if its bright outside fish the shade side of the largest timber there , the bigger stuff will likely have crappie on it
try about 8 to 10 foot down and or right above fish you see on the graph
if the water has clarity you might need to downsize to real small
good luck to ya

Welcome! I fish up in Buck Creek area in the standing timber in about 15 fow. Just dip the trees from top to bottom. Check out some of SK's videos. Worked for me!

Originally Posted by Ketchn

water clarity dictates to me what I drop and haven't seen RR water in years
I would carry bright chart ,bright orange ,something in white/pearl and something with lots of sparkles
timber in buck creek holds fish this time of year and the channel edge would be my choice
wear a life jacket ALWAYS as the bass chasing jack wagons like to do 70 down the channel with little or no respect to others as I remember vividly
if its bright outside fish the shade side of the largest timber there , the bigger stuff will likely have crappie on it
try about 8 to 10 foot down and or right above fish you see on the graph
if the water has clarity you might need to downsize to real small
good luck to ya

No doubt about wearing a life jacket.

Are you referring to the timber to the east of the boat launch or the West? Just looking for a starting place since there's about 100,000 old trees just to the east of the 377 bridge haha

I'll be checking quite a few of them I imagine, but direction of travel would help tremendously

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Originally Posted by Kenny C

Welcome! I fish up in Buck Creek area in the standing timber in about 15 fow. Just dip the trees from top to bottom. Check out some of SK's videos. Worked for me!

Thank you! Do you stick mostly to the east of 377 or west of the railroad?

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Mostly east for me. What Ketch said about guys flying through there with no concern is no joke. Theyre bad about it running up Indian Creek too. And also what he said about the big timber. The ones with more branches, even if all or most of it is underwater, is what I like to look for. Really on any lake with wood not just here. White/chart worked a lot for me. Blk/chart I never leave home without it lol. The southern part of the lake is usually less murky, but never something I'd call clear. At least in my experience

Well I meant to pay attention to the water temp for this report but I completely forgot. It was not a very productive day.
*Buck Creek is currently closed due to the high lake levels*

So change of plans. Since Buck Creek was closed I went with my backup plan at isle du buois. I had not really scouted where I wanted to fish there since I wasn't planning on going, but figured I'd give it a shot.

Temp. 80-84 degrees
I didn't pay too much attention to water temp on my graph and can't for the life of me remember what it was (somewhere between 60-70 I believe)
Winds were pretty constant out of the S/SE at about 14mph which made paddling into the southeast from the boat ramp hell.
Partly cloudy skies, mostly sunny.
Water clarity about 2.5'

I tried to locate a couple of the COE piles according to GPS coordinates. I located a couple, but fishing them was extremely difficult due to the wind, but at least I put eyes on them. I made my way past the island just south of isle du buois campgrounds and into a small cove with a bunch of standing timber. Even there it was difficult due to wind, but I was able to tie to a couple of trees and jig a little bit. I got maybe 5 bites total. I was fishing tandem rigs with combinations of straight tail minnows, curly tail grubs, and tubes. All bites came on a black/chart tube and a curly tail grub on 1/8 oz jig heads.

I fished for about 5 hours. I caught one white crappie @ 10.5" and a small freshwater drum. That's it. It was a ton of work for very little reward, but a reward none the less.

I would love to get back out when there is less wind/current. It just beat me up today.

I would also love the chance to go out with someone and sort of learn the ropes so to speak for crappie fishing. I have the idea down, but I'm a hands on learner. If y'all know of anyone or a good guide to learn from I'd really appreciate the guidance.


Thanks!

Robert

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