Lake Dardanelle ??

[goblerblaster]

Where did all the crappie go ? Everyone was catching winter and springtime fish at Dardanelle and now I rarely see a post about anyone catching any there. I have done all the series 200 and 300 Bandit crankbait pulling I can stand for the last 2 weekends and have not caught one crappie. I have tried the edges of the Illinois Bayou channel as well as up in the Piney chute. I have gotten a bunch of nice bass, and more white bass and stripers than I cared to unhook. Just wondering how it can go from so good to so slow during the summer. I admit I don't have any secret brushpiles to jig over- maybe that is where I need to spend some time ( making brushpiles). Any ideas? I notice even Conway isn't guiding on Dardanelle this time of year !! I noticed on recent posts that Nimrod crappie are getting caught in 2to 4 FOW. Why would they be that shallow there and everyone says fish deep along the channels at Dardanelle ? Any thoughts or suggestions would be apprectiated.

[Cmj]

Where did all the crappie go ? Everyone was catching winter and springtime fish at Dardanelle and now I rarely see a post about anyone catching any there. I have done all the series 200 and 300 Bandit crankbait pulling I can stand for the last 2 weekends and have not caught one crappie. I have tried the edges of the Illinois Bayou channel as well as up in the Piney chute. I have gotten a bunch of nice bass, and more white bass and stripers than I cared to unhook. Just wondering how it can go from so good to so slow during the summer. I admit I don't have any secret brushpiles to jig over- maybe that is where I need to spend some time ( making brushpiles). Any ideas? I notice even Conway isn't guiding on Dardanelle this time of year !! I noticed on recent posts that Nimrod crappie are getting caught in 2to 4 FOW. Why would they be that shallow there and everyone says fish deep along the channels at Dardanelle ? Any thoughts or suggestions would be apprectiated.

Ain't no Crappie in Dardanelle this time of year. They all pack up and move to Peru, they will be back first week of October! Seriously though, they can still be caught there, and not as deep as people think.

[NIMROD]

Look suspended in open water where the Shad are. The fish maybe on the main lake too. Dardanelle is a big lake with lots of open water.

Over on Nimrod the Crappie and Shad will go shallow in the heat trying to find better oxygen levels. At times they suspend on channel drops near the thermocline and sometimes go real shallow even in 100 + air temps.

[Cmj]

I fished an oxbow yesterday. I caught lots of fish, mostly dinks, in 3-4 fow. The fish were very warm to the touch. There were lots of birds diving for shad in that area so I decided to try it. The bigger fish were holding tight to brush.

[RCC]

Wondered the same thing about Dardanelle. Thanks CMJ for getting us lined out. How long of a drive is it to Peru?

Lot's of the better local fishing is 2'. Winter spring summer or fall, the thumb rule is 18" deep.

[slabbandit]

I agree, the crappie here on Nimrod can get really shallow this time of year, (hottest part of the summer). We had one day where the air temp was close to 100 and we were whacking good crappie in 4 FOW! Beat anything I had ever seen. The fish were very warm to the touch and hit like a moving freight train! Even when fishing out over deep water don't think that they won't be just under the surface a few feet. Look for the schools of small shad on the surface and those suspicious looking "V's" plowing into them. Those are crappie cruising just under the surface. If you are catching crappie spiderrigging but they are not pulling down hard or they are just making slack line then shallow up a little as you may be on the verge of fishing a little too deep.

[goblerblaster]

I guess they are still close to the channel, just over shallow water when they get 4 foot deep in Nimrod? I don't know where they go on Dardanelle, but I have great experience in finding where the are NOT !!

[slabbandit]

Yea Goblerblaster, those fish were pretty close to deeper water. I agree, Dardanelle is a different kind of animal. I just started fishing it this spring but haven't been over there since May. If I was to go over there I think I would probably try some 9 or 10 feet water first then try deeper. But, I'd probably not find many fish either. It's a large intimidating lake to me. I'm just going to have to bite off small sections until I learn more about it.

[Cmj]

If you have good electronics, (side imaging,) just run the channel on the main lake and look for brush on the edges. If not.......take a trip to Peru.

[mb4850]

C.J. some times I think you just ain't right.