Quote Originally Posted by lovecrappieSD View Post
Thanks, Mr. Isaac.

Before that, I think I might give Lake Hodges and El Captain a try because ithey are closer to my place. Do you have any suggestions? The weather is getting warmer, probably fishing off the shore will not be a good idea at this time of the year?


I suspect that you would do a lot better at Hodges and El Cap with a boat. But if I HAD to fish from the shore, at Hodges I would fish the stick-ups just west of the I-15 bridge. You can park and walk about 200ft down to the water. Take a long pole and a casting bubble. You need to be able to throw it out there a long ways. A float tube would work well here.

At El Cap, I would try fishing around the Chocolate Arm. (just to the right of the launch ramp.) Again, the further you can cast, the better off you are. Again, a float tube would work well here.

If you rent a boat at El Cap go back into the North Arm. If you see folks drifting accross the flats, get in line and drift with a small crappie jig about 40-50 feet behind the boat. If other folks are catching them and you are not, you are not at the correct depth. Ask folks how much line they have out. If nobody wants to talk, remember crappie look up, not down so try less line in the water. This is a time when a 2-pole license helps so you can experiment with different distances from the boat.

If nobody is catching them on the drift, go all the way to the back of the North Arm and jig around the submerged timber.

I recommend you read the forums on sdfish.com to keep abreast of the local news. Pay attention to what Roy Justice and Str8slabaronies (formerly Roy_M) have to say.

Good luck!