Thread: Barkley Crappie

castaway,
Devils Elbow is a good bay to try. Just be careful running Barkley it can get shallow in a hurry. You can run aground if your not careful.

Originally Posted by castaway87

Hello fellow crappie slayers. Bringing my son down 4/8-4/10 to crappie fish. Staying on Barkley side near Cadiz. Was looking for some advice to let the young boy get his first slab. I have fished Blood River and Jonathan before, but never on this side....so not sure where to start. Thinking about long lining, but not sure if that would be the thing to do. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I think I'd stay in Little River, & put in at the State Park ramp. You should be able to find about any kind of water depth and cover that you'd want to fish. I don't think I'd longline, but you might drift some minnows around the bottom, in about 10-12ft of water. Cast a jig or Roadrunner to open banks, as you move along, just to check on the shallower depths. If you don't find them in either of these ways/depths ... back on out away from the bank, until you find a channel edge, and try there. If there is flooded buck brush in the backs of the bays, or along the banks ... you might give them a try, with minnow/slip float set at about 2ft deep. But, that might be a little tricky fishing, for a youngster. But, if that's where they are ... try this, for the boy : put on a weedless jighead, and hook a good sized minnow (under the throat and out between the nostrils ... have him drop it straight down into any open hole in the buck brush, all the way to the bottom (line goes slack) and then lift the rod up slowly until the line straightens out. Have him hold it there for a few seconds (count to 8) and then slowly lift it out and drop in down in another hole. The weedless jighead should keep him from getting snagged, and if there's a Crappie in there, it shouldn't be any problem for him to know he's getting a bite :p (they'll come up and grab the minnow, then go back down to the nest, so his pole should bend and he'll feel the pull)

Don't know what this cold spell will do to them, so I've covered all the methods that I've known to work on Barkley. I'd stay in Little River, simply because it's a known Crappie haven and has about any kind of water you'd want to fish. It has lots of pockets, creeks, and bays ... and you don't have to get out on the main lake, to get there. Personally, I'd start right on the bank where the Marina/boat slips are

... luck2ya .... cp