Thanks for the report Lip....on 40 bridge we have been catching them 8-12 ft deep also but you do have to fight the occasional blue or flathead lol....
Andy
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Thanks for the report Lip....on 40 bridge we have been catching them 8-12 ft deep also but you do have to fight the occasional blue or flathead lol....
Andy
Decided to try my hand at night fishing so my buddy along with his girlfriend decided to come along. We put in about 8:30 p.m. and headed across the lake and back West to fish along the river channel.
First stop was a small point on the edge of the river channel near the bluffs. Sit there for two hours and only had one bite.
Next we moved to some timber on the edge of the channel in 23 fow. Sit there about an hour with no bites. Finally, moved to a clump of trees on the channel edge and started fishing. Finally caught one 12 inch crappie. Had a few more bites but that was it.
This area has changed so much from what I remember 20 or so years ago. A lot of the trees have broken off below the surface of the water. It's absolutely amazing to see how many standing trees lie below with my Side Imaging unit. Most of them come within 5 to 10 feet of the surface.
Ended the night with one Crappie :eek:
We were using two lights. A green one and white one. The crappie came off of the green one. We were also using minnows. We fished from as little as 4 feet down to 20 feet. Just couldn't make 'em bite!
Not sure if the muddy water played a role or not. I think next time we'll try drop offs on points or creek mouths. Maybe in clearer water! :)
The weather was extremely nice. Just after dark the wind died down to nothing and the bugs came out. Around 11 p.m., a South wind kicked up and blew the bugs away and kept us cool. Temp was around 75.
Don, I can help you with that NIGHT PATTERN!
Hey Brian, I'm the one booked with you on the 13th. If you'd like to change that to a Night trip, let me know. I'm game!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eufaula boy
Donald
anyone doing any good at the blocker bridge?
Don, lets keep the trip Sunday during the day, I tried to call you today and left you a message, call me back so I know you got it. The night fishing is really good for numbers but big fish I not sure of yet. We fished Tuesday night and had 105 keepers. Most of these fish were 10 inch fish nothing big though. We fished from 9-3 in the morning and I got tired of catching them, we were rum dum for the next 2 days. LOL
Well, my trip with EB started off by my buddy standing me up. So it was just me and EB.
When we talked yesterday, EB decided to take me to Gaines creek and fish standing timber. I'd never been to Gaines creek so I was looking forward to it. I also told him I prefer fishing with a rod in my hand as opposed to a rod holder (but I will if I have to...kinda like fishin' with minners!)
Got on the water about 10 and Brian took me on one heck of a boat ride. I'm very glad he knew where he was going, because I sure as heck didn't! Finally, after zigging and zagging and twisting around that log and turning around that point, we came to back of a cove and we started throwing out 1/16 oz black/chtr jigs and letting them fall.
The first tree produced Crappie. The second and third trees produced 8 to 10 Crappie. Then we hit some areas with laydowns. Those had Crappie on them as well. :D
In fact, nearly every place we tried in the magic range, there were Crappie!
The magic factor was that the brush had to be in 4 to 6 ft of water and we fished from 1 ft to a foot off the bottom. If the brush was in shallower water, we caught bass. Any deeper and we didn't get bit.
Water temp was around 90. Air temp...I dunno but it was HOT!
Ended the day by keeping 61 keeper Crappie. Man O Man, am I glad that EB cleaned all those fish! We probably caught well over 100 fish today and that's not counting the ones we lost!
I thought I knew a little something about fishing standing timber. But Brian put on a Clinic! He showed me several things I was doing wrong and explained how to do 'em right. Standing next to him, fishing the same jig, on the same type of line, at the same depth, at nearly the same place in the water and he was besting me on nearly every tree! :)
EB says this is the Summer Creek pattern fishing standing Timber. IMHO, this is way better than fishing the spawn!
If you've never tried this type of fishing, you really owe it to yourself to give it a try. EB OWNS the Crappie with this pattern and the bite is ON at Eufaula! Can't wait to try it at some other places :D
For the ones who like to feel that thump with one pole and one jig this report is for you. LOL Had OkieDon with me today and we caught over a hundred fish today and kept 61 good fish with 12 of them over 1.25lbs. We were dippin stumps, laydowns, and standing timber. The fish were in 4-8 FOW. Black and chart was the hot color. The water temp was 85-91 degrees. Water clarity was 6 inches.
Brian I guess the report was for me, because I DO LIKE the rod in my hand and feeling the THUMP. I can't wait to get down there this week and try out that pattern.
Odie
fished brush piles in 8 feet of water this weekend....caught lots of fish....hitting minnows and pink jigs
Don you just got a taste of what it's like down here all summer long and I've seen some years this pattern lasted into November. Brian has fished this lake long enough all he needs to do is look at it and knows where they should be. Thanks for the report guy's.
record rainfall in okc headed towards eufaula...get ready to change tactics for high muddy water
Deep Fork River rose approx. 30 feet in our stretch of river and maybe more. The river rose higher than I have seen it in 59+ years. My mothers house was within 4" of a catastophe. She was trapped but then the river started to recede. No one will believe me unless they have seen the house and where it is located.
Get the stink bait ready because the river IS going to rise like you have never seen before.
Glad your mother and her house were okay in the end!
Peke
What is a laydown?
Peke
Hey Peke,
A laydown is either a tree or tree top that has fallen in the water. For example, you might see a stump or log laying in the water. You may only see a small part of the log, but you know the branches and the top are out there, laying there underwater. Or, you may see tree that has the top broke out of it. You know that top is laying somewhere close around the base of the tree.
Yesterday, Brian and I probably caught way more fish on structure we couldn't see than stuff we could see. You just have to judge about where the branches or the top of the tree would be.
arcadia lake in edmond rose 10 feet in just a few hours this morning.....i wonder if that is a sign of things to come downstream?
Let's see............first we had the blizzard at Christmas Eve, then the tornado on May 10th, then the hail storm on May 16th and now the flood.:( What is left to happen to us in OKC????? Have we REALLY p*&(#d off the gods or what?????????
Thanks Don,
I thought that was what it was, but it seemed too easy!
Peke
I was able to get out today and fish by myself for a little while. It has been a long time since I was able to get out and play around with a new technique this way I don't have to here anyone complain about not catching any fish. So this evening I decided to push crankbaits(Spider -rigging them). I tried the technique for about 2 hours without much success, but I later learned I wasn't running them shallow enough. I switched to the huckabee pattern on the rip rap and ended up catching 27 for the evening, if you were 2ft from the bottom you were getting bit. The fish were tight to the bottom, in 8-10 FOW. I was fishing beavertails and vibra king tubes. Black/pink was the hott color. To my surprise the water on the north end today looked pretty good. It was 4-6 inch visibility. I will save the crank bait pushing for another day! lol EB
Was able to get out and fish yesterday with my brother for 3-4 hrs. We caught around 30 crappie pushing crank baits(Spider-rigging cranks). If we would have had 8 lime green/yellow chart colored bandit crank baits instead of three we would have caught more. We pushed them about 1.2-1.8 mph 10ft deep in 18 ft of water. It was a new technique to me and was alot of fun catching them a different way! EB
Thanks for the report EB.:)
Do you rig them on a dropper with the weight at bottom, or run them directly behind the weight?
How do you keep from getting hung up so close to the bottom? Spider rigging crankbaits could be expensive if you get hung up. Proof you know SO much more than I do!
Peke
Peke, try to imagine that instead of fishing, we're talking about grocery shopping. There's this grocery store you've been fishing, oops, shopping at for 20 years. As the years went by you knew which aisle the chips were on, the toilet paper, the spaghetti sauce, and almost everything else. Not only that, you knew about how far down the aisle the item was and on which side.
Now go back to the lake and think about a guy that has been fishing certain areas of the lake for around 20 years. He also has fish finders that give him a pretty good image of what it looks like below the surface of the water and along the bottom.
He gets hung up sometimes, everyone does, but it's not magical, its experience sweetie. Anyone that is willing to devote this much time and exhibit his patience can do exactly what Eufaula Boy does. Probably not as well, but well enough to catch crappie.:)
EB, did you use your trolling motor or the big motor?
Stink, that is a great analogy about fishing. A lot of the time the people who consistently catch fish have put in a lot of time on the water. They have good equipment that they have learned to use efficiently,are willing to experiment with new techniques and read about how other successful people are catching their fish. I am not the best fisherman but I have greatly improved over the last 5-7 years by doing the things I just wrote about. EB, Huckabee, and Morrow are three guys I have read up on. I wanted to know how they consistantly catch them. I also have kept a crappie journal everytime I fished the last 3 years and go back and look at it reguarly. IMHO there is no magic pill that makes you good at anything it takes work. Just like everything else the people who put in the most time getting good at something usually get the LUCKIEST. I hope EB, Todd, and Barry don't mind me just telling there secrets about how they catch all their fish.:D
Just don't ask my wife if she thinks I spend too much time getting good at fishing.:eek::eek: LOL!!!:D:D
Odie
Peke, what Stink and Odie said.
In my opinion, if someone wants to get good at one type of fishing, like Crappie, you can either spend lots and lots of time on the water; lots and lots of money going to the lake...bait, fuel, groceries, time spent on the water, repairs, etc..... or hire a guide and shorten the learning curve a great deal. (and save money, time and frustration over the long haul!)
A lot of people think guides cost too much money. But compare the cost of a year or so going out to the lake and trying to figure it out on your own, a guided trip is pretty cheap.
I've been out with EB 3 times. I can't tell you how much I benefited from those trips, even though I had read post that went years in the past on this forum. I never thought I could find Crappie on rip raps in hot weather..or any weather to be honest...of all places! Now it's one of my favorite ways to catch them.
And Spider Rigging! He showed me the basics and some neat tricks. Now I can do it on my own. I thought I knew how to fish flooded timber, but on our recent outing, he showed me a new way of getting those Crappie to bite. (letting a 1/16 marabou jig free fall past them and then bringing it back up, letting it fall again)
I can't tell how long it would have taken me to learn those things or how much money I would have spent over the years trying to become proficient at catching Crappie year round. Hiring a guide, no...wait...hiring a good guide like EB, Huckabee or Morrow will put you on the fish more consistently than trying to learn it all on your own!
My long term plan is to go out with all of them, then try their techniques and see which work best for me.
Plus, you can take what you learn from a guide and use it nearly anywhere!
Maybe one day I will get to hire EB. I am planning on it, but I need to learn a whole lot more about fishing before I do. Otherwise most of what he would teach me would go in one ear and out the other. You guys have been fishing a long time and know a whole lot more than I do. I have to catch up to you first! I'm still working on holding the fish without dropping it.! Seriously!
Peke
I went to different area of the lake today. I was out trying to locate some fish for a future trip. I had a guy call me the other day and ask me if I could guide him on the east side of the lake? I told him to give me a little time and I would let him know. I went to Dutchess creek over at Porum landing today and fished from the creek to Brooken cove. I was hunting brushpiles over at Brooken and Evergreen wih not much luck (shouldn't have sold my side imaging, LOL) So I decided to push some cranks for awhile to cover water and I caught a little of everything, but not what I was fishing for, to answer the question about rigging the crank bait? I use a 2 ounce egg sinker and run the crank bait behind on a 3 ft liter line with a swivel below the weight and snap swivel on the crank so I can swithch them out quickly. I use 14ft tight line specials, they are really stiff. I haven't had a mess yet! But I am sure it will happen. I use the trolling motor and zig zag at 1.2-1.6 mph. The crappie love the zig zagging. As for finding fish I had to go to the timber in Dutchess creek. Man the water is clear over there,I was lost for a little while in that clear water I learned quick if you didn't have a minnow on you were not getting bit. I rigged a Kentucky rig with 1/2 ounce bell sinker on bottom and hook above. The specs were in the trees from 10-15 FOW. Ended up with 14 nice black Specs. I will be back over there after those specs. I love to catch Black Crappie. I basically fished that Oolagah pattern today! I believe if I would have found brush in 10-12 fow I would have loaded the boat. Because I caught 10 of my keepers off of one tree. Thank you for ll the kind words. Getting out and fishing is what it's all about. Good fishing! EB
Thanks for the Duchess Creek report Brian. I was thinking of trying it one day this week if I can get away. I've never fished North of the one lane bridge but was looking forward to trying. Now I know how to go about it!
Peke, from what I've seen here on the forums, you're a pretty sharp cookie. You'd pick it up with no problem, I'm sure of that!Quote:
Originally Posted by peke
OkieDon, Maybe....I just don't get to go fishing much. I have gone more this year than any other year though! Usually I just get to go one or two times in the summer. I am working on that though. We think we may have found a house in the Eufaula area for when my husband retires. Whoo hoo!
Watch out then! I'll be a fishing fool! :D
I'll be calling EB so much he will be screening his calls since I'll be driving him crazy! :D
Peke
Getting ready to jump in the truck and head that way....I love the weekend holidays and the crowds where most don't....I am there every weekend and can fish anytime....This weekend is more a playdate!!!.....Remember...NO WAKE....means...NO WAKE....honestly...I have seen I bet ten times the number of bass boats buzz the areas around bridges than those huge loud offshores.....See ya out there and have a safe Fourth!!!!
I had trips Thursday and yesterday and caught 45 keepers Thursday and 64 keepers yesterday. We were dippin standing timber in 3-10 FOW fishing 3-4ft deep. We were using yum vibra king tubes, black and chart, lime and chart, black and pink. We had about 4-5 inches visibility. Where ever we could find the cleanner water the bite was better, we never caught more than four keepers off of any one tree. It was two very good days of fishing. Good fishing
I guided yesterday at a new area that I have only fished a couple of times. We fished dutchess creek and caught 25 keepers. We fished standing timber in 8-13 FOW with minnows right off the bottom. With the clear water we were seeing if we could catch some big black crappie. 22 of the 25 crappie were blacks, all were from 10-12 inches long. I think brush piles in the the right depth of water is the key over in that area of the lake. But it was a good challenge to get out and fish a new area! EB
anyone still having great luck with jigs?....I have fished the last two weekends with nothing but jigs, and just have not had much luck....they feel sluggish when they hit it...it is more of a pull than a hit...just about to go with nothing but minnows.....maybe it is the water coming up and down all the time....More flooding in the oklahoma city area towards eufaula...so looks like rising water again
Last week I had two of the roughest trips I have ever had guiding. It seemed like every thing I did was wrong. It was hard nose crappie hunting very little catching. Went out today to see if I could locate some fish for a trip Friday? I ended up catching them in 20-25 FOW fishing 15ft deep, spider-rigging minnows. It was a real confidence booster to get on some fish. I caught my limit in 3hours. I had some fish up to 14 inches. The only reason I was fishing that deep is because of my electronics. I guess the tip of the day was "trust your electronics" EB
yOU SOLD YOUR GOOD ELECTRONICS Brian !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know I did and I have regretted it all summer butn I will be back in the side imaging world next year. We fished yesterday and caught 49 keepers, we had 2lbs of minnows and run out in 5 hrs. We were spider-rigging in 20-55 FOW fishing 16-20 ft deep. They would not touch a jig. We caught everything crappie, sand bass, drum, catfish. I can't tell you how many fish we caught in the 8-9 inch range. We were only rigging one minnow. EB