This spring has seen a bumper crop if you happen to have a wind farm.
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This spring has seen a bumper crop if you happen to have a wind farm.
Thumbs UpSaturday evening the wife and I fished off our dock for about 2 hours and had almost no bites despite the the lake being flat as glass. Got up this morning and we battled the wind at Fountainhead Golf Course, then decided to try one more time for the crappie off the dock before heading back to town. Our cove blocked most of the wind, but it was not "calm." We had 2 1/2 hours to fish before heading back to town. After all was said and done I cleaned 23 fish including 14 right about a pound or better. Several were 1 lb-4 and one was a 1 lb-8. For us, this was the first day this spring the bite was this aggressive and steady, and the consistent size of the fish was great for right off the dock in only a couple of hours. We caught them all at about 8' deep in 10' of water. I noticed when cleaning the fish that many were STUFFED with fish they'd recently eaten. These fish were HUNGRY and acted like it. BTW, the gals were full of eggs. Anyway, it was a great day. Just wish we had fished all day...
What part of the lake?
About a mile or two NW of I-40 bridge.
Paradise Point?Quote:
Originally Posted by barkett
Fished mid Gaines creek for about 4 hours this afternoon. Caught 28 nice fish. Only one under 10" (thrown back). Most fish in the 10-12" range and one 14 1/2" male that weigh in at 1# 14 oz. All fish shallow spawning fish in <2.5' FOW. All females were empty, and males were losing color for the most part.
Makes me wish I had been there yesterday (story of my life).
Fished the south end today and the water temps at unloading was 64.2 degrees @ 7:20am and got up to 65.4 at loading time 4pm..cleaned a limit of 37 most were really nice fish..had 2 monsters and measured 1 of the twins and was 17 1/4"..no pictures since my wife removed my camera from the boat to take a few pictures of her flowers..got to love her..tore my boat apart looking for my camera..talked to several fisherman today and no one was catching fish..all were fishing 1' to 2' off the bank..long pole and spider riggin..doodle socking jigs along the banks..did see a man and woman with minnows catch a few in the end of a cove in 6' of water around a laydown..blk/chart and blk/pink super tubes were the ticket today..8' of water seemed to produce the best if it was a brushpile..also talked to my Okmulgee friends and they have been fishing the Bugtussel area in the chocolate milk water and catching them pretty good there also over the weekend..early bite was from brushpiles in the 8' to 12' depth and after it warmed up they were gettin em in 1' of water as close as you could float a jig and the water was 68 degrees as Cliff said..ok thats all i know
No. Sycamore Bay near I-40 and HW150.Quote:
Originally Posted by barkett
Longtown creek area today, cleaned 33 fish everything over 10" with a few fish hitting the 13" to 14" range..caught several with cork and jig and throwing roadrunners down the bank..but again caught the most from brushpiles in the 7' to 12' range..blk/chart and blk/pink super tubes worked best..was it a windy day..makes you work for everything you get
That used to be one of my favorite spots until the church folks covered it all up with private docks. Where are you there?Quote:
Originally Posted by barkett
Furthest cove to the west still in Sycamore Bay. Its the largest cove by far and the Deep Fork channel runs right accross and into the mouth of the cove. The location of the Deep Fork in relation to the cove is my amateurish theory as to why we get really decent crappie (and usually larger) than a lot of the other nearby coves. Noticed that we are getting more black crappie this year than I have ever seen. Maybe because the water is clearer this year?? Not sure. Anyway, my grandfather was part of the first development of Sycamore Bay back in the mid 60's and I spent all my summers and spring breaks there. When I had a family and could afford to get back to the lake, there was no other choice for me. I love it here and love the Big E...Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokyOkie
I have caught a lot of fish around your dock then.
When you say black crappie,are you talking about black crappie (the species) or black male spawning crappie?
I fished 4-5 locations on the Big "E" yesterday (Tuesday - April 19th) and got skunked. Used a variety of colored jigs and couldn't convince them to bite. I watched one guy catch a single crappie and nothing else, so it wasn't just me.
Wind shifted from the south and started blowing from the north-northwest and I suppose when the front came through, it killed em.:rolleyes:
film at eleven
We caught all our fish before the wind shift.
same here all before the wind shift yesterday..bite was good real early but slowed during the day but I think it had alot to do with I couldn't fish my stuff with that wind
We quit when the wind changed, but the bite seemed to quit just before and during the shift.
Black the species. (yes, I know the difference) I can't remember catching more than this year where I am located. The ratio used to seem to be a about 20 White (species) to 1 Black (species). This year its been about 10 to 1. The caveat to my assessment is that I probably don't fish enough year round to offer a valid quantification. They taste the same which is all I really care about ... If you ever swing through the cove look for me and my 3 little fishergirls. I'll be the one holding a beer.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokyOkie
The blacks are really becoming prolific on almost every arm of this lake. Last years meeting they were discussed alot and many questions asked of the ODWC, moreso on the blacknose crappie. From my experience they hit more agressively, grow faster, and fight harder than the whites.
I asked Danny Bowen if he thought they had a better spawn through the drought years? Explaining their numbers now?
I hope J.D. Ridge will weigh in on this....
On another note; We are seeing a HUGE number of Zebra mussels over here, stuck to the rocks everywhere.
I too have noticed that a lot of the Blacks have the "Black Nose" marking which I previously thought was quite uncommon, but this year I have seen many. I agree they seem to fight harder. Usually produce a thicker filet too. Beautiful fish as well. I would like to hear what the wildlife experts say about the Blacks becoming more plentiful. Its interesting. Here's two pics of a nice size Black I caught a couple of weeks ago. Its the same fish in both pics.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lip RIPPERS
Nice fish and precious fishergirl. Which dock is yours? As I recall there are 3 or 4 docks on the est side of that cove. Seems like one of them is red. It's hard to remember because I haven't been there for at least a year.
We used to catch a lot of fish right where the first new dock on the west side is.
No red ones in my cove that I can recall. There is a green one on the east side and mine is new and next to it on the east side.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokyOkie
What about the old one right at the end of the road that comes from I-40. Yours is closer to the mouth of the cove then?
As to the black crappie, I have caught literally thousands of crappie on the Deep Fork arm of the lake and I bet that not even 50 of them were black crappie. I have only caught a dozen or so black nose fish.
I seem to catch a lot of black crappie on Gibson though.
fish the dutchess creek area Smoky and you will catch many more, they love clearer water and rocks, and yes Ft Gibson is loaded with them as is Tenkiller
Can anyone tell me what the water temp is getting in the main lake around the hwy 9 area?...thanks
last week when i fished longtown area it was in the lower 60's..cant remember but i believe it was like 60 early and got up to almost 63 late in the day
yes, the old big one is where I stored my boat before building my dock out closer to mouth but still well within cove on the east side. Yea, I have fished in the 3 main coves of Sycamore Bay since I was a small kid in the early 70's and never caught black crappie like I am catching this year. I am glad there are more blacks. They are a beautiful fish and up for a fight. I don't think they really "compete" with the whites so its just another nice crappie to catch and, of course, eat... It would be interesting to hear some scientific info about what has caused the greater abundance of blacks on the north end lately. That stuff is fascinating to me for some reason...Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokyOkie
Do you suppose that the water is clearer this year and so they have moved in? I am just assuming that the water is clearer becasue there hasn't been any real inflow for quite a while.
So which one is yours going north from the old one? The first one? I'd like to be able to say hello if I happen to spot you.
it definitely is clearer and that's what I initially thought was the reason, but now I'm wondering if clearer water is enough of a factor to cause the black crappie population to increase so dramatically here. Maybe it is... If anyone has any more "scientific" info on it, I would love to hear it. Anyway, my dock is the furthest north on the east side of the cove. My cousin has a dock on the next cove east and he cleaned 32 from today with some HOGS. That cove is much more shallow and he was getting them in 2' to 6' deep about a foot off the bottom. I didn't get to come up until later and then the storms hit, so I missed the action.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokyOkie
I'll look for you. My thought would be that it is more likely that they have "migrated" further up into the deep fork than usual.
Moved in from where? There never was an abundance on down the lake from there. I first started catching more than an occasional black around I40 about 3 years ago. They have definitely increased. It can't just be clearer water. Yes, this year is unusually clear, but the last 3 or 4 years haven't been. Guys on the south end say they have increased there as well in recent years. Could be that the drought years a few years back may have allowed them to get a better foothold? Not sure if fisheries guys have any theories, but I'll ask next time I get the chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokyOkie
I'm tols that there has always been a decent population further down lake where the water is clearer. I was suggesting that perhaps they have moved further up the lake due to the lack of inflow murkying up the water. I personally have never caugth more than an occasional speck on Eufaula.
Smokie, it is an interesting thought. There are more blacks in Longtown creek and way down the main lake from the cut to the dam, Duchess and such. If they traveled that far, they went a long way. That was my point. Maybe they travel that far, I don't know. I grew up fishing Carr Creek, Push Hill and Belle Starr areas and we hardly ever caught a black.
Three summers ago (at least I think it was three), we caught a number of really good calico bass at I40. If we had 40 fish, 15 or more would be blacks. I personally hardly ever caught one prior to that and routinely catch them since.
Two of us from Show Me State had a couple of very good days out of Crowder with TH. He works your fanny off, but we caught good numbers and of good size. I enjoy his type of fishing and use it on Mark Twain in NE Missouri, works there also. I personally don't like sitting around or I would have a lawn chair and be after catfish. Joyce at The Falls Inn tried to fatten us up and I think she succeded. Really appreciate the friendly folks in the Eufaula area.
Stockdoc
I had never heard them called calico bass. These are what I now as calico bass.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winger
I have caught several thousand fish at I 40, and very few have been specs, but I don't usually fish there in the summer.
Todd got into the blacks WAY up Gains creek several years ago {during the last drought] so they were down south then and have increased in numbers. Years ago we never caught any in Eufaula. Could they have come out of ponds stocked by the ODWC and overflowed into feeder creeks, then into this lake? Kind of like the Hybrids got in here?
Unless my mind is failing me, seems like a few years back I was fishing alongside someone here on Eufaula Lake and they caught a walleye. But since I can't remember where, who, or even when this happened, now I'm wondering if it really happened.
Are there walleye in Eufaula?:confused:
I have never caught any, but I know a few folks that have caught them down toward the dam. I'd sure like to find a goos walleye guide that knows how and where to catch them in this part of the state.
smoky they catch several on sardis. they spawn over around sardis cove along the riprap. some of the guys use jigs with night crawlers and also rattle traps.
I'd sure take a weekend to go catch them if I knew when and where to go. Walleye is one of the few things I'll trade crappie for.
smoky they usually start the end of febuaury and lasts to may. i'm heading down this weekend i'll try to find out for you whats happening. there is a couple guides that chase them i can't remember their names right now. i'll find out and let you know who they are.