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Fished with clients dipping timber today. We ended with 38 crappie and 6 sandbass. Baits of choice was pumpkin/chart slab slayers and minnow minders on crappie pro jig heads. 2' to 8' DOW and 2' to 5' deep. No pictures today since both were having a melt down and elected to sit in the AC while I cleaned fish......Ranger
What, sit in the AC? Geez.
Fished Eufaula Monday. I knew the south end was muddy and poor from the camp fishing reports so I tried the north end. Started at Int 40 rap. It was so muddy I didnt even launch the boat. Drove down lake and launched at Texanna road, fished the rap at highway 69 both sides, good visibility but poor fishing. Went up the channel and fished the deep timber, worse. Fished those two large coves back there, no better. Lots of sandies around that whole area, not much crappie. If anybody wants to catch a bunch of sandies, go under the bridge at 69. Ended up with 5 fish for the day. I guess I could chalk it up as a exploratory trip, I have been wanting to try that part of the lake for a while now. The poor fishing may have been due to the weather conditions or the rising lake level. It looked fishy, but I was disappointed. Added a map so you could see where I fished. The deep timber was particularly interesting, but tough to fish because the wind. If anybody has ever done good there, chime in, would love to hear it. Attachment 165184
Fishers, good report! Thanks for the update. I like that you provide some detail about where you went and the conditions encountered!
You know that is why it is called fishing, and not catching. At least you got to look at some new water!! In general how deep was that timber?
The timber area you fished is really good from mid July on to fall.
That's right. I usually don't concentrate there until it's hotter. One of the boaters that was here with me lost his tm prop so 4 of us drug jigs from my boat Monday afternoon and yesterday morning and then I took my granddaughter out yesterday afternoon. We caught a boatload of Crappie. Had another fish fry and still froze a bunch for home. All between Blocker bridge and Arrowhead. Water is getting very muddy and is up a couple of feet.
Glad you got into them IkenI. I should have gone farther south myself. Rippers, I will try it again later like you suggested, its just too fishy to ignore. Redge, there is timber from 1 to 38 feet deep and it is spaced just perfect. Remember we were talking about places that have so much timber its hard to know were exactly to fish, this is not like that at all. It is a very large area (about 4 miles) that has well spaced trees at all depths. The spots that I checked had single trees or bunches of trees spaced about 100 feet apart. The red dots approximate, best as I can recall the the timbered areas. If you go be careful there are some lower unit munchers out there. Attachment 165199
I like hearing the reports about good fishing around Arrowhead. There sure wasn't anything good last weekend during Crappie Camp - at least not at my dock.
Stink, have you been down to the dock to fish any this week?
Fishers, that does look like I need to go check it out. As you said it just looks fishy!
Glad you got on the fish Floyd.
You gotta be REAL careful out there.....several tree tops just below the surface....me and our youngest son went Sunday evening down south around Coal then to Crowder...water was too muddy....did finally pick some good ones up off the brushpiles we could find in about 7-10 fow
What a difference a day makes. I went out solo this afternoon for about three hours. Within 5 minutes I had one 1.75 lbs. The rest of the time was one 7" dink. Brought the boat home.
There are several areas around the lake like that. A couple of years ago, when the water was really low, I was amazed to see the amount of trees sticking up out of the water in areas that we used to ski over. I had no idea they were just below the surface in those areas. Really made me think of how dangerous that would have been to fall in one of those areas.Quote:
Originally Posted by cpd21
Yessir....just south of Belle Starr toward Eufaula cove....large area out there full of trees....straight south of Fountainhead....west of Gentry creek....this is one lake where you need a map and gps. The thing is, you might be in 30 ft of water but there may be 29 feet trees still out there. I watch skiers and jetskis run right through those areas without a clue all the time
Anyone trying the Dutchess Creek Area?
VERY true. That's the part of the lake I live and grew up on. We hav pics of standing on trees out in the middle of the lake. (Literally 29 ft of water). Aways gotta b awareQuote:
Originally Posted by cpd21
Fished the north end today with out oldest son...caught about 20 or so....mostly dinks....best bite was in about 12 fow on brush....water is way up and gotta find the shallower piles
went to the south end yesterday was a lot muddier than yhe north end,We managed about 20 good keepers up to 14".
Way to go VH!
I've been averaging between 30-40 keepers in 3-4hr 1/2 day trips. We are casting and dragging weedless jigs over brushpiles in 10-17fow. We built 15 piles June 9 and 10 and the fish are all over them. If your struggling to catch fish I encourage you to get out and put some piles in, we are putting 10 more piles out tomorrow. " If you build it they will come" EB
EB I have a quick question for u. Do u have a preference on what you are building ur piles with. Basically are u using artificial brush(pex pipe, PVC) or natural brush(trees/wood). Any help would be awesome. Thanks
Not EB but I have been involved in placing these piles in. All have been Persimmon Trees about 12' to 15' tall. Makes for a lasting pile that will produce for up to 5 yrs before needing added to......Ranger
the bad thing about PVC piles is it takes several months for the alge to grow to it.....Ranger
Thanks for the info ranger. Is there a particular reason u use persimmon trees?
Longan check out the Tenkiller thread and I explain all the reasons and techniques for using persimmon trees. It should be in the last 2 pages......Ranger
EB and I are headed for Eufaula as I type this to put out another 10 to 15 piles today.....Ranger
I agree with Ranger. Persimmon tops are great. Also, I would rather them be a little too short, than a little too tall. I learned this the hard way.
So are you putting the persimmon trees in concrete in 5 gallon buckets? How do you get them down to where you want them? Lower them with nylon, throw them overboard and hope for the best? Have you ever had any that you wanted to set vertically but ended up falling over? Do you put them directly in a creek channel? If not how close to a channel to you put yours?
What is a little short in terms of length versus too tall?
How about pictures of what the persimmon trees loo like just before you throw them in with instructions on making this "piles". It would be helpful for the rest of us to get an education. If we all put out structure then we should have years to enjoy the fruits of our labor with increased crappie catches! Thanks.
I know it's probably already been addressed , but will you get in trouble with the Corps for placing piles in a lake?
Well if you do I should of been placed under the jail house after today. We placed and cut some really nice persimmon trees today on the Big E......Ranger
Now Mark........it CAN be arranged. just sayin
Hear say is never admissible in court lol.....Ranger
Things that happen in SE Okla stay buried in SE Okla.:yikes
Frank we use telephone wire to wire a good size rock in the middle of the tree so the tree will lay down. The trees we put out we want the tops to come up right in the strike zone. So if we cut a tree that's taller we will put it in a little deeper water. We are putting these in 14-17ft but the tree tops would be in 10-12ft. Im really surprised of how many fish we are catching out of them already. Averaging 20-40 in 3-4 hrs. Also catching fish up to 1.75 out of them as well. Now it takes a little work on the bank getting the trees ready but putting the trees out with the Ranger is really easy. EB
Always worth a little work for alot of reward. Besides 14-17' of water any certain place you are looking for over another when dropping a pile somewhere.
i like to drop brush where you see fish on the graph without brush. typically you will find this along a break, because they use the break line to travel. If you dump it where fish naturally want to be, and then you add brush, you just made an oasis! this is why EB is able to come back and catch fish in couple hours of a new pile. He is not just randomly dumping one in 17 fow, and the fish smell it, and say, oh man gotta get in it! He is taking the brush to them. Then, about 1 in 10 of these "Ace in the hole" piles, will one hit consistently with numbers and quantity. Putting out brush is power in numbers.
Thanks for the explanation. It seems the boat would be really covered up with tree limbs navigating to the drop location, making visibility tough. How do you manage that? With a good size rock at the base the limbs float up to the strike zone, right?
Frank we have a cleet on the nose of our boats, use a 10ft rope to run through the tree branches, the tree never touched the boat. It stays in the water. We pull it out to the location then let the loose end of the rope go and the tree sinks. EB
Thank you for the explanation! My cleats are on the sides, never saw one on the nose of a boat. So the tree bound to the rock stays on the side of the boat until you get back to the waypoint mark , then drop. Cool. Saves messing up the inside of the boat. Sure is a cheap effective way to stack piles. My problem is finding the right trees, unless you are cutting them at the shore line. It would tons of time and effort doing it that way. Next week I am dropping Pond King's Honey Hole trees into a lake. After that I am going to either have to try the method you use or do 5 gallon buckets with concrete as the Honey Hole Trees are expensive. I will pick them up at their plant in Texas this Friday.
Frank, I have put out both PVC and wood, and wood is by far the best.