Well, true to my word ....

and as luck would have it ..... I ended up having to go to Cedar Creek and bank fish :rolleyes:
Arrived at dam ramp around 7AM ..... first fish of the day was a 4" Bass :D Then, over the next 2hrs, I caught around 30 Crappie. Biggest one was a scrappy 7-8" Blacknose :eek: All were caught in one general area, of no more than a 50ft x 50ft section of water ... LOL!! They're usually always there, and today was no exception. And, true to the usual happenings at Cedar Creek, once the Sun got up - they shut down. Had I been there at first light ... I'd probably have caught twice as many :D Biggest fish of the trip was a 9" Bass. All were caught fishing a jig under a float, with a slow/steady retrieve or stop/go retrieve.

Talked to the Bait Store/RV Park/Bed & Breakfast owner ... seems the KDFWR is as stumped as everyone else, as to why the Crappie don't seem to be growing very fast. Noticed his "screensaver" on his computer .... 10" Shellcracker .... and asked if it came from Cedar Creek. He confirmed that, indeed it did.
Found out where the "Beach" was placed. Not where I thought it would be. I was thinking it would be in the shallow waters to the right of the ramp (if facing the lake). It's actually on the opposite end of the ramp/parking lot area.
Saw some nesting going on ..... looked to be a Longear Sunfish (Pumpkinseed) (or "redbelly", as I grew up calling them).

Not a real "productive" trip ... but, I just needed to get out and wet a line. I knew going in, that I was probably only going to end up "playing with the little ones" :D ... but, it was still fun while it lasted. ....... cp :cool:

how far under is the jig under the bobber

thanks
shawn

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Originally Posted by shawn-n-the-buckeye

how far under is the jig under the bobber

thanks
shawn

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First off -
Welcome to Crappie.com !!

Now, in this particular case, I had the jig about 4ft under the bobber. The section of lake I was fishing, runs out to around 8ft deep (at the end of the cast). There are water plants (grasses/mosses) on the bottom, from shoreline out to around that depth. The lake is relatively clear, most all the time ... though heavy storms or boat traffic can dingy up the shallows, for a while. Since I was standing on shore, and wanted to keep my jig out of the weeds, I used the "stop & go" retrieve when the jig/bobber was over the deeper water. Once I had brought them about halfway back, I switched to a steady slow retrieve. The 1/32oz jig would trail behind/below the bobber ... about 2ft deep. The water was clear enough that I could see the jig at times, especially with the brown background. I even got to see a few fish come up and take the jig ... at least, those that were close to the shore, early in the day. As the shade, over the area I was fishing, departed .. and the Sun rose higher in the sky behind me, they seemed to move away from the shallower waters. ........... cp :cool:

Where on the lake were you fishing? Were you to the right of the dam ramp when facing the lake from the ramp?

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Originally Posted by crap-pie

Where on the lake were you fishing? Were you to the right of the dam ramp when facing the lake from the ramp?

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I was standing on the rip rap rocks, just below the parking lot of the dam ramp. The KDFWR placed stake buckets out from there. You can actually see a couple of them, as the tips of the stakes are just barely under the surface. Personally, I think they placed some of them too close to the bank. But, I don't think they were really expecting the moss & grass to be quite so heavy.
I always catch a few Crappie from that area ... but, so far, they've all been little guys. Actually, I've yet to catch a keeper sized Crappie from Cedar Creek, bank or boat fishing. I've heard that the line of trees across the lake from the dam ramp, is a good spot for keepers ... but, can't verify that.
I also found out that there's another bank area close by, that I want to explore. When you are coming off the main road, and the access road comes to a T (and you turn rt to go to the ramp) ... turn left and look for a gravel road, on your right (very close from the turn). It takes you downhill towards the lake, and has a couple of places to pull your vehicle off & park. Water looked deep, and there were several downed trees & standing trees within easy casting distance. You'd probably have to get there pretty early, to get a shot at picking your spot :D I looked it over, on my way home ... and there were 5 vehicles already parked there. And I think I'll be sure and take some bug repellant with me, next time. Walking the grassy banks is a sure way to get chiggers :eek: ... and I've heard the ticks are kinda bad around the lake, too (esp in the taller grass).

Welcome to Crappie.com !! ........... luck2ya ... cp :cool:

The second area that you talked about is a pretty good spot for bluegill and bass but i cant seem to catch many crappie over there. If you do head to that area i sujust that you pull your car almost all the way through the gravel road. You will see a small area to park your car. Get out there and look across to the other side. There are some small cedars on the other side and you should see a power line. The bluegill seem to be spawning over in that area. I like to sit on a rock over there and cast out a line about two to three feet deep and cath some pretty nice bluegill. You should also notice there is a little cove more to the left. It is covered by a lot of trees and kind of hard to get to but it is a great place to fish. You have to walk all the way around to the other side though. Ive caught everthing from bluegill to bass and even a couple of catfish in that cove. The crappie however, do not seem to be in that particular area.

ps. definatly take bug spray.... the chiggers ate me alive last time!

Went last night to the rip rap rock below the lot and caught alot of bass. Even caught one three pounder. Only caught two crappie one very small and another on the verge of keeper. It will be by next year for sure. The crappie seemed to bite more near dusk as we got there at 6:00 and fish till 9:00.

P.S.Can the row of trees that are across from the dam and may possibly hold keepers be fished from the shoreline?

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Originally Posted by crap-pie

Went last night to the rip rap rock below the lot and caught alot of bass. Even caught one three pounder. Only caught two crappie one very small and another on the verge of keeper. It will be by next year for sure. The crappie seemed to bite more near dusk as we got there at 6:00 and fish till 9:00.

P.S.Can the row of trees that are across from the dam and may possibly hold keepers be fished from the shoreline?

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The row of (dead) trees, that you see from the dam ramp, are quite a ways away from the bank. They are also out in front of even more trees, that are closer to that bank. There's a creek over there, and those trees are all the way across the mouth of it ... plus, the creek itself is full of standing trees. The shoreline over there is not developed for "bank fishing", and the closest I've been to actually fishing "any" of that area (from the bank) is standing on the big rocks at the dam.
I've always caught my Crappie, from the parking lot rip rap, in the earliest hours of the morning. I've also caught Bass from this area, but nothing of any size. I have seen many "bass" anglers put in and fish down that section of bank. I've seen a few of them catch Bass, but the biggest was probably only a 2-3lb fish at best. I did catch a nice 3-4lb Bass, right off the end of the ramp, a couple of years ago. I was casting a 4" plastic craw, from the loading dock, out towards the deep end of the ramp. The wind was blowing pretty good, and my line was blown into a big bow. As I started to turn the reel handle, to take up that slack (bow), I noticed that the line was heading towards the middle of the lake ... against the wind. I knew it was running off with the craw, so I just caught up with the slack and set the hook ... LOL!!
I've only Bass fished the lake one other time ... and that was from a boat. It was a windy, overcast, threatening to rain kinda day. We caught them on white crankbaits, over the tops of deep submerged trees. I think we caught around 5 fish .... the biggest being around 4lbs. Then our cloud cover blew away, and we didn't get any more hits from Bass. That's when we started Crappie fishing. We ended up finding them in small schools, out in front of a line of trees out in deep water. They were suspended about 3-4ft below the surface. Most were caught on 1/32oz Chartreuse Roadrunners, on a slow retrieve. They never really thumped it, or banged it, they just seemed to be "nipping" on it. And if you kept reeling, you'd never have known it was a Crappie ... you had to set the hook with a sweep of the rod, rather than a "jerk". If you swept the rod, you'd hookup more often than not ... but ,if you jerked, you'd only hookup occasonally.

One other thing of note: I don't know how much you know about them, but there are Blacknose Crappie in Cedar Creek. They're not a hybrid, or a crossbreed ... they're just a Black Crappie with a genetic marker. They occur naturally, but sparingly, in a section of the White River in Arkansas. Originally used by DNR biologists, as stock fish for small lakes, they are now in many lakes .... KY Lake has them, Dale Hollow, and Watts Bar. You'll recognize them if/when you ever catch one. They have a black stripe that runs from under the chin, all the way up between the eyes to the dorsal fin.
Here's a pic (sorry it's not so clear):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...eBlacknose.jpg
This little guy was caught at Watts Bar Lake, Tn., where I've caught them for many years. All the "so called experts" say that this fish doesn't fight any harder than a regular Black Crappie ... but, I beg to differ. I've caught them up to around 1.5lb, and they have a greater tendancy to make long hard runs, and will even leap out of the water !! I've never had any other Crappie do that "Bass leap" thing .... LOL!!
I'd really like to see them get well established in Cedar Creek. Even if I caught one of keeper size, I'd let it go.

Crap-pie .... you ever fish over on Taylorsville Lake ?? .......... cp :cool:

Yes i have fished taylorsville one time and i caught many. We dont have a boat ........YET. We rented a boat and went into a small cove just past the dam and in area with a shade tree over the water. WE probably caught fifty off minnows and corks but we only had three keepers. They were just big enough. like to catch a mess next time.:)

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Originally Posted by crap-pie

Yes i have fished taylorsville one time and i caught many. We dont have a boat ........YET. We rented a boat and went into a small cove just past the dam and in area with a shade tree over the water. WE probably caught fifty off minnows and corks but we only had three keepers. They were just big enough. like to catch a mess next time.:)

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but, from the reports I've been getting .... seems like the population is doing fine, but the size isn't doing so well. That bodes well for the next couple of years. But, for now, it would seem that the lake is in a down cycle (size wise). Taylorsville isn't known for huge Crappie, anyway ... and the best I've ever done there, was a limit of 3/4lb fish - prespawn, early April, many years ago. Haven't come close to duplicating that, since. ....... luck2ya ... cp :cool: