Lake Maumelle Tips this time of year?

Hey Everyone!

New member here and a boat newb. Got my first boat week before Thanksgiving and am still in the process of breaking in the motor. I am desperate for Crappie. Only have caught a handful here and there over the span of about a decade, and am hoping to change that now that I am a boat owner.

Still in the process of breaking in the motor, so I haven't hit Lake Conway yet because the going anything over 10 mph on that lake makes me nervous, but hopefully sometime soon. In the mean time, I was wondering what y'all think of Lake Maumelle. I know in past years, it got a bad rep ("dead sea" and all), but has it changed? The last few AGFC fishing reports have stated excellent for Crappie, but 4 days straight before Thanksgiving yieled me nothing but black bass and chain pickerel.

I scour YouTube each week to see if anyone posts any fishing videos on Lake Maumelle. I found this one yesterday: https://youtu.be/S3dJTll5EgQ Those folks were there the day after I was and it looks like they did OK (about 4:00 minute mark into the video for crappie).

At this time of the year, are the crappie in deep (> 20 feet) or can they still be caught off brush piles in shallow water?

Thanks for any feedback!!

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Originally Posted by Spartec

Hey Everyone!

New member here and a boat newb. Got my first boat week before Thanksgiving and am still in the process of breaking in the motor. I am desperate for Crappie. Only have caught a handful here and there over the span of about a decade, and am hoping to change that now that I am a boat owner.

Still in the process of breaking in the motor, so I haven't hit Lake Conway yet because the going anything over 10 mph on that lake makes me nervous, but hopefully sometime soon. In the mean time, I was wondering what y'all think of Lake Maumelle. I know in past years, it got a bad rep ("dead sea" and all), but has it changed? The last few AGFC fishing reports have stated excellent for Crappie, but 4 days straight before Thanksgiving yieled me nothing but black bass and chain pickerel.

I scour YouTube each week to see if anyone posts any fishing videos on Lake Maumelle. I found this one yesterday: https://youtu.be/S3dJTll5EgQ Those folks were there the day after I was and it looks like they did OK (about 4:00 minute mark into the video for crappie).

At this time of the year, are the crappie in deep (> 20 feet) or can they still be caught off brush piles in shallow water?

Thanks for any feedback!!

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Mark and Matt Hedrick 2 of the best on Maumelle, the fish are deep in brush along ledges, not sure how deep they are right now,30-40 ft of water the later we get into the cold months, this lake is one of the hardest to fish in central Ark and wind can be brutal,but once you unlock the secret it is one awesome fishery


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Central Arkansas Crappie Association had a tourney there in 2016 and will have another in 2017. Greg and Russ had the most impressive catch of any tournament we had last year in my opinion. Always check the wind before going to be able to make a wise decision on which part of the lake would be safe and fishable. Fishing with CACA is by far the best way to learn the tricks to catching Crappie!!! Good luck and welcome to the board.

Good luck to you on Maumelle. Listen to Jeff. I met him on Lake Conway yesterday and he was pulling em in right and left. Nice fellow. Paul

I've caught a many of white bass, bream, and large mouth out there . Never a crappie . Little Maumelle river is a different story

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Hey...I have had good success in Lake Maumelle. I have attached a Custom MAP for you. The Old Highway 10 Road bed and Old bridges as marked are great locations. Also if you like White bass the far west end and creek are great in Feb / March. Attachment 253470

:welcome I hope the info shared will help you, as I don't have any that might help. I hope you share your adventures here.
Chris

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Originally Posted by CrappieDave

Hey...I have had good success in Lake Maumelle. I have attached a Custom MAP for you. The Old Highway 10 Road bed and Old bridges as marked are great locations. Also if you like White bass the far west end and creek are great in Feb / March. Attachment 253470

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@CrappieDave - that is very kind of you. You went above and beyond in my book. Thank you very much for this info. I got nice chuckle thinking about that old saying "Do I need to draw you a map?"

I'm gonna pray for calm winds and sunny weather by mid-December (even if it' cold) as that's when I'll be taking some time off for Christmas break. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I also appreciate the feedback from everyone else!

I've heard Lake Maumelle get shunned a lot by Fishermen, but for a guy with his first boat, it's not a bad lake. There is a free topo map on the Navionics web app, and there are also GPS coords of all the brush piles AGFC put out back in 2010.

Before I got my boat, I would rent a boat over at Gold Creek landing on Lake Conway, but I found that it can get pretty busy on the weekends there, and that creek doesn't leave much room past the train bridge.

Can't wait to get out on the water again soon. You guys rock!

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Originally Posted by Crappie Greg

Mark and Matt Hedrick 2 of the best on Maumelle, the fish are deep in brush along ledges, not sure how deep they are right now,30-40 ft of water the later we get into the cold months, this lake is one of the hardest to fish in central Ark and wind can be brutal,but once you unlock the secret it is one awesome fishery

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You're not joking about the wind! I heard tin boats are the worst in wind, so I learned something that day. I marked a route on the GPS and ended up on a hump with some structure, ton of baitfish and (I think) crappie in about 18 FOW. It was open water and I anchored just forward of the hump and let the wind push me back over it. I was with my two sons and we threw everything we had: dropshot with #2 plain hooks and minnows, 1/8th oz jigs with a rainbow of colors, some tipped some not; large shiners, small pink minnows. Then we put on slip corks and jigs. 3+ hours...nada. This was the day after Thanksgiving. A front had just pushed through I think that past Monday and temperatures dropped. Forecast had called for partly sunny in the afternoon, but from dawn to dusk, we didn't see a ray of light once. Was just overcast the entire day.

Finally pulled into a cove behind one of the islands to get out of the wind and those big shiners under a cork nabbed me some nice bass just over a weed bed. I'm still trying to justify the impulse buy of my boat to the wifey, and demmit she wants to eat some Crappie not Bass! LOL