River Crappie Question

Before I go on I just want to say thanks to this community. I don't post very often but I have gained a ton of information from you guys and I really appreciate it.

I have been trying to tackle the Arkansas River recently. I fish the creeks (Vache Grass, Clear Creek, Courthouse Slough) during the spring and summer with good results but have had trouble catching numbers of fish in late fall/winter. Do these fish stay in the creeks when the temperature drops or do they move out to the main river channel? Most of these creeks have a 12-19ft channel running through them. Is that where they should be? Yesterday the water temp was 53 degrees and I just could not locate them. I'm determined enough to fight this cold weather to catch a few for dinner every once in a while. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

They maybe at creek mouths around brush or pilings close to the bottom . How deep you looking ?

The channel in the creek I was fishing got to 19 feet close to the mouth. Back in the creek the channel is probably 10-12 ft deep max.

I agree with Nimrod as long as there in not much current in that area. Look for baitfish around the mouth of creeks, secondary points near the river channel, ledges, riprap banks, docks. look for horizontal lines on your graph and drop down to them using 1 foot per second rule or casting to them with grubs . Try a chartreuse 1/16 oz jigheads with pearl or pink bodies with chartreuse tail 2''. or try tipping jigs with minnows when vertical jigging for them. Hope this helps. Good luck bro

I fish the river from the bank in the central part of the state. I can't tell you about the particular areas you are talking about, but since Thanksgiving I've seen nice catches of crappie from all kinds of water: against the dams, at the current "break" about 100 yards down from the dam, and in the calm waters around the boat ramps.

Crappie have been in a feeding frenzy and will be found where the shad/baitfish are. I'm finding them almost anywhere there is an eddy in the currrent, usually right along the seam/edge of where fast water touches still water. In these places, the fish seem to want the bait right along the bottom. I've been having luck casting upstream at a quartering angle and once the jig gets to the bottom it might hit a rock or two but then "bam"!

In the protected areas with no current (boat launch areas), I've been having luck with slip bobber rigs set 8-12' deep and also by just casting a jig out and bringing it back right along the bottom.

In both areas, the fish seem to want a VERY slow retrieve.

I know there are several brush piles around the mouth of clear creek that hold fish but never tried fishing them this time of year, I always choose to chase the ducks in that area over the fishing for some reason. :dono

Thank you guys for the replies. I am off Friday and am going to go once it gets above freezing. Guess I'll hang around the channel in the deeper water and see how it goes.

rzrbakhunter - I'm usually chasing ducks this time of year (in pretty much the same area as you) but we need more water and the migration hasn't really hit hear yet. Hopefully all of the food north of us gets covered up with snow.

Go up a creek and look for the last hole that has 20' water. The shad will hole up here most of the winter, and so will the crappie.

Good luck to you HogWild! It's supposed to get down into the twenties tonight, so better bundle up for tomorrow.

I've also benefited from all the great tips on our state sub-forum, which seems to be one of the more active ones in terms of views.

Tomorrow is my last work day for the year and I can't wait to get out, even though I'll probably freeze my tail off. Let us know how it goes HogWild!