Midway and Horseshoe Crappie (pics)

Well, I decided to fish Midway on Saturday morning. The wind started out being not bad at all, but that changed pretty quick. I started out drifting the Big Killdee. I picked up one nice 2lb white crappie in about 3' of water. The wind then got up too bad to fish it. I tried a few more spots on my way back to the ramp, but was unproductive. Saw plenty of activity on the bottom in 6' of water, but couldn't get 'em to bite. Decided to leave Midway at 12:15 with that 1 nice crappie. It sure was nice to see the lake filled back up. Just like old times cruising down that lake.

I then went over to Horseshoe, just to kill the afternoon. I knew that I couldn't do any worse than at Midway, so I went for it. I was amazed at how much lower the water was than the last time that I was there. And, I can't believe in the name of all that is humane the condition of that boat ramp at Pete Striff's old place. It is ridiculous for Clyde to charge $5 for the use of that ramp. Be very careful if you go, because there is a significant drop off at the end of the ramp...just barely underwater. Ok...I'll get off my soapbox...but that ramp has earned the title of the worst ramp that I've ever encountered...and that includes launching with no ramp at all.

Well, with the boat ramp crap, I didn't get the poles in the water until after 1pm. I saw a few boats out there drifting over the river channel, so I decided to cruise over there and see what all the fuss was about. Man, the depth finder just blew up in 21-24' of water. There was lots of activity from the bottom up a few feet. I threw my chain out and started drifting just off the bottom with shiners. I stayed busy catching fish from the moment I dropped the poles in the water until 4pm, when I ran out of bait. I had some dead, bloated minnows that were at least a week dead. They even hit those! Finally when all my alive and dead minnows were gone, I decided to head home at about 4pm. I got a few fish on blk/chart jigs, but they really wanted the minnows. I only wish that I'd had a half pound of rosies with me. Oh well, I had a blast out there on some old stomping grounds, and I came home with 31 crappie. I had two hawgs that went 2lb. The rest were around 3/4lb. I caught some good sized crappie for Horseshoe. I didn't get any pics on the water because I left it and my GPS at home. Still kickin' myself for that...

The 31 crappie from Saturday...
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...c/DCFC0130.jpg

The two big ones...one from Midway and the other from Horseshoe...
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...DCFC0134-1.jpg

Well you cannot say that I didn't warn you about the ramp. It is the worst I have ever seen it. I cannot believe there are still that many people fishing the lake with the ramp conditions as they are. It's ashame to as this is one of the few places that we have to fish on this side of the state. Maybe the spring rains will raise it some but it needs to come up at least 6 foot to make it through the summer. A lot of the places that I generally fish is now dry ground. Glad to see that you caught some. What was the water temp. Also, how was the ramp at midway and how much water is in the lake.

Thanks,
LRM

Nice fish Ceb. Been working all weekend. Wanted to fish Darbonne with Slab Hunter, but stuck at work. Maybe will get to go Tuesday if wind not too bad. Glad to see u had a good time despite wind and bad boat ramp...Rick

Nice fish Ceb. Don't know how you stayed out there if the wind was blowing there like it was in Batesville.

nice fish there mister

ceb,
You need to go back to school before Arkansas runs out of fish. :(

Just kidding around, keep um coming..... :D

Randy

Nice bunch of fish Chris, especially with that wind Saturday.

Boy with that hot hand you should have gone on down to Tunica after you dropped the boat off. Still can't belive you hit em like that in 2 foot swells. Nice work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LRM58

Well you cannot say that I didn't warn you about the ramp. It is the worst I have ever seen it. I cannot believe there are still that many people fishing the lake with the ramp conditions as they are. It's ashame to as this is one of the few places that we have to fish on this side of the state. Maybe the spring rains will raise it some but it needs to come up at least 6 foot to make it through the summer. A lot of the places that I generally fish is now dry ground. Glad to see that you caught some. What was the water temp. Also, how was the ramp at midway and how much water is in the lake.

Thanks,
LRM

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I appreciate the warning on the ramp. It was just worse than I could ever imagine. It is also very shallow all the way to the open water. I had the motor tilted up, and I was still churning mud. I would advise big boats to be very careful...you could really mess something up out there.

The water temp was 53. I was really shocked to see the fish in deep water right on the bottom. I guess the cold front pushed them down deep. From the water temp, they should have been heading for shallower water.

Midway now looks just as good as it ever did. The boat ramp still leaves some to be desired, but it has plenty of depth and is in good condition. Mrs. Joyce said that the river really needs to get in there big time to replenish the crappie. She also said that the crappie had not been seen in the buckbrush yet.

The wind was howling out there. The chain was the one thing that saved me. A chain or a driftsock is the only way to go on days like Saturday. I'll post a picture of my chain set-up later this afternoon. It is a good investment for mud bottom lakes.