tl;dr

Smithville is a fickle lake.

Left the high water at Truman Crappie Camp last year to return to Smithville which was on fire.

Left incredible fishing at Truman Crappie Camp *this* year to return to Smithville which was spotty and inconsistent.

Went out Monday 05.07 with Bill. Fished spawning coves up river that have been known to produce in the past with laydowns and cover right at the bank. Caught several shorts, and a lot of super light "bites" like the jig was just a nuisance that they needed to get out of their way, but other than that I think we brought home six??. One cove was super dirty for some reason, even though the rest of the lake the water seemed better. A lot fewer fish there, but the couple I caught were a little better sized. Water temps around 75° (??!!) which I thought was pretty warm for spawning crappie. Met up with Clownfish on the water and he was seeing the same results.

Went out Tuesday 05.08 for an hour or two in the evening. Went back to that same "dirty" cove (mostly to hide from the wind) and surprisingly, the water was considerably clearer. Sadly, I didn't do much in there at all. Bill had gone out fishing with his wife and daughter in a main lake cove...water was cooler and clearer and the wind was brutal and I think they kept six, with a ton of shorts again, and a ton of lite "bites"/ near misses.

Worked Wednesday and Thursday, but went out Thursday night for another hour or two, this time fishing steeper, chunk rock banks (similar to where we caught fish at Truman) near Honker Cove. No fish, though. Found one little cut just north of W bridge across from the ramp that produced two 9.00002" fish and about 9 six inch fish.

Fished 1pm-9pm on Friday...starting up in Lynn/Roberts to get out of the wind, picking up a dink here and there. One 9.00003" fish which I released. Water temp was as high as 79° in one cove. Tried rocky banks around structure. Tried dipping further out. No joy. Talked to one old boy who sat at or near the same bank for probably 3+ hours and he said he had seven keepers and about 20 shorts. In at least three hours. During the "spawn". Some shallow, some deep.

Around 4:30p, I moved down below W bridge. Tried Shady Hollow but the wind was howling. Caught one keeper. Moved to a smaller cove across the lake. Water temp 73° and much clearer. Lots of laydowns to hit, but no cooperation. Finally downsized to a 1/32 oz jig and thought, what the heck, put a crappie nibble on it. NOW I start getting bit. A lot. By small males. (Don't know why you'd need a crappie nibble to get a bite during the spawn, but....) Talked to another gent and his son in that cove. He also said that they were catching nothing but shorts, and nothing on the banks.

Around 7p I go back to Shady Hollow and kept up with the crappie nibbles and either it was the evening bite or the smaller jig or the crappie nibble, but now it was at least a faster bite. Caught bunches, but most were small 7-8" fish. The keepers were 9 1/4 to 9 1/2. Some were right at 9" but I didn't want to argue with an agent on exactly how long 9" was so I threw those back. In the waning light, I moved to the deeper water...8-12'....and it was slow slow slow, but when I caught fish, they were better. Two around 10" and one right at 13", still with the small jig and the nibble. Crappie were starting to get real noisy on the bank....something they weren't doing during the day. Wind completely died and the water slicked off. Made for a nice night and even saw shad schooling at the surface. Followed it around for a bit, throwing into it but didn't get bit. Then called it a night and cleaned 8. A little disappointing for a full day of fishing during the "spawn".

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Figuring there was something to that night bite, and fishing deeper for the bigger females, I bought a couple dozen minnows and went out Sunday night with my son. Did some Kansas "rigging" in that deeper water....real slow...and while I only caught one short fish, I only caught 5 in about two hours...and one of those was lost at the boat. (Also a catfish. And a tiny white bass.) Even tried pitching that small jig to the bank again a few times (no crappie nibble this time), but couldn't even get a small male to take it. Packed up and drove back in the dark again. Water temp was 78-79 now. In clear water on the main lake.

The females that I cleaned had eggs that looked about the right color, but were not loose or bloody, so...I'd say the spawn isn't really in full swing yet. The males were very dark black...so everything seems like this should be easy picken's right now, but...doesn't seem to be the case for me or anyone else, really...with a few exceptions. And not for a lack of trying, cuz there are a ton of people out.

Seems like every year, new crappie.com members are joining up around the spawn. Not seeing that this year.

Seems like every year, old crappie.com members resurface to post their annual spawn reports. Not seeing that this year.

Smithville continues to disappoint. Who knows....maybe it will still get better? Water is low but warm...kinda seems like conditions should be perfect.

Someone ought to tell the fish that.

I know how you feel Joe, the Ville can be really frustrating. Last year I had 2 spots up in Linn/Roberts during the spawn that I hit several times and caught good fish, went back this year and nothing, maybe a few dinks. Sounds like you gave it a heck of a shot, I'm going to give it a try later on this week, been kinda down this past week with a bum knee, missed a step getting out of the boat Tuesday. Congrats on the 13", gotta get one of those "Smithville scales" with the micrometer upgrade, 9.00002" and 9.00003" SWEET. :biggrin

Great detailed report Joe And a nice pic :ThumbsUp

I fished around the second W bridge this evening and was horrible... I'd say I caught 2 limits of dinks.. and 2 9.0001. This pattern is a returning of what Smithville was like 5 years ago or so. I'm thinking they may skip the "spawn" this year or so with the water temperature in the 70's+.