Jon Boat Accessibility

I’ve got a 10 year old who thank goodness has really taken a liking to fishing. We bank fish when we can but I’m trying to get him out on the water as well. He just helped me refurbish my granddad's 1960s?/1970s? ElDorado 12' jon boat. Right now all I have is a trolling motor and we'd really like to take it out and catch some crappie. I’m not real familiar with decent spots in central Arkansas for that size boat/trolling motor. Obviously we would like to catch a nice mess but I’m more concerned about having fun with him and staying safe since we do not have a motor.

Any suggestions for our type of setup?

Welcome to Crappie.com TBEB! Years ago when I was in my teens and early 20"s we used to slid an old 10 foot flat bottom in the back of our trucks and go to the back side of Lake Conway and slide them into the Green's Lake area. Never got out of sight of the truck and would just tear the spawning crappie up! That's been 40 years ago so I don't even know if that area is still accessible. Good Luck!

Remember you will still need life vests and boat must be registered if you even use a trolling motor . You may or may not have known this . There are several small lakes around central Arkansas . Look on AGFC website for a list of lakes . Pickthorne ,Conway or even Maumelle on upper end where river runs in .The ramp on Maumelle where River runs in has a motor limit to launch and is protected from wind . If your not interested in just Crappie the White Bass will be starting their spawning runs on Maumelle soon .

Good for him, better for you! Keep him hooked.
AGFC has some good lake maps, Conway's map is really good. Most of those ramps would be fine to slide a boat off of.
Palarm and Caney are easy to get to and you can catch crappie there now. Gold Creek is possibly busier than you may be comfortable with. I like Adam's Lake and Green's Lake on the east, inside the management area. And a trolling motor is all you need there.