Help at Clearwater Lake and Lower Taum Sauk

Hi, I'm new to crappie fishing and I'm looking to fish on these two lakes over the next few months.

I have a kayak and an anchor and a small fish finder.

I know where the brush piles have been dumped in Cleawater lake near the Piedmont Park area.

I'm looking for techniques. I'm happy to use minnows or tubes. How deep do you think they are now and where will they be for the next month or two? Should I drop shot at depth over the brush or should I cast into the area? Answers to these and similar questions is what I think I need.

Thank you for any assistance and I will post pictures if I get some positive results!

Welcome jimiron

Can't help, wrong side of the State for me. Please post results and Good Luck.

Long time since I fished down there. Maybe Speck will chime in and give a few tips.

Welcome Aboard, jimiron

I'm on the other side of the state as well, so can't assist.

But a drop shot over brush (jigs OR minnows!) would is less frustrating for me than casting over it and retrieving back. Fewer snags.

Over here, I've seen crappie as shallow as 7 feet and as deep as 18-20 fow. I'm not seeing them stick super close to structure right now. Not the hungry ones anyway.

Good luck and looking forward to future posts!

Hi everyone, thanks for the response. I got two today. I used minnows. I tried a bobber at 3 feet first, but no bites. Then I took bobber off and cast a retrieved pretty steadily to avoid snags near one of the brush piles. Got two within 30 minutes, and then no more.

I think the drop shot is a good idea, that should help me avoid snags, right? I did lose several hooks today.

What weeks should we really see them start to get hungry and come closer to the surface?

Nice, glad you caught a few and now you have more fishing posts than most the people that lurk on the MO forum. :cheers2

All my fish last week, well all my keeper size fish anyway were in less than 10 fow of water and close to the bottom. I rarely if ever fish more than 15 foot deep and even when the surface temp was nearing 90 degrees was catching fish in less than 6 foot of water so who knows. Good Luck!

Congrats on a couple. Thanks for posting with pics and welcome. Keep after them you will figure them out.

That looks like a good one to me!!