first time on greeson..

I got invited to come visit my sister and stay with her on her lake house on greeson the other day. She has always wanted me to bring the kids and come stay...and I have always wanted to fish greeson. Win-win. She took us out on the lake and we anchored and let the kids swim. The highlight for them being the "rock of death" that they got to jump off of. Pretty cool set up, and they had a great time. The highlight for me was seeing the massive boat dock and slip that her houseboat came out of. Me, being the opportunistic fisherman that I am, instantly thought of a family nightstalk and subsequent fish fry. She had a few poles, a few lights and wanted me to go then (Friday night). But, I needed a night to come back home, gear up, and try to do it right. She told me that it was perfectly legal for me to fish the dock, that she didn't know how deep it was, or about structure. There were lights down the middle of the walkways and I noticed some overhanging lights on some areas that looked set up for night fishing, but I saw all that I needed to see to be excited about fishing "her" dock. I thought there had to be structure all over these docks and slips and I was hoping to pull crappie in for the kids to load up. We couldn't wait.

Yesterday was the day, and we planned on getting back up there about an hour or so before dark. There was a brief, but nasty storm that blew in right before we pulled up to her place that had hail with it, but it cleared out upon our arrival. My gear included 4 ugly stiks, 5 dozen minnows, two batteries, 1 15' starfire, two clamp on lights, an ice chest full of pops, and all three kids. I'm used to doing this in my boat, so this was a very comfy set up with all three kids having plenty of room. We set up in my sisters empty boat slip and the light hit the water right at dark. The kids know the deal, a little slow to start...baitfish start workin...then it's time to put down the mountain dews and pay attention. Only, this time it didn't happen. In 2.5 hrs we caught 1 big bluegill. I never pulled any baitfish to speak of. The only thing that came to the light were a few small bream. I'm guessing the water was 25' deep or so and I tried the light at every depth. Nothing. I've struck out before, but I just couldn't believe that I couldn't draw any baitfish in.

But, we had fun. The kids enjoyed being out on the new lake @ night and we all had fun with my sister. That could be a great set-up for me. I've got a place to stay close to the water whenever I want, and it's only about an hour from my house. I just need to learn how to fish the lake!

Sorry about the fishing but glad you had a great time with your family. The last time I went night stalking right after a storm I didn't have any luck either. Couldn't even pull in many bait fish after being covered up the night before. Sounds like you have a good set up there but you might consider sinking some cover if there isn't any. Good luck with your next outing.

Yup, I'd sink a couple of cedars or a condo in there just to make sure there was something to attract them.

I'd bet that crappie are there in the daylight, using the dock for shade. I've never fished Greeson but fish Ouachita all the time. With this heat wave, I have not had a successful night stalk this summer! I hope that will change in a month or so as the water begins to cool and the specks begin to gather for their fall feed. Maybe next time, eh? <><

aj

Having fun is what it is all about.

My kids asked on the way home if we could come back the next night, after having not caught 1 crappie. I always have fun with them. Sometimes we talk about fishing, somethimes they argue over whether or not a particular cloud looks like a horse or a dinosaur...ya never know.
I would love to sink some structure there. I'll talk to her and see about it.

Hey Shooter:

Which dock is your sister's slip in? We'll be building Bamboo Crappie Condos again soon and we could probably drop one or two in her slip if the water is deep enough.

The crappie are tough right now - out schooling on shad I figure. They aren't showing up on our brushpiles or condos at all and I've tried trolling crankbaits, which produced black bass, white bass and a walleye but no crappie. A storm can sure mess them up, especially when they are already slow.

We are getting some decent stripers down by the dam and some pretty good gills and crackers off of some of our brushpiles and condos. Anytime you're heading back over to Greeson either check my Trip Reports page - TRIP REPORTS and I'll try to point you in the right direction.

Hey Jerry, that sounds great. I know it is dock "c" but not sure of the slip number. I just sent her a text to find out. I sure hope the fishin turns around soon. I will keep an eye on your trip reports. I showed my kids your post and now they are all pumped up and ready to go!
I probly should've waited til tomorrow..