Anyone been to Broken Bow? I've never been there and need some tips for areas to fish. I'm doing some bass fishing also but need some specifics on crappie.
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Anyone been to Broken Bow? I've never been there and need some tips for areas to fish. I'm doing some bass fishing also but need some specifics on crappie.
Go to Holley creek on the upper end for crappie.
Northern part of the lake is good. Alot of standing timber around there. A local guide, can't remember his name, Bo I think, did us a good job for crappie but he is mainly a bass guide. We primarly jigged with a 1/4 spoon. Worked well. Good luck and let's us know how it turns out. Oh and I love their fish cleaning stations they have at broken bow; all lakes should have them!
There does not seem to be many ramps or information regarding the location of ramps on BB. My gps does not even show the ramps. I plan to fish between Dire Creek and Holly Creek. What are some recommendations on ramps to use? How far is it by water from Dire to Holly Creek?
There is a campground and launch at Holly Creek.
Thanks CG... that will save me some gas.
Just got back. Crappie spawn is winding down. Caught all of my big ones in Otter Creek. 10ft right on the bottom. Water is clear you can see the bottom in 7' of water.
I went there last year and couldnt figure out how to get to holly creek ramp. So we fished out of carson and caught a few in the coves. The few we caught were bigguns though.
Slipster...what was the water temp? Was wind a problem or are you protected in the coves? The next few days call for 8-10 mph I believe.
Breas,
Holly creek is a primitive campground. No water, electric or sewer hook ups. As far as a ramp there isn't one everyone launches off the bank. The gronud is very solid and there hasn't been any problems launching there. You will travel about 5 miles down a dirt road as well to get to the campground.
Two weeks ago when I was there Carson Creek (owned by the state) was the only campground opened on the southern part of the lake. Staphens Gap was closed because they were working on improving the campground. Carson Creek is a smaller camp ground with full hook ups. Cost is $20 for water and electric, $24 for water electric and sewer hook up. There are 3 ramps there. 2 are steep and single lane. The one in the middle section is 2 lane and not as step.
As far as the fishing goes Dyer Creek is to far up the river for any crappie to be on the beds I am sure they are done that far up. If you are going to stay at Holly Creek I would head south from there to Otter Creek or Bee Creek. These would be half down the lake for you. So Carson Creek campground is about the same distances.
I know two weeks ago the crappie hadn't even came close to moving in for the spawn yet. If they are being caught in 10' of water then they are still going to be making that run for the beds in the next two weeks. Water temp two weeks ago was only 56 degrees.
If you want additional info on some crappie at BB pm me I will try and get a map and show you two hot spots for crappie. They are there everytime I go. Even in bad conditions.
Breas, bare with me here I am going to try and see if I can copy a satellite view of BB lake and mark you some areas to fish for crappie.
I lived there for a while and have fished every year for the last 30 years. BB has some large crappie in it and aren't hard to catch either.
PM sent crappie_jiggin.
Breas the water temp was 65 degrees in the morning and would hit 70 degrees in a lot of places by 2:00pm. The fish I caught were all males and some were car tag size. All had spawned out and were guarding the nests.
Slipster,
Were you fishing up on the north end?
Breas, did you make the trip yet? If so what is the report for your trip?
Caught lots of fish but nothing huge. I spun a bearing or something to do with my prop. It wasn't the prop pin. I idled back in but couldn't get past a fast idle or the prop would slip and vibrate. It kinda put a damper on things but at least I didn't have to paddle. It happened about half way between Bull and Bee creek. I had to idle to the Carson Creek ramp. I made it to the ramp about dark thirty so I was lucky.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Breas
Sounds like you slipped your hub on the prop. Mine did the same thing last summer. I was told to either buy a new prop or have the hub rebuilt. Rebuilt hub for $90, new prop would have been around $350.
I take it you are talking bass and not crappie, or where you able to get into some crappie as well.
I hope the information I gave you was helpful in your trip.
I'm headed to BB this weekend. Are there any rescent reports?
Where are some good spots to go in Broken Bow? I may go early friday for a few hours
You have to head up the lake to the standing timber (Bull, Otter, Bee Creeks). Minnows are the best. I usually buy a pound of minnows and fish from 8-12'. You need to fish close to the channels. Hit every tree you can find(cedars not pines are the best), once you catch one, fish it out. I usually fish from 5-10 am after that they are dead.
I have caught up to 150 in a 5 hr trip.
What's the best way to keep minnows alive? Seems when I buy them they are okay but half are dead before I get to the lake. the Other half are dead before I can finnish fishing. I use an aerator on them and have tried cooling the water but no good.:confused:
Are you putting too many in the bucket? Are you using chlorinated city water?
The only other thing you could be doing wrong is not haveing enough air for the quantity of minners.
Explain what you are doing then I can maybe figure out the problem.
I use the water that the bait store puts in the bucket. I also use one of those small aerators that uses 2 D cell batteries. It may be that there are to many minnows in the bucket cause the guy is pretty fair about giving you more than you pay for. If it is really hot out I cool the water down with ice. Maybe the ice has enough chlorine in it to do the damage. I don't use very much and only cool it down a few degrees.
I would bet that you have too many minnows for the amount of O2 being produced. I would suggest get another aerator or go to Academy and get a 12Volt aerator that uses 2 stones ($25) and divide up the minnows into 2 buckets. You can use a styro ice chest also works well. Warm water retains less O2 than cool/cold water.
Thanks George, I will try your suggestions.
Tom
Also, as suggested you could use bottles of frozen waterin the minnow bucket to cool it off if needed. That way as it melts it doesn't add the chemicals to the water.
briliant idea Damon.
Any baitshop worth a darn will be able to bag your minnows and shoot some oxygen into them. I don't allow them to put more than a quarter pound per bag in and will buy two to three bags. I keep two unopened bags in one livewell, open the other and in the summer, it's a must to keep just 6-10 in a small bucket to use for fishing while keeping the rest over the side of the boat in a perferated minnow bucket. The frozen water in a bottle works, but, it thaws so fast it's almost not worth the trouble unless you bring an ice chest full of frozen bottles. I keep a couple of small ice cream buckets to keep a few handy while fishing. This way, you don't end up having several die at once. If you have enough room in your ice chest, stick the extra bags of minnows in there and they will last in good shape for a day or two until you're ready to use them.
Several years ago when I still lived in Ada, my son and I planned a fishing trip here to Eufaula. We bought our minnows there in Ada so in order to keep them fresh, I laid the minnows (in a bag with O2) on top of a layer of ice in the big ice chest, and then covered the top of the bag with minnows with more ice. I told my son they would be fine since we were able to keep them cool all the way over.
When we got to the boat ramp at 9A, the minnows were all teats up......... they looked like they had frozen to death. It was 2AM and no place open to buy minnows (that's why we brought em from Ada in the 1st place).
So, the moral of the story if there is one, don't get em too cold or it'll kill em too.
George gave you some good advice, try his method and go by what reapers says too. Bottom line: Minnows are just really hard to keep alive in the heat of summer.
We do that alot here in summer, I use a 5 gallon bucket with the aerator built in fill it 3/4 full of water uvcovered overnight {lets all the chlorine go} Then before we head out I turn on the pump and add 2 bottles of ice, stop for the minnows pull the 2 bottles out [by this time their melted] and add one new one. They always keep good and lively all you have to do is add bottles as needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by dnchance
Go to Walmart and buy one of the medium sized rectangular coolers(usually $12 - $15). I drill a hole in the back of the cooler up towards the top big enough to slide aquarium air tubing thru. You can then run an air pump, portable or 12v and keep the minnows alive all day... But you have to be sure to change the water every day or so or they will die from ammonia build up... We spider rig and when we buy minnows, we buy 1 1/2 pounds usually... They will be very lively at the end of the day and make it home to be added to the minnow tank for the next trip to the lake.... On really hot days the cooler will keep them cool as long as you keep the lid closed.... You can also freeze 16oz bottles of water and slip one in there on the reaallly hot days...