Rathburn

Going to Rathburn next week with the kids. Never been there before. Anyone have any tips for crappie. Here in Missouri i jig the brush, is this the way to fish Rathburn? Just going for fun, but would love to get into some slabs. will catfish some too. dont worry im not fishing the masters. hahaha

Dink
With the water low your not going to find much brush in the water.There is some old standing timber up in bridgeview and way back in south fork.Also crappie cove has some standing timber in it.Most everything else has been clear cut.There are a few beaver piles here and there, but theyre high and dry now as well.There is some manmade piles in the lake, but your probably not going to find anyone voluteering those location especially next week.Actually with the temps staying as cool as they are, a guy not familar with the lake could probably do fairly well drifting the big flats and the mouths of the larger coves and fingers.Weve been at 60 degrees or cooler water for over 3 weeks now, just cant get any stable weather.The lake is full of crappie, and Im serious when I say you can catch them just about everywhere.Sometimes it takes little spots or presentation to get the better fish.Good luck and Ill probably seee you on the water as Ill be there most of next wek as well.

thanks for the reply, should i drift with minnows and corks. or jigs.

Id drift either a Kentucky rig tipped with minnows or long line a jig tipped with minnows.The fish are ready to spawn and even with the cooler temps weve got a full moon on Saturday, they may try anyways.Could be an interesting week with the bite changing daily.

I was watching a outdoor program the other day,Outdoors in the Heartland.With what they said on the show that most of or all the brush was removed from this lake when it was impounded.I haven't fished the lake so I am going on with what they stated.It sounds like there is a bunch of brush piles that have been put in by guides and locals.If you feel like spending a little cash to find some of there brush piles a guide on the lake is Ron Boylan,,his phone numbers are 641-702-1411 or 641-747-3501 or if you have a good locater like a Lowrance look around points in 12-15' of water and you may be able to find some of the structure they have placed,good luck!!! I just fished a lake a bit to the east of Rathbun last week called Lake Sugema,real nice lake,all the timber you can stand,caught a few in timber,but most fish caught a bit to the west of boat landing near rocky shoreline using black head,blue and silver tubes tipped with a minnow or waxxy.Hopefully this darn weather will stabilize real soon,been a tough year!! Good Luck!!

I doubt Ron will be doing much guiding next week, as hes fishing tournament next week.Just pay attention to your graph.Most of the locals have brush put in the backs of coves for spawning.There arent many piles on points.With the temps were having this week and not looking much better next,the fish probably are going to still be staging.

I just to say I wish you well to all who are fishing the tourney next week.
With enough thought and a bit of luck there should be some good weights brought to the scales. Hope the weather cooperates too.

I used to fish Lake Rathbun extensively when I worked third shift and gas prices were less than $1.50 a gallon. Two sometimes three days a week until the speed boats and water lice got heavy in the late spring. Anyway, we drifted alot with a long line jig/minnow, drifting over the humps seemed to prove the best results on average and color presentation was very key.
There may not be alot of trees in the lake, but there is structure if you can find it. Somedays virtical jigging over one lone stump in would produce more than drifting. I would try the drifting method first.

DinkMaster - some buddies and I will also be there next weekend as well and not fishing in the tournament. I've been watching the weather and it does appear that the crappies will still be staging. I've already made up my mind that we'll be drifting and looking for isolated structure as deep as 10'. We might even attempt to troll some bandits.

prchjerker - maybe i've heard it under another name, what is a "kentucky rig"?

A kentucky rig is a rig that uses a half to three quarter ounce egg sinker tied inline.A hook is tied below the sinker a couple inches, above the sinker about 14 inches is a little wire arm that holds a second hook out away from the arm.
Did manage to get out for a couple hours yesterday.The water temp dropped down to 56.7 degrees.We going backwards, but the weather is looking up towards the end of the week with temps in the upper 70.Those fish are going to go and go fast as soon as the water warms alittle.

Thanks perchjerker. That's what I thought it was. I've always just called that a crappie rig but I like kentucky a little better.

I figured with the cold rain and temps that the water temp would fall. When it does warm, there's going to be a lot of crappie spawning at the same time and we'll have a short window to get'em. It looks like mid to upper 70s for the weekend. Let's hope the winds aren't howling.

I'll look for you around bridgeview and good luck in the tournament.