Navigation Channel

I was able to fish the navigational channel this last weekend, I have only been on it a few times with very little sucess. But this was the first time I had ever fished it in the winter. The water vis was about 3 ft and the river was very stable. Saturday we had 42 keepers and Sunday we around 30 keepers. We caught lots of short fish as well. Most of the fish were white crappie with a few blacks mixed in, we were casting and dragging over laydowns, brush and stumps in 10-20ft. The hot bait was blk/chart and pump/chart minnow mindrs and wasshoppers. I really enjoy getting on new water and using my electronics to find fish. I was really impressed with the size of the crappie. EB

YEAH BOY!!!!......Ranger

THANKS FOR THE TRIP EB.ME AND JOHNNY REALLY ENJOY IT. EVEN THOUGH YOU CANT FISH.LOL:deadhorse:cheers2

Looks Like Johnny is WHOOPIN Jeff's %#@ in your Post FORTGIBSONBOY,,,,,lol......Ranger

LOL hahaha! Thats funny! EB

Bet you got out of the wind too EB . Fishing oxbows?

For those of us that don't exaclty know what the Navigation Channel is, or where, exactly what are you talking about EB?

Kirk the navigation channel is the river that runs from Catoosa all the way to the Mississippi River and is used for barge and tug boat traffic. There are numerous oxbows off of this river system and other creeks and rivers as well. Also you will find numerous parks and ramps along this river system. Just to name a few ramps close to us would be starting in Catoosa, Wagoner, Muskogee, Webbers Falls, then Kerr. Kirk you can Google and use map and find alot more little ramps and parks too. Hope this helps....Ranger

It is a great place to get out of the wind and the water is usaully stable. I can tell you that there of tons of crappie in the oxbows but you usaully have to go through lots of little ones to find the keepers. I will almost never post the exact spots that I'm fishing, but I will tell you if you can find good brush right off the main channel you can get into some big slabs. The biggest of the weekend came from brush in 18ft. She was 15 1/2 inches and weighed 2.0lbs even. Beautiful fish so I let go her go back! EB

Thanks Mark and Brian! Never been on there, and do know what you are talking about. The farm is only about 25 minutes from webers falls so I will have to go looking! Trying to get out of my comfort zone more. Even took a trip to Fort Gibson last week!! Thanks again!!

We are just trying to fish places that still have water, but mostly to have places out of the wind. I was impressed with numbers and the water clarity. Plenty of places to fish too! I doubt that that huge place is ever crowded. EB

Was able to get out today with my buddy Charlie. We ended up with 34 keepers and had 6 or 7 good fish pull off. We had somewhere between 20 and 25 throwbacks ranging from 6" to 10 1/2" also. All in all was a beautiful day and the river got slick as ice in the late afternoon. WT was 50 degrees all day with no sun and water clarity was 2' to 3' and beautiful.......Ranger

To be honest its like any River System I have ever fished. It has Oxbows a plenty that makes for excellent fall and spring time fishing and then the river itself with deep laydowns in the 15' to 20' depths for winter time fishing. Some of the oxbows have that depth of water as well. It makes up for an electronics nuts dream trying to put your knowledge to work trying to figure out the river system. And being a river system as it is will make it change with every heavy rain fall we get. We put in 3 wood piles yesterday and hid a few more blocks on the bank since we ran out of time to build all the piles we wanted too. Another thing about the river we just made a slight dent in running the channels and banks finding quality cover for the crappie and with each additional trip you will find much more as it is in any water you fish. We just used sonar yesterday which makes it alittle tougher finding wood but coming tomorrow I will be recieving my HDS 8 with Side Scan so look out crappie I am coming back.....Ranger

Good Report Ranger, I enjoyed fishing the river! It's definatly worthy of a tournament visit! EB

ranger charlie said he caught all the fish:Rofl:crazy:

Ranger, what did we do for years without Ft. Gibson boy teaching us how to catch fish? I'm so blessed we met him, now I dont have to struggle anymore. It was a nightmare trying to guide crappie fishing the last 10 years. LOL EB

LMBO....it certainly was quieter and you didn't have to worry if your drags had been loosened up on tournament day, your boats drain plug removed, your kill switch taken off and hide, being but thru a FULL MOON phase...Wouldn't of missed this last year for nuttin and certainly looking forward to many more. Besides there is one thing I have been wondering maybe he will chime in and give us the truth...DID FORGIBSONBOY HAVE TO PAY FULL PRICE FOR COVERALLS...If so he got cheated cause I payed the same price...LMBO......Ranger

Oh My Gosh, Ranger don't tell me you went to the Dark Side!!!!! An HDS 8 with Side Scan in your boat?!!!! I was wondering is Brian was a Bad influence on ya. That guiding business must be the way to make some money! Just pulling your leg Mark/Brian. Congratulations and thanks for the report! Of course I'll be expecting lots of images posted in the side imaging forum from that Bad Boy once you get it installed!

I caught 41 yesterday but no sense in going back since Ranger is getting SideScan soon. What few fish he misses will be hiding behind their mommas for fear he will tell Charlie where they are. Once Charlie finds em it's over!

George I thought I heard you up the river from me. Glad you was able to salvage some crappie from all that blasting I heard. Fishing that way you do not need side scan. Tenderized Crappy fillets...hmmmm...might be the ticket. Now on a more serious thought, you know older gentlemen are kinda set in their ways and after I put 9 crappie in the boat in 9 casts I was asked by my buddy Charlie what I was using and I told him the samething I told you to use and you have used every bait in your box except this. Well to make a long story short he was mighty quick in changing and was mighty fast in catching up.......Now George not sure but I thing DYNAMITE is outlawed now in Oklahoma as far as a fishing method so becareful buddy....Ranger

ranger and EB if you need a guide trip call me. 1 800 catch anything.LOL :fish:Rofl

ranger my coveralls are special made. they are called midgets coverall. dont like dont look.:twocentsmerrychristmas:biggrin:santa

We just thought you were going to do some wading and didnt want to get your coveralls wet! LOL EB

Ranger. Was that pearl chartreuse slab slayer? I've kinda been holding that bait back for a special day. I will have a houseful over Christmas so I figured I better get back out there and lower the water level again yesterday. Caught 52 but 44 of those were 9" long but you know when they first thump they are all equals to me and the next one is bound to be a pig. We used every thing in the box except Marks favorite and they hit em all. Took a two hour break to repair my trolling motor and then finished the day with a TM that only turned left. Water is 48-49 and we caught fish from 12-27 fow. Heard the blasting for two days and wondered what was going on. Glad Mark cleared up the mystery. My buddy kept looking up at clear skies suggesting we might want to head in before the storm hit. I thought it sounded like Charlie giving Ranger another fishing lesson. I'd try it but hate cleaning all those dang carp. I may lay off for a few days and let those 9" dinks grow an inch.

Brutal day of paying our dues on the channel. Fished it for 5 hours and caught 3 crappie. We could see lots of fish in and around the brush but they were all starting their post holiday diets early. Personally I always wait until the last bowl game is over.

Well shucks George, guess I will have to find another body of water to get the bottom of my boat wet in now since the bite has turned sour. Thanks for the report. Was planning to fish today but finished up installation on the HDS instead....Ranger

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Originally Posted by Eufaula boy

It is a great place to get out of the wind and the water is usaully stable. I can tell you that there of tons of crappie in the oxbows but you usaully have to go through lots of little ones to find the keepers. I will almost never post the exact spots that I'm fishing, but I will tell you if you can find good brush right off the main channel you can get into some big slabs. The biggest of the weekend came from brush in 18ft. She was 15 1/2 inches and weighed 2.0lbs even. Beautiful fish so I let go her go back! EB

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Is there any places to fish from the bank on the navigation channel I would be coming from okc. Thanks for any info

There is bank access at most COE boat ramps and recreation areas, under most bridges that cross the ditch and oxbows (parking can be an issue), and below the locks and dams. I have not had much success for Crappie, except for a few dinks, fishing from the bank in the barge ditch but have caught some pretty nice catfish. The most productive areas for crappie are best accessed by boat. A google search will provide lots of information on the whole system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eufaula boy

I was able to fish the navigational channel this last weekend, I have only been on it a few times with very little sucess. But this was the first time I had ever fished it in the winter. The water vis was about 3 ft and the river was very stable. Saturday we had 42 keepers and Sunday we around 30 keepers. We caught lots of short fish as well. Most of the fish were white crappie with a few blacks mixed in, we were casting and dragging over laydowns, brush and stumps in 10-20ft. The hot bait was blk/chart and pump/chart minnow mindrs and wasshoppers. I really enjoy getting on new water and using my electronics to find fish. I was really impressed with the size of the crappie. EB

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Hello fellow Crappie Anglers, off work until next year, woo hoo... has anybody did any good on Oologah this week? Guess i might have to head down to the Navigational channel to catch some slabs!!!! LOL from what EB has posted...

Well ,we have so may "boys" on this site, I am thinking of changing my name to Keystone Boy--KB for short. What do
you think?

I got dibs on DINKBOY KB. DB for short.

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Originally Posted by Slab Go Getter

Is there any places to fish from the bank on the navigation channel I would be coming from okc. Thanks for any info

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bigjon has it right I think SGG. You could fish the visible stick ups with a slip cork set at 15-20 feet but I would think that would be slow going in the wintertime. Good luck. Hope you slay em somewhere.

You will always be Woodworker no matter how you try and hide Merle......Ranger

Fished the channel today and kept 20 nice fish! It was really cold thank goodness that I took the propane hand warmer along. The fish were in 15-20 ft we caught them on pump/chart slab slayers! Our biggest today was 1.12 onces. EB

Geez Brian, some of my cousins minnows weigh 1.12 oz!! I know what you meant, but had to give you a hard time!!! It was coooolllllddddd 40 mph almost froze my bald head off!

Boys Boys Boys...if ur gonna fish this time of year u have to bave the right cloths for it. Its colder on the water than in the deer woods. Cabelas goose down coveralls with a big oversized fluffy feathered hood. Open the zipper and steam flows out. Aint none better for this time of year.....Ranger

After this week, I might look into some of those Ranger!! The ride was the only bad part. Have you tried that low SI yet Ranger?

Not yet, finally got my extra ethernet cables today and its totally installed as of noon. Plan on figuring it out later in week I hope.

GrandKid, FtGibson boy, and I are headed out around 11:00! We are hunting that 2+lb elusive Navigational Channel Crappie. Anyone want to guess what the hot bait will be today? EB

You boys sure are burning alot of daylight on the best day we have had in sometime.....your count is going down today but 1/2...lol...Blk/Chart and pumk/chart minnow minders and slab slayers and pumk/chart wasshoppas.....the cast is out of the bag now.....Ranger