Hi there! New to crappie fishing

Hey everyone, new member here and new to crappie fishing. Today was the first time I have ever gone out targeting crappie and there were just so many people out at the Arcadia docks. Few hours and not a bite. Once I get some waders I will be able to use my tube to get out in the water since I don't have a boat, but until then I am grounded. Would anyone mind giving me some pointers with crappie? Possibly a less populated place to fish, haha. I really enjoy not hearing kids stomping all over as they run on the docks, feels like they are scaring everything away. I normally tend to just target Largemouth but since winter is coming in soon I figured it would be a good time to try something I haven't before. Thanks for all your help!

Hey skittles, welcome on board. You may want to try a kayak. I have fished out of both, and there really is no comparison. You can paddle miles and get to places away from your launch point. You can also easily mount a fish finder on a yak when your ready for that. They are nearly indestructible and you can get a cheap new one for 250$, maybe less if you can find a used one. As with any small craft, you have to be careful in strong wind and high boat traffic areas.

As far as kids go "stomping around on the docks", don't worry about that. When Crappie spook, it only runs them deep into a brush pile without changing their appetite. So target the brush, get used to feeling the difference between a bump and a branch. Crappie tend to hang out next to the brush, so if a limb is 3' off the bottom and you get bumped, concentrate on that depth trying different areas of the brush. I've had three kids swimming on one side of the boat while I fished brush off the other side and flat tore them up. The bite got better after they jumped in and it's because the noise spooked the fish into their hidey hole.

Read as many threads as you can in the main forum as well as other states to see all the different techniques that are used to catch Crappie. There are NO stupid questions!

Welcome and good luck!

If you can fish dock, that is a good way to go. Try different "dock shooting" methods. There is usually always some type of brush piles under docks, and the natural shade of the dock attracts fish. Don't be afraid of trying from the bottom to the top of the water column. Depending on depth of the water and time of year they can be anywhere. As Reaper said, they love brush so that's where to target them. If your not getting hung up in the brush, your not crappie fishing :)

Little Axe dock at Thunderbird. Won't cost you to fish either like Arcadia. Go during the weekday as weekends get stupid on it. Plenty of brush around and under the dock.

Welcome aboard..............and good luck.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I really appreciate it. My father and I are gonna check out Thunderbird this week.

First and foremost Welcome to the Insanity of Crappie Fishing.

Welcome to the board also.

I have always heard that if you are not using Chartreuse then you are not crappie fishing. LOL I would try different depths like the others have said and even try two different size jigs on the same line. You might be surprised at the results. I have actually used a larger jig on the bottom and a smaller one a bit higher. Then when you cast start reeling it in slowly. It will look like the larger jig is chasing the smaller one.

Different times of the year call for different presentations just like with bass fishing. Experiment a bit and see what you come up with.

One major hint is to use SLAB SLOBBER on your plastics and your hair jigs. It is the difference in bringing Grandma's station wagon to the race track or taking a funny car. There are a lot of products out there that they say attract Crappie. Most like bass lures only attract the fisherman. Slab slobber is one of the exceptions to that. The stuff works great and it is the difference between a very settle bite and the fish grabbing the bait and running with it. The stuff is awesome.

Last year the dock at Carl Blackwell was on fire out there. Several of us on this page caught limits several times over the winner. It is a small dock but it was on fire. It is up by Stillwater by the way. I really don't know many places to fish in the central or western part of the state as I live in Tulsa and generally fish the eastern side of the state.

Keep doing what you are doing now also, by that I mean keep asking questions. There are only two of us on there that were born knowing how to crappie fish. That would be Ranger and Eufaula Boy. Both of them are fantastic guides by the way.

Come on out and fish a tournament or two with us or bring you and your dad out to one of our Crappie Camps. The both of you will meet lifelong friends, and some crazy people also. LOL

Let me know if I can help in anyway and I will do my best.


Stay safe and tight lines,


Bobo

Gonna go try my luck on the tube today around the fish attractor's at Arcadia and see if I can't get some crappie. Never been out there on my tube so hopefully all goes well.

Good luck and let us know!

So Arcadia wasn't going well for me so I just decided to head home. Now I'm trying to scout some potential bridges on google maps that I may be able to make my way down in to. How is the Deep Fork for. Crappie?

Haven't heard great for crappie but heard of people getting the sand bass.

You might want to swing over to Overholser. I heard through a birdy 2 weeks ago that they were snagging them 1' deep in the canal that runs right along the East side of the lake. It is accessible by bank. Look for a stump sticking up. ;)

No luck at all today, unfortunate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skittlez

No luck at all today, unfortunate.

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Keep chipping away at it buddy. Many of us here have had days where we did not even get a nibble. If it was that easy, it would be like going to the fish market. :) Better luck next time buddy.

Bobo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bobo Greybeard

Keep chipping away at it buddy. Many of us here have had days where we did not even get a nibble. If it was that easy, it would be like going to the fish market. :) Better luck next time buddy.

Bobo

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Yeah it was that kind of day, haha. Thought I would have gotten something on the tube but there were barely any fish on my finder throughout the time I was on the lake. Think i'll try to track down a good river around here and take a day to float. Sometime this week I will try out the docks at Thunderbird.

Looks like my father and I got this Sunday and Monday off together so we said "Hell, let's go fishing". We will be looking for smallmouth and crappie I believe. Any good crappie rivers that we can camp at within 2-3 hours of OKC? We tend to camp at the Mountain Fork, Blue River, or this other one I can't remember kind of near East OK.

I would generally recommend you go to either Ft. Gibson, Tenkiller, or Lake Eufaula. I am not sure how those are doing at the moment. I heard the bite was way slow on Gibson this past weekend. That is where we had our Fall Crappie Camp last weekend. I think all of the rain has got the fish screwed up.

If you do not mind me asking. How old are you?

Bobo

I'll have to see if I can't get some fishing reports on those before we go, and I'm 24. My father is one of two people I know who will actively come fish with me so you'll probably see my refer to him a lot.

Take advantage of that time with our father fishing. Mine past away last year, and that is the thing I miss the most about him. I actually started my little tackle making company in his memory last year. The reason I asked about your age is because you kept referring to your Father a lot and I did not know if you were a teen or an adult. LOL Here is a website that may help you out a bit. If you zoom in to the lakes or rivers that you are fishing you can find out where some of the brush piles are located at. Fishing-Notebook - Fish Attractors You can also look at satillite images of the areas that you are fishing. That may make it easier to know where you are at on the body of water.

I wish I had more info on the middle of the state but I can not remember ever fishing west of I-35 in my lifetime. LOL

Hopefully one of the guys from the middle part of the state will jump in here and give you some places like Dr. Nip has been doing.


Good luck ,

Bobo

I'll recommend a spot at the edge of your 3 hr limit. It's a great small lake for camping and can be fished well from the bank, a tube or a canoe/kayak. It's one of the prettiest spots in Oklahoma and worth the drive. It has Crappie but not any Smallmouth. To make up for that tho' it's where the last two state record Largemouth were caught during two consecutive years in March. It a small Forest Service lake in LeFlore county called Cedar Lake. Big motors are not allowed so it's usually pretty peaceful there. This is a great time of the year for camping.

Enjoy your Dad's company while you can. A father-son relationship is a treasure and should be nurtured by both to be a good relationship. I lost my son a little over a year ago (he was twice your age) and miss him very much. We had some great times together in the outdoors in Colorado and Oklahoma as he grew up. Just wish we could have had more.

A kayak is a great fishing platform and can be easily transported, plus you don't have to spend a lot of $$ for one. There are lots of local waters they will work well on - I used mine on Thunderbird.