Choctawhatchee River -

It's the time of year to point a crappie finger at the FL Panhandle west of Lake Talquin....namely the Choctawhatchee River.The Choctaw is about 100 miles west of Talquin. For the past few weeks I have been getting crappie reports of 'tearing them up' from the local bait shop. Based on my own experiences I'm thinking there may be a lot of small crappie being caught. 11/12 inchers + have been scarce for me but a few have been caught. A 14.5 managed to hook itself one day last week. All the Choctaw crappie are blackcrappie.

I primarily fish the Choctawhatchee River which starts in Alabama and runs about 100 miles down through the Florida Panhandle to Choctawhatchee Bay. It's a good crappie fishery this time of year in the the colder months although crappie are caught all year round. I think maybe the local's, including myself, seem to concentrate on bream in the spring until late fall and not much attention is paid to crappie.

Yesterday was opening day for hunting season so my regular fishing partner and I did our annual thing - a squirrel and fishing trip. On the fishing part we concentrated on crappie and caught a bunch of small fish. Some only 6 or 7 inches. I figure this means there was a good spawn. I know one thing for sure, the spring and summer produced the best bream fishing we have had in many years. I hope this good fortune translates to a banner crappie winter as well.

Our sojourn yesterday was really great. Overcast all day, no wind, rather mild temps all made for a perfect day in the woods and on the water. We had to work at it to find enough half decent keepers but managed 12 crappie in the box and 7 squirrels for the stew pot. We will be at it next week again and hopefully start finding some larger fish.

FishWalton EAT - SLEEP - GO FISHING

The big one in this photo is 12 inches.

Dang nice pile right there! Yall float huntin the squirrels?

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Originally Posted by huntinslabs

Dang nice pile right there! Yall float huntin the squirrels?

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No, we were walking and still hunting

Ahh i gotcha.

Nice! What part of the river you fishing? I've been fishing around Smokehouse.

Nice picture, some good eatin right there :cheers2

Looking forward to sharing a boat with you, those are nice specks. Thinking of the laydown we found last winter what a hoot that was.

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Originally Posted by flslabhunter1

Nice! What part of the river you fishing? I've been fishing around Smokehouse.

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We have been fishing 7 Runs/Dead River. Most locals call Dead River, 7 Runs. I haven't been down to Smokehouse in maybe 6 weeks, great place and some good crappie down there.

Yeah. I've put in at Dead River and fished for bream during the summer. You fishing blow-downs and are you using jigs or minnows? We caught 7 Saturday down the river from smokehouse. I don't know what the lake was called, but it was absolutely gorgeous! The fish were all 11-12 inches.

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Originally Posted by flslabhunter1

Yeah. I've put in at Dead River and fished for bream during the summer. You fishing blow-downs and are you using jigs or minnows? We caught 7 Saturday down the river from smokehouse. I don't know what the lake was called, but it was absolutely gorgeous! The fish were all 11-12 inches.

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Yep, blowdowns and structure you can't see without a bottom machine. That's some nice crappie you got below Smokehouse. I have a spot down stream from SH I need to check soon. Right now I'm sort of into combined squirrel/crappie and bushy tail country seems to be pretty good further up this way. Acorns are plentiful.

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Originally Posted by Ronald Meeder

Looking forward to sharing a boat with you, those are nice specks. Thinking of the laydown we found last winter what a hoot that was.

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Have been holding off on hitting that spot until the water gets a little colder. From looking at the weather reports that may not be many days away. I found another downriver from SmokeHouse I'm hoping will turn out to be another good one, but the water is more shallow so don't know if they will stack up or not is the water gets really cold.

We've been fishing the Choctawhatchee River near Ebro, fishing around Crawford Island and Crews lake mostly. We've not been tearing them up but we have been catching a few nice fish. We do a lot of riding and looking for new places being from out of state and unfamiliar with the area. We always have a good time regardless, for instance, the wife landed a 8.15 oz. grennel yesterday on 6 lb. line. It was a good fight and she did good playing him. Got any pointers where else we could put in to explore? Where is this Smokehouse?

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Originally Posted by don3778

We've been fishing the Choctawhatchee River near Ebro, fishing around Crawford Island and Crews lake mostly. We've not been tearing them up but we have been catching a few nice fish. We do a lot of riding and looking for new places being from out of state and unfamiliar with the area. We always have a good time regardless, for instance, the wife landed a 8.15 oz. grennel yesterday on 6 lb. line. It was a good fight and she did good playing him. Got any pointers where else we could put in to explore? Where is this Smokehouse?

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You are fishing in a good area. There are so many places to fish it's just a matter of deciding what part of the river you want to fish and what kind.


Sending PM

Good luck this weekend! I think I'm gonna hold off til Sunday when the weather settles a little...

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Originally Posted by flslabhunter1

Good luck this weekend! I think I'm gonna hold off til Sunday when the weather settles a little...

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Looks like rain for Monday. Sunday should be ok

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Originally Posted by flslabhunter1

Good luck this weekend! I think I'm gonna hold off til Sunday when the weather settles a little...

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Yesterday it was not all that bad at 7 Runs/Dead River. We launched about 0815....having decided it wasn't necessary to get there at the crack of day since our primary mission was fishing and not hunting. We didn't go all that far so no long runs with the cold wind in your face. The crappie have really scattered from their hang-outs of a couple of weeks ago but you can still catch one or two here and there. We ended up with 9 in the box, a few releases, two jacks, and one squirrel. Another single angler arrived a the ramp the same time we did and that was all there for on the river. He left well before us and we quit about 1300. Next week we will probably be int he Smokehouse area or even looking for specks and reds in the river delta area.

We caught 7 reds at Four Mile creek the first part of the week but they were small.

I finally found them yesterday near Smoke House. I'll post a separate thread and a pic. Got 30 and 2 bream!

don3778 - Don and Amy - stopped by this afternoon after spending a few hours on the Choctawhatche River out of Smokehouse. They were the only boat on the river. We met up on crappie.com. They had a really good catch a few days ago and presented me with 13 today that ran 11.25 to about 13.25 inches. Darn nice fish. Don and Amy are both avid crappie anglers from Arkansas and have jig fishing down pat. I talked to them about noon and they were half froze and fighting the wind trying to hold the boat over crappie holes they found this week. Looking for low 20's tonight but I will be out there tomorrow after it warms up a bit.

Don and Amy's catch today.

It was cold and very windy, just couldn't hold the boat still, we'll get em again when it warms up and the wind lightens up.

My buddy Freddy and I met up with Don and Amy from Arkansas about 1pm today at Big Sister off the Choctawhatchee River. . Freddy and I didn't leave town until 8:30. With 21 degree temps we are not prone to self inflict cruel and unusual punishment upon oneself. Simply put the crappie were not biting although we found them in several placed. A few were released and 3 went in the box. Don and Amy got a half dozen or so. Water temp 52. No big keepers today like Don and Amy got yesterday. We quit about 3pm. Friday will find us on the water and in the woods

Crappies fishin and squirrel hunting, Dont get much better than that.

Yesterday morning we fished Black Creek and the Choctaw from about 8:00 until 11:00 and did not get a bite on jigs or minnows. Skunked.

A slight drizzle rain started and that finished off our enthusiasm so we headed for the hill.

U had a great day nice fish and yummy looking squirrel

Im new to the river, can? will? any one give alittle help on jigs for the river? I dont minnow fish and looking for some help to get started. Thanks

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Originally Posted by nwfwoodie

Im new to the river, can? will? any one give alittle help on jigs for the river? I dont minnow fish and looking for some help to get started. Thanks

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Not sure it makes a lot of difference but which river are you interested in? On the Choctawhatchee folks drown zillions of minnows but use jigs as well. I'm new to jigging this river but glad to chat about fishing here

Choctawhatchee, colors and prestation? (I dont do minnows unless your catching 50:1) then I might have to start. You can PM me if you like. Thank you for your help

Got a limit yesterday in the middle of the day in about 1 hr 45 minutes. 43 total but had to release a bunch. Just caught them for the fun. Still biting when I quit. Jigs and minnows used for bait. It didn't seem to matter which but the bite was faster on minnows. Only one big slab 14.25 inches. The rest 10 to about 12. First time I have ever caught a limit on the river.


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Great catch JB. I figured the river still had too much current after all that rain yaul had. Congrats, you are the man.

Hi Don...actually the river is just right for getting back into the cypress and deep holes. Color is stained but just right. Hope to be doing a lot of river fishing this week with my Kansas crappie buddy. Weather forecast is looking good for the week.

New to crappie fishing in the Choctawhatchee River area, well all of Florida actually and it's been awhile since I've been at all. Thinking about getting out on this weekend and giving it a try. Any advice on where and techniques to try this weekend would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Destincrappie

New to crappie fishing in the Choctawhatchee River area, well all of Florida actually and it's been awhile since I've been at all. Thinking about getting out on this weekend and giving it a try. Any advice on where and techniques to try this weekend would be appreciated.

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That's a pretty broad request. If you could narrow it down a little as to river area and if you have a boat that would be helpful. Right now both jigs and minnows are working.

Best advice I can give you on that note is find water with little to no current and use your electronics. Jigs and minnows are working

I will be in a boat and fishing around the HWY 20 bridge north or south.

Will be putting in around HWY 20 and will be in a boat. But could alter where i put in if i get better suggestions.

nwfwoodie is exactly right. slow/still water and electronics sure do help.