Any Crappie fishing groups in Hampton Roads??

I used to fish for Crappie many years ago and now that my son is getting into fishing and hunting we go out as often as we can, but he has never caught a Crappie. Come to think of it I haven't either in Virginia and have lived here for almost 20 years!! :banghead I used to remember how fun they were to catch when I went with my dad in Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas when I was my sons age. I would love to be able to get some tips on Hampton Roads Crappie, like where to go and what to use. We fish Lake Prince in Suffolk often, since I live in Suffolk, but I guess never really targeted Crappie. We are going to head out Friday after work and see what we can do. I have always loved to bass fish, but would love to target crappie more often. I would love to meet some people in this area that predominantly fish for these great eating slabs!! If there isn't a Crappie group in this area, would anyone like to start one??

Your looking at it! This is the best place you can be in va to learn about speks. Prince holds nice crappie but they aren't always easy to find. Right now I'd try tree tops or any structure close to deep water (humps, submerged structure, etc) around 10' deep if that don't work go shallower or deeper in 6"-1' increments.. Remember the bite might be light when cold, so watch your line if jiggin or bobber for a lift and lay down

Thanks for the info! I will use that when we go tomorrow. I won't have a lot of time since it gets dark earlier now, but anytime I can get on the water is a good time. I am only a week old on here and in that week I have gained so much awesome information from everyone. Can't wait to get out and use it!! I might have to go Saturday and Sunday too :)!!:biggrin

I would have to say that out of all the lakes around Suffolk, Prince is the hardest to find crappie. Personally I have always done better at Burn't Mills or Western Branch. BTW, welcome aboard.

Thanks Barnacle Bill! I was just talking to my son and I think we are going to wait and go Saturday. We won't have much time tomorrow and I think we may go to Burnt Mills. I would go to WB but I only have an electric motor on my jon boat so can't go too far from ramp. I looked at some of Percidae_Papermouths pictures and noticed he had a few from BM. I will post how we do. Also congrats on being "Man of the Year"

Welcome to the forum! Don't discount Meade and Cohoon. They are loaded with some nice specks. On Cohoon, don't disregard the channel breaks. Good luck.

I fish meade a lot. I found more fish deep(17-20') last weekend, but the wind made it almost impossible to catch them. The ones we did catch were under the rt 58 bridge, 10-12'and 52-53*, color didn't really seem to matter! but you had to keep your jig on the bottom.

I started hanging out here a few years back and the board has been a huge help.

I have fished Meade and Cohoon, once for each. It was strictly bass fishing since Cohoon was a bass tournament we were raising funds for a sick child. We did pretty good though. Meade I was by myself and it was a very slow day, if I remember correctly I think I caught 1 Bass at about 8" in 6 hours. I don't go there much because you have to quit fishing earlier since the guy closes the gates right at sunset and sometimes not open in the morning until way after sunrise. Since I am trying to concentrate more on Speks, I guess I will start getting on those lakes more often.

I appreciate all of the information on these Suffolk lakes. You guys and gals on this board are great!

Does anyone have any information about Speights Run on speks? I live less than a mile from the boat ramp (if you want to call it a boat ramp). They really screwed that up when they worked on the dam. There is enough room to park 2 maybe 3 vehicles with boat trailer, unless you want to park a ways from the ramp and fetch your vehicle. At least it is opened back up now. That took forever.

I've fished Speights Run a few times years ago. We caught a few but nothing to brag about

I have fished Speights Run a few times since they opened back, but it is hit and miss for all fish in that lake. We have caught a few pickerel, bass and bluegill, but never crappie. We have never been "skunked" at Lake Prince, the reason why I have that as my home lake. Of course as fishing goes we have had awesome days and slow days there, but like Speights Run have never caught a crappie.

I was looking at a sonar chart for Burnt Mills and I noticed there are numerous drop offs. One I was specifically looking at is fairly close to the dam. It goes from around 2' and drops to around 40' very rapidly. Would this be a good place to start for this time of year? Not sure of the bottom structure, but assuming it is probably sandy or muddy.

Welcome to the gang. Where ever you fish here or in the N.C. you have come to the right place. One feller that fishes a lot is TapOut64 AKA George. One heck of a nice guy with loads of info on them lakes. I fish the rivers and creeks along the coast of Va. and N.C.