New to DWF! DWF is surrounded by Lakes. Where are the better crappie lakes?

I just moved to DWF this week into an apartment until I can find land and build a home.

DWF is surrounded by many lakes ... looks like a paradise to me!

I fish out of a 1960's Super Skeeter to locate and catch Crappie and/or large Bream.
I own an Z21 CI Ranger for cross over fishing and hosting guests (like my wife).

Where are the better Crappie (and/or Large Bream) Lakes surrounding DWF? Yes, I plan
to fish ALL of them over time! Yes, I have researched online. Now, I want to hear from FISHERMEN

Thanks in Advance, Barrett - aka "Long Pole".

Fishermen want to hear from you as well,,five year member with one post??? Post us up some reports outta that skeeter,.

What bear claw said......post some pictures of the skeeter

We have some great fishing lakes around the DFW area full of bass over 10 lbs. and crappies we call "barn door" size. Where did you fish before moving to the DFW area?

Just trying to help a fellow fisherman out, G. Sorry it bothered you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by broharrell

Just trying to help a fellow fisherman out, G. Sorry it bothered you.

---

Didnt bother me......it was against Slabs rules

Thanks to all the posters that showed interest in my question. I hope the following answers some of the questions you asked me.

Until last week I lived 4 miles from Walter E. Long Lake (or Decker Lake as it was known) in Austin ,Texas and fished it several days a week. It contains HUGE bream ... typical catch range up from .75 to 1.25 pounds. A few even bigger. My method of catch is tight line using a 20ft "Black Widow" pole and jig tipped with broken off parts of a nightcrawler (not worms). Catch amount of large to huge bream is typically 80 -125 a day keepers in about 4 hours (max). I keep about 8 - 12 to eat. Using this technique results in large bass and catfish on every trip. Bass sizes are rarely under 4 pounds. About 8-10 a day. I release them all. Best bass catch this year was 3 9+ pounders in one day. Catfish sizes are between 3-8 pounds. Catch has been slow lately.
crappie are very hard to catch year round on Long Lake. Slabs abound around spawn then the size drops to typical to small. All are black crappie. Typical catch is 8-10 per trip. I release all small ones. I only fish live silver minnows on Walter E. Long. NOTE* Long Lake is a slot lake, has no trees and all shoreline has 15-20 ft of reeds then moss, etc. Only the damn area has lilly pads (1-2.5ft depth). This lake is heavily fished on the weekends. I fish from Tuesday thru Thursday or 2-3 hours Saturday 6-10 am only.

Otherwise I fish "Caddo Lake" and "Cross Lake" out of Shreveport every 6 weeks or so... strictly for large crappie. I grew up on "Cross Lake". Typical white perch sizes are 1.5 to just under 3 pounds. Huge (3+ pounds) white perch are caught but only specific times of the year. All white crappie. Black crappie exist in "Cross Lake" but whites dominate. "Caddo Lake" is a formal nursery lake for crappie. Typical catch is 12-25 on good days. Tons of 3 pound cats. Still tight lining with 20ft "Black Widow" poles. My 89 year old dad uses 10-13ft poles. 20ft to heavy for him. Dad and I fish live orange colored minnows. You buy them by the pound there.

"Caddo lake" is full of trees, stumps and average 12-20ft depths. Loaded with HUGE crappie and large cats. I fish ONLY live minnows. Dad and other folks fish jigs. We fish orange colored minnows or shiners.

I restored old super skeeters - one for me ... another for my dad to use. My rig is a 1960 with 1956 30hp Javelin Johnson. My dad's rig is 1970 bright John Deer green with '68 40hp Evinrude. Both stick steer.

Nice rig. Thanks for posting some photos.

If any DFW crappie (white perch) fishermen want to share (talk, chat or email ) where best to catch DFW area crappie just give me a shout out here.

Any suggestions where I can store my Skeeter rig while I am staying in my apt? I am looking at a few business run facilities but maybe you know of a few mom/pop places.

Them shiners is called Rosie's ......you buy them at the pet smart around Dfw .....we don't use them locally
They are quite popular east of Dfw though
As far as what lake to hit it's a roll of the dice ....most are flat full of crappie ....the closest one to you first
Real big bream are in Fairfield south of Dfw ....but some other spots have ok bream as well closer in ...purtis creek is a good bet for both ......beyond that specifics on what's closest to you might help

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by barrettblake

If any DFW crappie (white perch) fishermen want to share (talk, chat or email ) where best to catch DFW area crappie just give me a shout out here.

Any suggestions where I can store my Skeeter rig while I am staying in my apt? I am looking at a few business run facilities but maybe you know of a few mom/pop places.

---

As far as boat storage I have not a clue ....some of the best spots still get hit by thugs ....my bud lost a brand new 100 plus horse Honda at a super secure facility last year .....they even had hi def vid of the crew that got it and never found it