New to crappie fishing and Ray Roberts

I'm brand new to targeting crappie and fishing from a "boat" (kayak). I've been a lifelong bank bass fisherman. I'm not looking for anyone's honey hole, but I'm needing some advise such as depths and structure to look for this time of year for crappie.

I've found some info on the Corp piles, but they look fairly deep so I wasn't sure if they would be worth looking at right now. I'm looking at putting in around isle du buois and checking the island nearby and the Corp piles or Buck Creek and checking the bridge pilings and out toward the west side near the main lake.
I don't have a whole lot of range being in a kayak so I'm really just looking for a good place to start where I can get to some structure without paddling for an hour to get there.

I have a Garmin striker 4 with just basic sonar for locating structure and fish.

Also looking for recommendations on soft plastics for this lake (no live bait for me)

I'm looking forward to learning all about catching these fun little fish! Thanks in advance for any help!

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Welcome!

You have the right idea. The timber in Buck is usually productive. Along/near the channel, depending as it's deeper near the ramp/bridges and you are yaking. 6-15 fow is always a good start (structure and/or cover/timber). Never hurts to scan the pilings for suspended fish or back off from the riprap either if you have the time. I don't know if the Buck ramp is open, but you can park and walk in if you have a cart if it's not. Or put in at the creek and work back.

The area on the dam side of the Isle park holds em in the spring. Same for a few of the little coves on the far south bank that runs from the this area over to the dam. One or more of the COE piles in there could easily still have some fish on it. You can put in from one of the few parking lots southeast of the lot with the pier and save some time if you're going to this area. The ramp area with the pier has some fish too. I've caught em on the rocks and banks around there shallow so I know there's some hanging out a little deeper. You're definitely going to have to put in time to cover this area in a yak. Johnson Branch should be a good yak place.

Whichever, find an area you think is a spawning area and fish out from there. 6-15 fow is good. Try shallow like 3 ft if you like it.

There are a couple recent threads where Kenny C was asking about Buck. Check those out. SK's been making some videos that might help you too.

I really appreciate the reply. That was more information than I was expecting to be honest. I think I'm going to try to put in at Buck Creek tomorrow afternoon and see if I can get on anything. I think I'm going to try the bridges then work west out along the southern shoreline where it looks like there's some rip rap and a tree line. It'll be mid day when I get out, but hopefully I can find some active fish. I'll report back good or bad afterwards.


Thanks again!

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water clarity dictates to me what I drop and haven't seen RR water in years
I would carry bright chart ,bright orange ,something in white/pearl and something with lots of sparkles
timber in buck creek holds fish this time of year and the channel edge would be my choice
wear a life jacket ALWAYS as the bass chasing jack wagons like to do 70 down the channel with little or no respect to others as I remember vividly
if its bright outside fish the shade side of the largest timber there , the bigger stuff will likely have crappie on it
try about 8 to 10 foot down and or right above fish you see on the graph
if the water has clarity you might need to downsize to real small
good luck to ya

Welcome! I fish up in Buck Creek area in the standing timber in about 15 fow. Just dip the trees from top to bottom. Check out some of SK's videos. Worked for me!

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

water clarity dictates to me what I drop and haven't seen RR water in years
I would carry bright chart ,bright orange ,something in white/pearl and something with lots of sparkles
timber in buck creek holds fish this time of year and the channel edge would be my choice
wear a life jacket ALWAYS as the bass chasing jack wagons like to do 70 down the channel with little or no respect to others as I remember vividly
if its bright outside fish the shade side of the largest timber there , the bigger stuff will likely have crappie on it
try about 8 to 10 foot down and or right above fish you see on the graph
if the water has clarity you might need to downsize to real small
good luck to ya

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No doubt about wearing a life jacket.

Are you referring to the timber to the east of the boat launch or the West? Just looking for a starting place since there's about 100,000 old trees just to the east of the 377 bridge haha

I'll be checking quite a few of them I imagine, but direction of travel would help tremendously

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Originally Posted by Kenny C

Welcome! I fish up in Buck Creek area in the standing timber in about 15 fow. Just dip the trees from top to bottom. Check out some of SK's videos. Worked for me!

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Thank you! Do you stick mostly to the east of 377 or west of the railroad?

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Mostly east for me. What Ketch said about guys flying through there with no concern is no joke. Theyre bad about it running up Indian Creek too. And also what he said about the big timber. The ones with more branches, even if all or most of it is underwater, is what I like to look for. Really on any lake with wood not just here. White/chart worked a lot for me. Blk/chart I never leave home without it lol. The southern part of the lake is usually less murky, but never something I'd call clear. At least in my experience

Well I meant to pay attention to the water temp for this report but I completely forgot. It was not a very productive day.
*Buck Creek is currently closed due to the high lake levels*

So change of plans. Since Buck Creek was closed I went with my backup plan at isle du buois. I had not really scouted where I wanted to fish there since I wasn't planning on going, but figured I'd give it a shot.

Temp. 80-84 degrees
I didn't pay too much attention to water temp on my graph and can't for the life of me remember what it was (somewhere between 60-70 I believe)
Winds were pretty constant out of the S/SE at about 14mph which made paddling into the southeast from the boat ramp hell.
Partly cloudy skies, mostly sunny.
Water clarity about 2.5'

I tried to locate a couple of the COE piles according to GPS coordinates. I located a couple, but fishing them was extremely difficult due to the wind, but at least I put eyes on them. I made my way past the island just south of isle du buois campgrounds and into a small cove with a bunch of standing timber. Even there it was difficult due to wind, but I was able to tie to a couple of trees and jig a little bit. I got maybe 5 bites total. I was fishing tandem rigs with combinations of straight tail minnows, curly tail grubs, and tubes. All bites came on a black/chart tube and a curly tail grub on 1/8 oz jig heads.

I fished for about 5 hours. I caught one white crappie @ 10.5" and a small freshwater drum. That's it. It was a ton of work for very little reward, but a reward none the less.

I would love to get back out when there is less wind/current. It just beat me up today.

I would also love the chance to go out with someone and sort of learn the ropes so to speak for crappie fishing. I have the idea down, but I'm a hands on learner. If y'all know of anyone or a good guide to learn from I'd really appreciate the guidance.


Thanks!

Robert

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i think there is a guy by the name of Paul OBrier that guides up around there or used to , he is well known in the crappie anglers of texas venue . wins lot of the tourneys they do or used to and best I can tell you is good at that area of the state .
I don't know him personally but I think I would fish with him if he asked me to . :Rofl
I would steer clear of some of the others and I wont mention the names but to be sure there are some jerks that guide up that way .

Rippyro I can recommend Cody Tucker as a crappie guide on RR.

Thanks I'll look into it. I'm going to try again soon hopefully when there's less wind and current and bring an anchor next time. I'm new to RR so once I get familiar with the different areas to put in, and places I can access with the kayak I should have a better idea of how to fish it.

I've never targeted crappie specifically (caught a couple on flukes bass fishing before) so I was fired up to even get one in the boat haha

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Way to put the work in man. Conditions are tough right now though.

Ernest Paty is doing some of his teaching trips at Lewisville again. Ive only met him twice and he was plenty nice but never fished with him or hired him. Its another option that sounds good in theory and is not too far away. He says for the next 4-6 weeks only so book pretty quick. If anyone disagrees though, please sound off.

Ernest Paty 214-202-7866
[email protected]

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Originally Posted by LittleStick

Way to put the work in man. Conditions are tough right now though.

Ernest Paty is doing some of his teaching trips at Lewisville again. Ive only met him twice and he was plenty nice but never fished with him or hired him. Its another option that sounds good in theory and is not too far away. He says for the next 4-6 weeks only so book pretty quick. If anyone disagrees though, please sound off.

Ernest Paty 214-202-7866
[email protected]

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Awesome thanks for the info. I'll look into it. I'm definitely not discouraged haha just gotta get back out when the conditions are a little better.

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Originally Posted by LittleStick

Way to put the work in man. Conditions are tough right now though.

Ernest Paty is doing some of his teaching trips at Lewisville again. Ive only met him twice and he was plenty nice but never fished with him or hired him. Its another option that sounds good in theory and is not too far away. He says for the next 4-6 weeks only so book pretty quick. If anyone disagrees though, please sound off.

Ernest Paty 214-202-7866
[email protected]

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I've thought about hitting one of the bridges at Lewisville soon

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Be very of the wind in a Kayak. I kayak crappie fish out of a big yak. Pro Angler 14. It's super stable, but I dont get out into the big waters if the wind is over 15. Find the protected water that semi shield the predominate south winds. I dont know much experience you have have as a kayaker. Feel free to ask me questions if you have them. What kayak do you have?

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Originally Posted by rkj76

Be very of the wind in a Kayak. I kayak crappie fish out of a big yak. Pro Angler 14. It's super stable, but I dont get out into the big waters if the wind is over 15. Find the protected water that semi shield the predominate south winds. I dont know much experience you have have as a kayaker. Feel free to ask me questions if you have them. What kayak do you have?

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I've been kayak fishing for about a year. I don't consider myself a professional by any means. I've spent quite a bit of time out on Texoma chasing small mouth and striper. I agree with you about the wind. I've been out a few times in 14 or 15 mph winds and it's just not as enjoyable. I've never felt unstable in the kayak, it's just the battling of the wind and current that makes it tough. I stuck to a protected cove most of the time the other day. I paddled east from the isle du buois ramp until I could find some calm water. Seems like we always have strong winds in North Texas no matter the day.


riptide | 2019 Riptide A-13 WaterHog Ultimate Fish

Next 2018 Lagoon 13


My kayak is the same as these, but it's the "kayak instruction" house brand out of Rowlett. Same manufacturer.

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I've only been on one a few times and mostly enjoyed it. The last time I dumped pretty much all my handties and my other good stuff that was all in the same box in 10-12 ft of really cold water off a dock. On the main lake and wasnt paying attention and just barely opened the box open to pick out my next color and got hit by a nice wake that pushed me into the pole beside me. Grabbing the dock kept me from swimming but out spilled everything in my box. I had no dry clothes packed and we were a long paddle from the truck so I couldnt complain.......too much lol. A handful of lessons learned in one moment.

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Originally Posted by LittleStick

I've only been on one a few times and mostly enjoyed it. The last time I dumped pretty much all my handties and my other good stuff that was all in the same box in 10-12 ft of really cold water off a dock. On the main lake and wasnt paying attention and just barely opened the box open to pick out my next color and got hit by a nice wake that pushed me into the pole beside me. Grabbing the dock kept me from swimming but out spilled everything in my box. I had no dry clothes packed and we were a long paddle from the truck so I couldnt complain.......too much lol. A handful of lessons learned in one moment.

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Lol no kidding. It's a ton of fun when the conditions are right and it's a lot of fun when they aren't. I've pretty well got everything leashed or foam wrapped for floatation to avoid losing stuff. A lesson learned from other's stories lol

On a side note I'm looking at putting in at Jordan park at RR soon and paddling north to some coves nearby that look like they would hold some fish.

Anyone know if they are in the spawn or post spawn on the south end (or north for that matter) of the lake? Game warden told me they've been catching them up on the North end lately, but it's a pretty good drive for me to get up there. I'm trying to narrow down the depth of water I'm checking before going out there so I can sort of pre plan the trip.

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I think Cody Tucker runs some after work working mans trips if I remember correctly and haven't heard a bad word on him .