Crappie Have Me Stumped This Year...

I've had about 10+ Tx Limits of 25 per day this year & quite honestly I'm still baffled & have yet to figure out a pattern for them this year.:dono Maybe 2 or 3 trips I found a solid pattern but over all, I've yet to find them congregated together.:dono Texas Weather has been crazy with Wind, Rain, & Cold this year & most lakes around DFW are still around 56°-60°'s vs 62°+ like normal. Are any of you having a task even finding Crappie?:scratchhead If I didn't capitalize on catching them Open Water when I see them then I wouldn't have very many days over 15.

I see a lot of Crappie Videos with people showing multiple Doozies stacked on Timber :Rofl NOT ON ANY LAKES THAT I VISIT.:Rofl It's Onezee, Twozee, Susie. :Rofl

I can never find crappie stacked on top of each other on a brushpile or bridge colum. Now that the spawn is upon us I decided to do scouting trip on Lavon to see what I could find. It use too be my favorite lake but whatever reason I stop fishing it. I always fished the lower end although the upper end is full of buck brush which is perfect for spawning crappie. I always see bank fisherman fishing the rocks off 380 but I seldom see boats up that way. I ask a guide friend about it and he said the water on that end is shallow and the only time he fishes it is during the spawn. I scouted it and found out a few things. The COE should be shame regarding the lack of maintenance of their parks. The amount of potholes going into the parks is scary. I went to four parks and two of them had no truck/trailers on them at all and the others only had two at each. Also the amount of new home construction along hwy 78 was mind boggling. I'm gonna try to figure out the eastside and upper end of Lavon because it is a perfect crappie spawn lake. I wish I had a larger boat so I could cover more water but it is what it is.

@Grainraiser, this is the 2nd post where you typing something in the 1st sentence has me hitting reply and immediately responding without reading the rest of your post.:Rofl:Rofl When you said "I can never find crappie stacked on top of each other on a brushpile or bridge colum." I literally just starting laughing out loud because you & I are fishing similar areas. :Rofl Grainraiser can you imagine if you or I ever say stacked Crappie on Lake Pray Hubbard?:scratchhead:yikes We would probably call the Coast Guard & Navy to see what the heck was going on.rotfl

In regards Lavon. I need to send you a private message about something you stated. Now talking about the COE I'm with you 100% it's absolutely pathetic. :puke Some of the pay to launch parks haven't had a Courtesy Dock in over 2 years and the ones that do like at the Power Plant have had Courtesy Docks that your boat can touch without scraping your boat to the core. :banghead:mad: I have a scrape so big on my darn ski fish boat from Lavon that still agitates me when I see it. :Doh: I now park my bass boat "ON/AT the boat ramps or beach them and use the Power Poles. It's amazing how many state parks are under managed. :(

The white Crappie should be really easy to catch this time of year. ( provided you have a stable or slow rising water level).
The males will be in 2-4 feet of water on some type of cover. Once you find them, it’s on!
No electronics needed, LS don’t work good in 2 FOW anyway, the key is putting your jig up in his “personal space “. I prefer a 12-14 ft jig pole, rigged with heavy braid and 10lb mono 3ft leader. Just watch out for the snakes up in the trees….



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@GreenLine thank you for this but now I realize why it's so hard for me to find them & that I won't be seeing any Crappie Grouped Up after all.:Rofl As soon as you said Snake I was mentally back in my boat at 10 Foot or deeper. :yikes I'm good. nonono I guess I can learn to like & love working hard for the 25 that I do catch now after you saying they are easier to find and catch where the Snakes are. rotfl This is a great Post for Real Life vs just Crappie Fishing @GreenLine. :ThumbsUp Seriously just when you think you have it hard you talk to someone that shows you that you don't even know the meaning of the word hard. rotfl My Man said "WATCH OUT FOR THE SNAKES IN THE TREES." N O P E ! nonono & crazy part is I know you are DEAD SERIOUS! :Rofl This explains why I can't find them then. :Rofl You are absolutely correct about LiveScope in under 4 Foot but there is a way to work so it does help you when shallow & that's turning that joker to "Perspective Mode" so the cone is shooting out flat like a blanket vs vertical. Shhhhh. :biggrin You told me something so I shared back:cheers2 @GreenLine. Thanks for this seriously, heck I normally fish 8 feet or deeper year round. This 100% could explain why I can't find them grouped up.:scratchhead :ThumbsUp

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Originally Posted by UnLikeU

@Grainraiser, this is the 2nd post where you typing something in the 1st sentence has me hitting reply and immediately responding without reading the rest of your post.:Rofl:Rofl When you said "I can never find crappie stacked on top of each other on a brushpile or bridge colum." I literally just starting laughing out loud because you & I are fishing similar areas. :Rofl Grainraiser can you imagine if you or I ever say stacked Crappie on Lake Pray Hubbard?:scratchhead:yikes We would probably call the Coast Guard & Navy to see what the heck was going on.rotfl

In regards Lavon. I need to send you a private message about something you stated. Now talking about the COE I'm with you 100% it's absolutely pathetic. :puke Some of the pay to launch parks haven't had a Courtesy Dock in over 2 years and the ones that do like at the Power Plant have had Courtesy Docks that your boat can touch without scraping your boat to the core. :banghead:mad: I have a scrape so big on my darn ski fish boat from Lavon that still agitates me when I see it. :Doh: I now park my bass boat "ON/AT the boat ramps or beach them and use the Power Poles. It's amazing how many state parks are under managed. :(

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The last time I really caught crappie good at Hubbard was 8 years ago under the bridge. It was like 15 boats under their and we all were catching fish on nearly every drop. They would not touch a jig but slam a minnow with authority. We were fishing on top of each other but I had a little two man bass boat so I could bob and weave between the bridge columns. I fished three days straight and limited every time. That 3 day period was the only time I have ever caught a limit of crappie on Hubbard. It was fun while it lasted.

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Originally Posted by Grainraiser

The last time I really caught crappie good at Hubbard was 8 years ago under the bridge. It was like 15 boats under their and we all were catching fish on nearly every drop. They would not touch a jig but slam a minnow with authority. We were fishing on top of each other but I had a little two man bass boat so I could bob and weave between the bridge columns. I fished three days straight and limited every time. That 3 day period was the only time I have ever caught a limit of crappie on Hubbard. It was fun while it lasted.

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:HandsClapping:HandsClappingBrother after Hubbard has undergone it's Recreational changes over the last 4 years it doesn't fish the same. When you catch a Limit of Crappie on Hubbard even counting 10 inchers it's something for you to poke out your chest on to me. :biggrin I can Limit on it more than most of the guys I know but I have to cover a lot of water when I do. Like 2-4, here 3-4 there, 3-4 there & before you know it you've ran from 66 Bridge to the Dam & dodged 12 pleasure boats wake boarding. rotfl Pray Hubbard is the Only lake that I've ever dropped brush on & the Catfish took over that spot like cannibals.:hatchet: :Rofl

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Originally Posted by GreenLine

The white Crappie should be really easy to catch this time of year. ( provided you have a stable or slow rising water level).
The males will be in 2-4 feet of water on some type of cover. Once you find them, it’s on!
No electronics needed, LS don’t work good in 2 FOW anyway, the key is putting your jig up in his “personal space “. I prefer a 12-14 ft jig pole, rigged with heavy braid and 10lb mono 3ft leader. Just watch out for the snakes up in the trees….



Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

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Here some Crappie will go real shallow . But livescope will work in 4' . Even when males are shallow, the big females will be out deeper more often . I have seen them spawn as deep as 10' on some lakes too .

Speaking of Stumps….are ya checking em good? :biggrin:biggrin

I dont hit the water in a boat enough to tell ya if they are stacked up on trees or not , but it is my opinion that it is highly unlikely that they will be in herds this time of year in any one spot for very long anyway .
a day or so up in short water ,some but not all of them , some will stay out and suspend until they want to run , the runs over lap as well and some will hunker down on the bottom on single fish cover .
boy fish might stay on beds and not bite as well during weather pattern changes and such too ....
hit or miss depending on lots of factors .....
work shorelines like a bass fisher person is the word and stop the boat if ya hit one and work the area harder ....
there is a method to the madness in the spring fling ....some shore lines will be loaded and others not a fish ...just saying

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

I dont hit the water in a boat enough to tell ya if they are stacked up on trees or not , but it is my opinion that it is highly unlikely that they will be in herds this time of year in any one spot for very long anyway .
a day or so up in short water ,some but not all of them , some will stay out and suspend until they want to run , the runs over lap as well and some will hunker down on the bottom on single fish cover .
boy fish might stay on beds and not bite as well during weather pattern changes and such too ....
hit or miss depending on lots of factors .....
work shorelines like a bass fisher person is the word and stop the boat if ya hit one and work the area harder ....
there is a method to the madness in the spring fling ....some shore lines will be loaded and others not a fish ...just saying

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@Ketchn.. Wisely said...:check:ThumbsUp I normally don't fish under 8 Feet because I don't like fishing shallow. It explains why I am not a fan of fishing during the Spawn & have to comb the lake for a hard Tx 25. When I fish brush in the Shallows it drives me nuts when I fish 1-3 feet & miss the fish then the line gets wrapped around the rod like Rubix Cube Expert to undo it.:Doh::mad: Miss a fish and raise the rod too high in the brush & the rod gets stuck in the darn tree & you find out how strong a tiny twig is that can break your Rod Eyes. :Doh::mad: Ketchn I've gotten thumped so hard that I thought Orca was reincarnated into a darn Crappie & when I raised up the rod I got the ROD CAUGHT UP IN THE TREE LIMBS, WITH THE FISH & LINE TANGLED WHERE I HAD TO CUT THE LINE 7 LET THE FISH FALL IN MY NET BECAUSE IT WAS TOO HIGH.rotfl:Doh: You do explain why they are hard as heck to find because they are in less abundance in 8Feet or Deeper. Maybe that GOD'S way of allowing people to Grocery Shop his Lake Store without boats & I need to respect dat. :scratchheadThanks.:ThumbsUp

try pebble beaches and slow roll a jig from the bank out to the boat , it is SUPER deadly this time of year if you are near a solid spawning area in a boat , just fyi , sit in 12 or so foot of water and pitch to the bank and hop it back to ya , thank me later :highfive