Winter
 

February 10, 2003

Jay and I went down to Wylie on Saturday to film a show before going to the Mid Atlantic Boat Show. We did an appearance at the Bass Pro shops / Tracker Marine booth. What a hoot! We met lots of great people and got to see all the new Trackers for 2003. If you haven't seen them visit our friends at BPS Outdoor World in Charlotte. They have the new Tundra that we use on the show on display. 

We trolled Catawba Creek for about four hours. The water temp ranged from 48 - 51 degrees at the mouth of the creek. Only 46 - 48 back under the bridge. We only caught one fish past the bridge. all the heavy weights were caught out in the transition zone from the main lake to the bridge. We trolled various 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs tipped with minnows in 12 - 22 feet of water. The fish were suspended 4 - 10 feet down. The bite was best very early, daybreak saw the most action. Most effective colors were White/Chrt, Blue Black/Chrt, Brown/Orange and Black/Chrt. the fish were their, but not very aggressive. A few more warm days and you will be able to load up on fat slabs in any creek on Wylie. Some of the fish we caught were already swelled up like footballs. It won't be long!

Lake Norman Jan 03

Man, trying to get one day to fish for "fun" has been tough. But my old buddy Jay and I did get a chance last weekend. 

We went down to High Rock on Saturday hoping to catch fish on the creek channel drops. Nothin' doin'. The fish were shut down on High Rock. The water is back up to full pond, thank god. But the fishing wasn't up to par. Hope the low water hasn't hurt the fishing on that fine lake.

Took a trip to Lake Norman on Sunday. Highway 150 is where we put in. Jay fished Stumpy Creek and Emmett and I went down to Barton Road. We each boated some respectable Crappies. No heavy weights, but not bad for the pan. The fish we did catch were fairly deep and slow to bite. Typical for Norman this time of year. A little help came from sliding a 1.5" Mizmo Red and Chartreuse tube jig over the shank of the hook before putting the minnow on.  A little something different for tough conditions. Most of our fish came on this rig fished at 20' - 22' over brush on a creek channel edge. 

Jay went to Wylie on Monday and caught some fish slow trolling above the Buster Boyd Bridge. There were boats in the channel but Jay got his fish near the bank in 20' - 25' trolling 1/16 oz jigs about 8' - 10' deep. 

Tuesday, Jay went back to Norman and caught some monsters 30' - 35' deep on minnows. He had several over 1lb 8ozs. No pictures though. Gotta' get tat boy a digital camera!

If you go anytime soon, remember, fish as slow as you can, then slow down some more! Put the bait right in front of his nose and wait. Patience is a virtue, and deadly when pursuing crappies in the winter.

Ray Roberts Lake, Texas
December 2, 2001

Saturday December 1 was a beautiful day with no wind. Of course I chose to go fishing on Sunday December 2. Not bad though, just 10 -15 mph wind out of the South. After a serious cold front hit Northern Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday it was nice to see the sun and some 60 degree temps again. The fish had not fully recovered from this cold snap. There were no visible fish above the brush piles as had been the case for the last month or so.

They were very tight to the structure. First spot gave up 5 nice fish, one over a pound. Second spot in 26 feet of water yielded about 10 fish with 3 or 4 keepers. One was over a pound and a half. A few of my new buddies showed up as I was finishing up on the second hole. I left it with them and moved to a spot just down the creek. I caught 4 fish in 2 or 3 minutes that were over a pound. All came on a dark blue and white Mizmo jig. A little Berkley Power Bait Attractant didn't hurt. One thing I can say is that the fish were deep. Fishing 18' - 22' or more was needed to scare up a keeper. I caught lots of little fish on minnows.

All the big fish came on a jig. Working the bait slow was the key after getting it down to where the fish were. Patience, patience, patience that's the name of the game behind a cold front. Hey Steve you were right, the biggest one did weigh 2lbs, exactly.

Ray Roberts Lake, Texas
November 10, 2001

Saturday found me back on Ray Roberts. Man I'm telling you, this place is a Crappie Factory! I'm holding two of five fish that combined, weighed nearly 9lbs! I'm starting to weigh the top 5 because that is what you weigh in for the Crappie Fever Tournament. Haven't heard about the Crappie Fever tournament? Go to the NACA website or email me and I'll tell you all about it.

I'm still fishing the brush piles in the main lake. The fish were all over the place today. I caught a few of the big fish in 30 feet of water. Most came off brush in 20 - 25 feet. They were suspended from 10 feet down to about 22 feet. Most came on minnows, but I did manage to fool a few with a blue and white 2.5" Mizmo tube jig. Had to sweeten' it up a bit with the ole' Berkley Crappie Attractant. They wanted the jig almost motionless. A little twitch now and then would get them to hit. Too much movement and they wouldn't touch it. I was fishing behind a cold front. Thursday it was really chilly all day in Dallas. That explains the fish being scattered. They had a day or two to deal with the weather change. Some went deep others came up when the sun came out for a few hours. 

I did see people catching fish in the timber. I caught all of my fish off main channel brush within two miles of Ray Roberts Marina. I had very little luck on spots that are way back in the creeks and coves. The spots in Johnson Creek are starting to hold a few fish. Run back up the lake to some of the more out of the way spots and you will have more luck. Have a plan before you go. 

Drop me an email, let me know how you are doing. I'll give you a few more details on some of my favorite spots on Ray Roberts.

Ray Roberts Lake, Texas
October 27, 2001

I took a trip alone up to Ray Roberts on Saturday with hopes of finding new spots. The wind was blowing, again, so I cruised around in some new creeks looking for brush. I was able to catch some small fish on the places I found in the creeks. Being out of the relentless wind was nice but I knew the big fish were out in the main lake. God smiled on me and the wind let up around 8:30. I headed straight for some Corp. brush piles I knew of near Ray Roberts Marina.

My blue and white jig never made it down to the top of the brush, WHACK! A nice white, then another one. 75% of the fish I catch on Ray Roberts are White Crappie. You can see I have a white and a black in the photo above. Both are over a pound with the 1lb 3oz white coming in as big fish for the day. My big ten came in at just under ten pounds. I was able to fish three brush piles in 20 - 30 feet of water before the wind kicked back up. The fish were tight to the brush. Fishing the minnows right at the top of the pile or deeper off to the sides was the key. You must dissect a spot. Pick it apart. Fish every inch of it from every angle. Change the depth of your baits and watch your depth finder. Cruise around the spot and fish the deep outside edges.

I fished the first spot I went to today for almost 30 minutes before catching the first small Crappie. All I caught on that spot were small fish, but I did catch them when no one else seemed to be able to get them to hit. I had to approach the spot from down wind with my baits 3 feet off the bottom. When I saw the brush start to show up on my depth finder I let off the trolling motor and let the minnows and jigs flutter down the side of the pile while I was blowing back away from it. That was the only way they would take it.

The guys anchored on spots near me weren't catching any fish. I just don't think you can fish a spot effectively when your anchored. Plus the anchor scares the hell out of the fish! There are some nice fish in 12 - 15 feet of water in the standing timber. If the wind lets up and you can get in there after them, it should be great. I did see people catching fish in the timber above both bridges near Pecan Creek Access, behind Ray Roberts Marina and up passed Johnson Creek. Me, I'm sticking to the brush piles.

Ray Roberts Lake, Texas
October 20, 2001

With the sunrise coming later and later it's hard to beat all the other fishermen to the lake. I am used to being on the water and putting fish in the box by 6:00 am. The sun didn't peak out until 7:35 am on Saturday and the line to launch the boat was long. The wind blew out of the South at 10 - 20 mph. This made for some rough conditions. I refuse to put an anchor in my boat, so staying on the spot was hard. Hey call me stubborn! But if someone came a long and dropped a wrecking ball in your living room would you be ready to have a snack? I just think chucking an anchor over board anywhere near a brush pile puts the fish on alert. If it's your bag, do it. I prefer to cruise around the spot and work all the angles. The fish were very tight to the structure. We only fished three places this morning. Using nearly one ounce of weight, we were able to keep the baits down in the fishes face. Depth control is critical when Crappie fishing. Typically these are not extremely aggressive fish. You must position your bait pretty close to the fish in order to get him to hit it. There are times when this is not a must, but today was certainly one where it was. By bumping the minnows off the tops of the brush piles, and yo-yoing the bait down in the pile, I was able to pull a few nice slabs to the boat. With one out of five waves coming over the bow of my Triton, I decided we should probably hang it up.

The fish are still on the brush piles from 10 -30 feet deep. I have heard reports of people catching limits in the standing timber from 8 - 25 feet deep. It will depend on the sun, wind and air/water temperature. Watch your water temperature gauge. I have found that 50 - 65 is when the Crappies really stack up on main channel structure. Get a good map, find those brush piles and go get 'em!