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John N. Felsher's Crappie Fishing Adventures
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Slipping up on schools of crappie at
beautiful Lake Greeson, Arkansas
beautiful Lake Greeson, Arkansas
Jerry Blake of Action Fishing Trips shows off a couple of crappies he
caught at Lake Greeson near Murfreesboro, Ark.
caught at Lake Greeson near Murfreesboro, Ark.
With little natural cover except drop-offs and bottom contours in the
7,000-acre Lake Greeson in the scenic Ozark National Forest near
Murfreesboro, Ark., crappie anglers make their own reefs.
Jerry Blake and his companions established more than 250 “crappie
condos” throughout Lake Greeson. They put bundles of bamboo in water
as deep as 40 feet in a lake that drops to more than 120 feet deep in
places. With some piles in the shallows and some in deep water, Blake can
keep up with the capricious crappies and follow the seasonal lake
fluctuations. For taller cover, he sticks bamboo into five-gallon buckets of
concrete to create underwater trees.
“It’s like a big cypress tree standing up and spreading out under
water,” said Blake of Action Fishing Trips of Pearcy, Ark. “It’s usually about
15 feet tall and 18 feet across. Bamboo holds up better than pines, willows
or other bushes. A bamboo pile may last for three to four years while all
the small limbs on a brush pile rot off in a year or so.”
Easing over one of his bamboo piles near Kirby Landing, Blake
watched his depth finder before throwing out a marker buoy. With a
technique he calls “hovering,” he uses his trolling motor to work slowly back
and forth over the pile.
“In October, we catch fish in 12 to 15 feet of water,” Blake explained.
“As the water cools, they start moving into the eight- to 12-foot range.
Sometimes, fish are at the edge of the pile. Sometimes, they are right in
the middle of the thick stuff.”
With Blake at the controls, Darryl Morris rigged “slip floats,” which
slide up and down the line. To fish the right depth, we measured our lines
against the poles and set the “bobber stoppers,” threads attached to the
lines to hold baits suspended at the correct level. Although we fished in
about 20 feet of water, the bobber stoppers kept the baits at about 15 feet
deep.
“We like to put baits right above their heads,” Blake said. “Crappies
look up and come out of the cover to ambush prey. A slip-float rig is great
for catching suspended fish. The bait hangs right over the cover. With a
slip-float rig, we can fish vertically in deep cover without going all the way to
the bottom and possibly hanging up in the brush pile and disturbing the
fish.”
Blake and Morris baited the lines with “Arkansas rosy-red fathead
minnows,” a genetic mutation that produces reddish-orange fish resembling
goldfish. Crappies can see these colorful minnows even in low-light
conditions, although the clear waters of Lake Greeson offered excellent
visibility.
Using four different color-coded rods with matching bobbers, we
positioned them in holders set along the gunwale of the 22-foot Blue Wave
boat. When a fish grabbed a bait, we called out “bite on green,” or “bite on
red.” The closest person to the rod of action hooked the fish.
With the rods in holders, I vertically jigged a 1/4-ounce chrome
spoon. I dropped it to the bottom and then cranked the handle a few times
to raise the bait slightly above the brush pile. The minnows caught more
crappies, but the jigging spoon attracted bigger fish. Besides black and
white crappies, we largemouth bass, Kentucky spotted bass, a large bluegill
and a blue catfish.
“Lake Greeson is great for crappies all year long,” Blake said. “In the
fall, they gorge themselves on shad to get ready for winter. We average 25
to 30 keepers a day. We get some in the 14- to 16-inch range. The
biggest that I ever caught was a 17-incher that weighed close to 3 pounds.
We have caught some in the 2- to 2.5-pound range, but most average
about 12 ounces to a pound.
For booking trips or for more information about Crappie Camp, call
Blake at (501) 844-9028. On the Internet, see actionfishingtrips.com.
7,000-acre Lake Greeson in the scenic Ozark National Forest near
Murfreesboro, Ark., crappie anglers make their own reefs.
Jerry Blake and his companions established more than 250 “crappie
condos” throughout Lake Greeson. They put bundles of bamboo in water
as deep as 40 feet in a lake that drops to more than 120 feet deep in
places. With some piles in the shallows and some in deep water, Blake can
keep up with the capricious crappies and follow the seasonal lake
fluctuations. For taller cover, he sticks bamboo into five-gallon buckets of
concrete to create underwater trees.
“It’s like a big cypress tree standing up and spreading out under
water,” said Blake of Action Fishing Trips of Pearcy, Ark. “It’s usually about
15 feet tall and 18 feet across. Bamboo holds up better than pines, willows
or other bushes. A bamboo pile may last for three to four years while all
the small limbs on a brush pile rot off in a year or so.”
Easing over one of his bamboo piles near Kirby Landing, Blake
watched his depth finder before throwing out a marker buoy. With a
technique he calls “hovering,” he uses his trolling motor to work slowly back
and forth over the pile.
“In October, we catch fish in 12 to 15 feet of water,” Blake explained.
“As the water cools, they start moving into the eight- to 12-foot range.
Sometimes, fish are at the edge of the pile. Sometimes, they are right in
the middle of the thick stuff.”
With Blake at the controls, Darryl Morris rigged “slip floats,” which
slide up and down the line. To fish the right depth, we measured our lines
against the poles and set the “bobber stoppers,” threads attached to the
lines to hold baits suspended at the correct level. Although we fished in
about 20 feet of water, the bobber stoppers kept the baits at about 15 feet
deep.
“We like to put baits right above their heads,” Blake said. “Crappies
look up and come out of the cover to ambush prey. A slip-float rig is great
for catching suspended fish. The bait hangs right over the cover. With a
slip-float rig, we can fish vertically in deep cover without going all the way to
the bottom and possibly hanging up in the brush pile and disturbing the
fish.”
Blake and Morris baited the lines with “Arkansas rosy-red fathead
minnows,” a genetic mutation that produces reddish-orange fish resembling
goldfish. Crappies can see these colorful minnows even in low-light
conditions, although the clear waters of Lake Greeson offered excellent
visibility.
Using four different color-coded rods with matching bobbers, we
positioned them in holders set along the gunwale of the 22-foot Blue Wave
boat. When a fish grabbed a bait, we called out “bite on green,” or “bite on
red.” The closest person to the rod of action hooked the fish.
With the rods in holders, I vertically jigged a 1/4-ounce chrome
spoon. I dropped it to the bottom and then cranked the handle a few times
to raise the bait slightly above the brush pile. The minnows caught more
crappies, but the jigging spoon attracted bigger fish. Besides black and
white crappies, we largemouth bass, Kentucky spotted bass, a large bluegill
and a blue catfish.
“Lake Greeson is great for crappies all year long,” Blake said. “In the
fall, they gorge themselves on shad to get ready for winter. We average 25
to 30 keepers a day. We get some in the 14- to 16-inch range. The
biggest that I ever caught was a 17-incher that weighed close to 3 pounds.
We have caught some in the 2- to 2.5-pound range, but most average
about 12 ounces to a pound.
For booking trips or for more information about Crappie Camp, call
Blake at (501) 844-9028. On the Internet, see actionfishingtrips.com.