Had a great time yesterday with Earnest. I usually fish for Crappie with Minnows because that was the only way I could really catch them. Fished with Jigs yeasterday Caught 9 on them. I'm not sure if I'm completely converted to Jigs but now I have the option.

I also paid attention when Earnest was explaining how things looked on the Sonar. So now I know what I am looking at. I am looking forward to Fall when the fish are bigger. I will be stocking up my freezer.

Im in on Cedar Creek.

Rackjudge,
I started fishing the Pier 121 area and found the brush piles, but no action. Moved over to the north side of the lake and did find the brush piles, but only small fish. Since I found the brush piles and did catch fish it was well worth the 20.00.

Ernest,

PM sent.

Chip

This is for anyone considering taking Ernest up on his on-the-water seminar. You really should stop thinking about it and just go.

Last week I went out with Ernest for the Lewisville seminar. I already posted on how instructive that trip was, especially since I’d never fished for crappie before.

That trip really got me fired up and I wanted to get out there immediately and practice what I’d learned. Unfortunately, I found myself between boats. I had traded in my old one and was waiting for my new one to be set up by Joe at Advantage Marine. (By the way, Joe is great to work with. Thanks, Joe!)

After a week of thinking about fishing, I picked up the boat yesterday afternoon and got ready for my first solo crappie trip. I had a very small window of time this morning, but was determined to get out there, even if for only an hour.

I went to a suggested spot near the ramp. This was not a spot Ernest and I had fished. In fact, I was on the opposite end of the lake. As I looked around the area, I used what Ernest had taught me about finding spots. I eased through and fished likely locations. Remember, I’m a complete novice and am only going by what I learned from Ernest a week earlier.

I can’t tell you how goofy-excited I was when I pulled in that first crappie, using the techniques I had learned with Ernest. The fish continued biting, both crappie and LMB. I only got to fish for a little over an hour and spent some of that time learning the new boat, but left them biting.

This post certainly isn’t about my crappie prowess, but just to relay how informative the time with Ernest was. The fact that a complete novice like myself was able to catch a few fish on my own after his seminar shows me that he really did teach me a little something rather than just take me to the fish. I know I saved myself a lot of time and frustration by letting Ernest point me in the right direction. I highly recommend the seminar to anyone else wanting to get started crappie fishing.


I'll definitely be at the CAT meeting for his GPS and graph seminar.

any reports/pics from this yet?

I caught +/- 50 last Saturday from one of the spots on the list and caught well over 100 Friday from two of the spots.
13'-22' of water fishing from 13' to 17' deep. Chart/Pearl White Bobby Garland Baby Shad has been the best for me but have also done OK with Chart/White and Silver/Blue jigs. Standing timber seems to be best for keepers.
Sorry, no pics.

Nice fish. Way to go.

I've been catching many crappie on the Ray Roberts data, but have not tried out the Lewisville data yet. Hope to do that soon. Well worth the money already.

Thanks Ernest.

CW

Hey Ernest,

Nice talking with you this morning. My girlfriend and I will see you bright and early Thursday morning. Looking forward to it.

Joe

My wife and I went to Lewsiville this evening and fished timber marked on the map and caught 6 good keepers (11" or better) and many throwbacks. We were in 16 foot of water mostly. They liked white and chartruese 2"Rocky Tops with 1/4 oz #2 sickle hooks okay but the liked the same jig head with a chartruese/metalflake curly tail 3"grub really good. Wasn't a light bite on it. They THUMPED it! My wife said 2 of them were the biggest crappie she had ever seen. (About 13") She gets real excited. Thanks Ernest. She now likes jig fishing better than minners.