Going to visit the in-laws in Temple over Thanksgiving. I might get a chance to get out and do some fishing. Is there any good crappie holes around there? I know there is Lake Belton, creeks off of that? I might take my kayak, so I could get most anywhere. Thanks.

Belton is not fishing well right now for crappie. For kayakin, I'd go to Cedar Ridge park and put in. There is structure and timber close to that ramp that can be fished easily. With the lake so low, all the creeks are cut off from the main lake, no migration route. Even the main river channel is suspect right now.

I went very recently to belton and hit alot of honeyholes and got nothing but bees. Our deeper lakes such as stillhouse and Belton are tough cookies to crack in winter and sometimes spring. The shad wont go shallow unless they have to, they have predators above trying to eat them(terns and gulls) and they know this. They are an easier target in shallower water because they have 1 less option to run, they cant go deep., So what happens, is large medium and small schools of shad hang out in deep river channels with predator fish following them around looking for stragglers or opportunities to feed on them. If you find a school of baitfish with fish under them, set our several poles with minnows or jigs on a tandem rig, and hover over the school, with your baits set slighty below the school . You will likely catch a smorgasborg of fish from crappie to cats, to hybrids. Last year I caught crappie a foot and a half off of the bottom trolling minnows on stillhouse in 43 feet of water. Ive gotten credible reports that that are large schools of baitfish hanging out around cedar ridge marina right now, so going and fishing the slips in the marina may not be a bad idea. The depth goes from very shallow to very deep in the marina, just start abt midway and work deeper. .. good luck and tell us how you do. Last year round this time we were doing good on deeper timber, the bridge, ect. no so this year.