Lake Palestine advice

Hey All,

Its my first time posting on here and I hate this is my first question as I usually like to figure stuff out on my own. Here's the but, I'm taking my 5 year old grandson fishing Friday who is absolutely stoked about going and has had his Mom buy every type of crappie jig/lure they make. I'm still kinda new to Crappie fishing and honestly, I'm the only Father figure in his life so I want to do everything I can to get him on some fish, we will do the bass thing later, LOL. I usually fish around the flat creek area and my question is should I use bobber/minnow and fish shallow around docks (which would probably be easier for him) or should we be looking for brush piles a little deeper and jig at this time of the year? I'm not asking for spots but for education as I could care less about putting meat in the freezer but do want my grandson to fall in love with this sport. I'm sorry about the long monologue and I appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks Dave.

I took my kids back in flat creek 2 weeks ago with minnows up shallow along the bank near reeds and we caught crappie bass and catfish, if your just trying to put em on fish i can’t see u going wrong that way you will catch something and you might end up doing good on crappie, hard to tell what all this new water is gonna do, good luck to y’all hope y’all find em

Crappie are being caught on docks, and brush piles, brush is what we have been fishing 8 to 12 foot deep. Flat creek as both docks and brush that are holding fish right now. If I wasn’t running a trip on another lake that day I would love to show you guys some spots. Hope this helps and good luck and have fun . Mark

Kudos to you grandpa. Even if you don't catch any fish, that little guy will have a great time. We had a lot of rain in our area today, over 6 inches. I'm sure they had that much up there too. Good luck to you.

With kids learning to fish...shallow with corks is best option...gives them something to watch...use minnows, show him how to move the cork around for maximum effectiveness of the minnow, which keeps them involved in watching the cork...use small corks, so he can watch it go under on any bite...good luck, wish you the best luck!

Get him up early, cook breakfast for him, make a lunch, take snacks and his favorite drinks..make a big deal out of the preparation...don’t let him see you get frustrated if the fish aren’t biting...make itt a fun day, when he is ready to leave..tell him one more cast...then leave after that one cast...no matter what! Tell him that he is your best fishing buddy and he did a wonderful job, stop by and get ice cream, candy, whatever he might like...and be sincere, take the time to answer each and every question, in detail till he is satisfied with the answer...remember it is a learning experience for him!

Very well said Crapicat

Thanks Capt.

How many kids do you have?? Love your comments. My son never liked the boat, My daughter loved the fishing and catching.

That`s the GOS SPELL Crapicat!

We caught a bunch of nice fish half way back in flat on the south bank last week. Minnows against the reeds and stumps was the juice then. I also hear they are starting to show up at the Flat Creek bridge.

Kodiak73

Where are you launching Friday.
I will be out there and I could show you some of the spots we usually catch a few.

Like the other guy said, with all this rain it may change the game plan up a little, but I'd love to help you get him on some

To add to what crapicat said the store at lake Palestine Campground sells ice cream and I know with my boys cooling off in the AC with some ice cream and a drink goes a loooong way! Flat Creek Marina may have the same thing, I don’t know, I have never been in there.

As far as fishing advice I am a beginner myself so I don’t have a lot to add. We fished Palestine last Saturday and did ok. We caught a few fish in the grass right on shore super shallow and caught a few more on docks in 6-10 feet of water. Good luck!

Thanks Ya"ll! I appreciate all the great advice both for fishing and enjoying the moment! Me and the big man are planning to launch from flat creek ramp around 830 with bobbers and minnows, going be a blast! Thanks again!

Thanks Mark, I've seen alot of your of your posts w fish on here and one day soon me and big man are going schedule a palestine trip with you!

Awesome! I'm sure the kids had a blast. Appreciate the help!

Great advice, Thank you!

Thank you for the kind words...

Two, my eldest, Rachel will be meeting up with me at the GTG on Murvall next month...she is a senior in Aggieland. My youngest, a junior in High school, Alan hasn’t been fishing with me in a while, because I took three more casts, when I told him one more (sigh), and he reminds me of that fact, occasionally. They both know how to jig fish, though...ole Jiggum had Rachel’s picture plastered all over his photo page, before he sold to Jerry. He would charge me for any Jigs I bought and give her whatever she asked for...she loved the green jigs and could occasionally make me look old...I always jig/corked with Alan and he has discussed going fishing this year, after UIL competition is over...right now, he is leading all competitors in the state after district competition, for Spelling, so the coaches are pushing him to stay focused on Spelling...which makes it hard for me to talk him into a fishing trip...Rachel loves fishing, Alan prefers catching....lol

You are most certainly welcome, let us know how it turns out...the simple things are what make life worthwhile!