Headin to lbj for our annual fishin trip. We usually just focus on lmb and whites. But my 8 yr old is on a crappie kick lately and I would like to get him on some while there. Ive seen some tied to the pillars from the kingsland bridge. Figured they were crappie fishin. This a good spot? Any others? Lure/bait suggestions? I usually just let him use minnows on size 1 snell hooks, but jigging for them looks fun. Thanks for any help.

launch at bluebriar park... .. get in the river channel and put your sonar on 2d and ride the DROP SIDE of the channel, not the FLAT side.dont use your side imaging because of the way the channel is formed, you will struggle.,., use 2D. you will find piles. also many piles are marked with bouys on LBJ.. not far from bluebriar park theres some underground springs that bubble up and there some underwater stumps that can be good.,., if you stand at the bluebriar ramp facing the lake, the springs and stumps will be to the RIGHT side once u get in the channel.. also there some deeper docks on the lake, look on navionics webapps and see where they are u can find a few fiush under them.. if u keepo going u will eventually come to a low bridge,,. theres fish on the bridge, and theres a crappie fish house right next to the bridge thats heavily brushed out,,. if nobody is there, go head and fish the brush in front of the fish house.
there is a large penninsula shaped piece of land called lighthouse point.,., theres brushpiles all around that point.. good area..

from the bluebriar ramp once u get in the channel and go LEFT, same thing, ride the drop side of the channel .. . piles will be found deeper going this way.

small feather jigs seem to workj good like red/chartruese, orange/chart black/chart and nibbles. better get an early start because once the jet skies come out, u will be just a spectator.

ALSO this time of year, baitfish are primarily small.. crappie key in on this fact, so if u get minnows, get the smallest u can find..

Appreciate it! What size/type hooks do you use for minnows?

number 2 long shank , eagle claw light wire. strong enough to hold a good fish but will bend if u get hung up, then just reshape it..

the bobby garland 2 inch baby shad, has been good for me lately in a chartruese with gold sparkle. the crazy angler smallest size slab bandit, texas toast, pink and white mello yello,, , the constant pursuit frog, and thump chubby are all good choices for plastics right now.. I think they resemble a pregnant minnow or shad, and crappie cant pass them up. crappie can be very particular in what they want from day to day.. its all part of the game.. once u figure out what they want, its nirvana... sometimes it dont matter but usually it does,.
for hair jigs a 1/32 oz, 1/16 oz jig tied on a loop knot is going to get u bit. always tip with berkley crappie nibble. I always put a 1/16 or 1/8 oz pinch sinker abt 8 inches above the jig. or heavier if its real windy.

I don’t want to highjack anyone’s thread, but leanin post seems to be very knowledgeable on LBJ. My wife, kids and I are also going down in a week for some r&r. My kids are all about Crappie fishing now. I could use some advice as well from the 1431 bridge area if possible. The kids will be up early wanting to drop a jig. Thanks in advance, Cody.

Whaler- the 1431 bridge area isn’t super productive for crappie. Most of this area is pretty shallow- watch out for rocks on the llano. You can pull your boat up to the llanorado bait shop and pick up a dozen or two of minnows for the kiddos-Live bait always seems to keep the kids interest up. Pull up to some of the underwater lighted docks after nightfall( there won’t be any wakeboats or jet fleas running by then). You should get into some crappie, LM, whites, or catfish. If you insist on jigs- bluebriar is the best bet(it’s a long way from 1431) In the 1431 area, colorado side has much deeper , bigger docks- with a little luck you might get into them. There are some under the 1431 and 2900 bridge too.

yes, putting the young kids in charge of minnow selection and capture is a great way to keep them occupied. put some minnows in a wide pail, and give them a little net and let them catch the minnows for u... they really enjoy this.!

Thank you sticknstring and leanin post I do appreciate the advice. I have more fun watching kids catch fish than I do catching. Pretty much all we do is jig fish and started shooting docks this year. It’s been fun watching them learn to shoot jigs.

Went out last night and caught some on lights up the colorado. Bought some minnows by the 1431 today and let the boy catch crappie, whites, and bluegill under 1431. It was a good day. Time for a nap and get back at em tonight. Thanks guys!

Thanks for the update sketch. Good luck to y’all !

Glad it worked for ya Sketch! Nothing much better than having the kids catching!! When I got on this thread , it brought me back to the days when my girls used to look so forward to going out on LBJ at night with minnows! Those were awesome times! I’m moving one to college in another month.... they grow fast!! You’re doing it right- enjoy every stage of their lives cause it doesn’t last long enough.

Thanks for the kind words. It was a good 5 days down there. We never caught giants but caught lots of numbers of all species. Fished LBJ at least a week or 2 every year since 2005 and it amazed me to see the number of boaters out during the week. It was a little scary at times, especially tied up under the bridge and them blowing through the no wake zone. Saw one pulling two lil ones on a tube and they nearly ran em into the railroad pylons. Despite the craziness, we had a good time and am ready to go back. I'll take 100 degrees on the water in humidity over our 100 degree 25 mph south wind dirt blowing anyday lol. To say the least, my boy was not happy to come home and has asked at least 5 times already when we are going back. Hopefully sooner than later. He'll just have to settle for our local lake til then. Thanks again for the input and advice. It was greatly appreciated.

Best Regards and tight lines,

Matt