My favorite time of year is finally upon us! If I'm not guiding crappie, I'm guiding deer hunts, and that's heaven on earth to me. With the cooler temps we've been having, the fish seem to be responding well. Right now the water temps are in the low 80s, and when they start getting in the mid 70s, the barn doors will really start hitting the deck.

Here's how we're catching them:

6-7ft ultralight rods
Pflueger and Shimano spinning reels
8lb Mr Crappie high visibility mono
Live minnows and tiny Slab Syndicate jigs
Main lake brush piles in 10-18ft
Deep docks are also holding decent numbers

The best piece of advice I can give right now is not to be distracted by large numbers of fish on your graph. Get the 3-4 aggressive crappie and move. Trust me on this. It's easy to take it personal when you can see 40-50 fish on a pile and you want to fill the boat all in one stop. It's not that time of year yet. Get what you can get quickly and move. When that water temp drops another 8-10 degrees, you'll be able to limit out on just a few spots. For now though, you need to move fast and fish slow.

I'm asking my customers to drop their jig or minnow down to the depth we're seeing the fish and then having them hold it dead still for 1-2 minutes at a time. Very rarely are we getting aggressive thumps. Almost every fish this past week has either "just been on there" or they slack up the line.

My favorite holes are the ones that have deep water nearby. If I can find a brush pile or tree that tops out in 10-12ft but also goes down to 18-22ft, I know we will have success.

If for some reason you get out on the lake and are struggling, spend the day scouting and go back to those spots you found after a week or two. September can be a little frustrating at times, but there's no need in wasting a day on the water. It's only going to get better!!

www.ftworthfishing.com
817-266-9811

Here's what we've been doing this past week:

Great Post Lane.

Nicely done!

Key words "Move fast and fish slow". so true!

Thanks for the vital information!

Good info Lane. Nice pics, too.

Nice

Send coords of the fish fry location...

Thanks guys! Man I love this time of year. Today (9/24) we had our 50 by 11:45. It's getting better by the day.

Great report and pictures!

Awesome job Lane!

Thanks for the report and techniques.
Great post

As of the past couple of days, the crappie are still in 10-18ft. We are doing best on main lake brush piles using Slab Syndicate hand ties, Thump Chubbies from Constant Pursuit Outfitters and the occasional live minnow. We now have two 24ft center consoles running, which means we can get more people on the water to stock their freezer with fresh crappie. The weather around here lately has been unbelievably beautiful, which is just another reason I love the fall!

Nice haul.