Hey guys,

where would a beginner kayak fisher start looking for Crappie at Grapevine?
Not looking for anybody's spots....
But I'm moving closer to Grapevine lake soon and I would really like to finally get on some crappies. I have a fish finder and a Watercraft Titan but really struggle to even know what to look for.
I know I'm looking for brush piles and lay downs, but when do I look where, how deep, etc. I just can't seem to find anything.

to the tff I don't fish grapevine so cant help you there but there are some expert crappie fisherman on here that should chime in. The more time on the water the better you become both as a fisherman and at finding the fish

I haven't fished Grapevine in a lot of years but hopefully this may help.
Brush piles will be great if you can find them. But you can also catch fish on the natural ledges. I bet you can still catch fish off the ledges around Rockledge Park. Not sure where you'd put a kayak in close to there. If not there, you can at Murrell Park probably and then make your way to Rockledge. There also used to be some brush piles around the no wake buoys at Murrell Park. If you stay around 18' at normal water levels, you'll run in to a brush pile or three.

Of course, this was many years ago. So things may have changed. Good luck.

Where are you putting in your yak?

I would suggest checking out the marinas. Those boat slips often have brush off the end of them. You can usually ID the potentially good ones. Minnow buckets, lights, rods, rod holders, scales on the decks etc. are good signs. Graph those areas around those slips and see what you find.

Find the guy named Davedave, ask him where he fishes. Avoid those locations.

I have been fishing gvine all my life and recently got a native slayer and fish it out of a yak quite a bit for crappie. My best advice is to go to another lake if you just want to catch some fish. If you really want to learn the lake, just be prepared for some skunks in the process. Not saying it is impossible but as a beginner, this lake is tough. No visible cover that produces fish (marinas do but are hard to fish from a yak) and it is all underwater cover that takes time to find. There are tons of brushpiles in the lake and just take some time to find. As stated above, if I was looking for fish right now, I would be looking on rock ledges and brush in 10-15 ft. Fish are still spawning in this lake too and the rocks on the dam will produce spawning crappie into June but can be hit or miss and depends on the wind. Underwater rocky points, and rock piles should produce some fish too if you can find them in that same depth range. I usually stay away from the lake till about June when majority of the fish are done spawning as Gvine is a super tough lake to fish for crappie in the spawn IMO. After having a slip at silverlake marina for a couple of years, there is no way to be productive fishing the marinas there from a yak. Most fish are in the dark water where you can't get to unless you can walk the docks. I hope this helps. PS, after mid to late June, I fish minnows 95 percent of the time there as those fish get really finicky.

That’s pretty good advice lately.

Fish in aholic is pretty accurate in my opinion. I don’t have a kayak. But, I would think that it would be a tough lake to fish from a kayak. As he stated, most of the brush is not visible. There is only a small amount of standing timber. Ledges are probably your best bet. I’m not sure how good of electronics you have. You might have a tough time locating brush piles.

One major area that I disagree with him is this. From about June on, I go somewhere else. The fishing is great on this lake during the summer. But, the wakeboarders are out of control. Sometimes it seems like there are thousands of them.

This is true. I fish during the week so I forgot about that part of the lake LOL

Thank you so much guys. Your advice is greatly appreciated!

For those who have fished the lake for a very long time, would you rather recommend to start learning to fish for bass on grapevine? Since it sounds like it's not the greatest crappie lake.
Or am I going to run into the same issues fishing from the yak?

Fishin alcoholic, what's your main target species? Bass or crappie?

last week i caught 75 Crappie off one brush pile,only 6 keepers but it was fun. they were 12' deep.run your fish locater and watch for brush piles in 10' to 25' of water. they may be small but hold many fish.cant wait till Thursday to get back out there when this weather clears up! most have left the slips now i believe. good luck. oh and if you get the chance put a tracker on Davddave's boat lol good guy very helpful .

Take a look at this website: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/grapevine/access.phtml#pointi

A friend of mine fishes from a yak and puts in at Trophy Club Park. Check out the creek area at the NW end.

Good luck and welcome to the TFF!

If you just want to catch fish,get in the area between the island and the beach near the ballpark,there is a large flat all through there and the sand bass come in there just about every morning,just follow the birds.

I didn't say it was a bad crappie lake. It's just not the easiest to fish from a yak or in general really. I fish for crappie 80 percent of the time, 15 percent on white bass and the rest on cats. I don't fish for bass but do know it is a good lake for that and will probably be easier to catch from a yak. The area down by the dam has some nice smallmouths in it and I typically catch them on crappie jigs.

Never pass up fishing large rock pile points on the Vine. The north shore is very good for this.

I launch from Murrell and go east but only to the 1st small cove/pond. Rocks galore and that point and on around to the 1st cove/pond...I also fish the many piles inside the cove going into the High Water ramp, oh and never overlook the submerged timber in there to the right of the ramp as you are going in.

"love me some crappies on the rocks"

(tip) The hotter, the better...

Thank you for the Tip!