This weekend is the first time I've been on the lake since early July. With the heat wave and CC lake down to the point I couldn't get my boat on/off my cradle, my wife and I decided to get out of Texas and headed to the mountains of New Mexico (highs in the 70s) for three weeks, then to Alabama for a beach trip and San Diego for work last week.

Launched my boat yesterday just before noon and ran a quick scouting run on my way back to my dock. Fished my 1/16th ounce Thump Chubbie for a couple minutes and decided it was time to down size. Switched to the only other lure I fish with -- white/chart 1/32 oz hair jig -- and immediately got bit. Fished a total of 3 spots on the way back home and caught 12, all on piles in 18 - 20 fow.

Headed out this morning (a little later than planned) and caught 28 between 7:30am and 10am, all on the 1/32 oz hair jig. I still have a freezer full of fish, so didn't keep any. Caught a few dinks but most were keepers but nothing huge -- the biggest 3 were around 13". As usual for this time of year, I caught 2 - 4 off of each pile and moved on to the next. I tried fishing a couple spots in 16 FOW but didn't find any takers. Water temp in the heat of the day yesterday was 85, this morning was 81.

good report. thanks. do you make your hair jigs or buy them

Good CC report RD! Thanks for sharing.

you make it sound easy,..

I buy them at a local tackle shop. They have a white body and chartreuse tail.

Post spawn through December on this lake is easy for me. BUT, it's because I've put A LOT of work into it. I fish this lake (when I'm in town) 2 to 3 times per week. I've spent countless hours scanning humps and deep water points for brush piles. I know which spots are productive based on current conditions so I don't have to waste time experimenting. I keep it simple, I only use two jigs (one large, one smaller when I have to downsize) and never change colors. I target active fish and don't waste time trying to get finicky fish to bite -- I just move on to the next spot until I find active fish.

Jan - March, however, is tough for me out here. I still catch fish during that period but my catch rate is much lower. When the fish move off the 12 - 22 ft brush piles, I'm lost out here. I don't have any structure marked shallower or deeper than that. I tried dock shooting but it's a pain in the butt. I might have to break down and hire a guide when the fishing gets tough again this next winter, just to see what I'm doing wrong.

Good job! You make me want to take better notes!

You should also give that dock shooting thing another shot! That's the only reason I would go to CC. As for winter most the crappie guides I know there don't fish or go to another lake.

Slew

That's what everyone keeps telling me I did at least try it twice this year in early spring. I guess I'll try it again this winter and maybe setup a rig specifically for it. I tried it with an old 7 ft cranking rod with one of my crappie reels attached -- which probably isn't ideal.

Great report Ron! Thanks for sharing. My brother and I went out on CC in July and did pretty good. We caught at least three catfish for every crappie🤣🤣. Couldn’t keep them off our hooks! The water was crazy low! Has the lake come up much ?? I’m sure y’all got some good rain recently…

There are a lot of catfish here. I don't have too many problems with them when using jigs but do occasionally catch one. I also catch a few sandies and hybrids in the months when I put more action on my jigs -- like pitching/drifting over the top of piles.

The lake is up 1.5 feet the low point but still over 3 ft low.