I've been waiting since last fall for Grapevine to start the spawn run...and it's started. I fished today with Jeff and Greg, and while the 'Vine' isn't into it's full blown action yet; it is fishing good for this point in the season. The fish are on the traditional spawning banks, and just looking for a jig n' bobber to be tossed at them. We did manage some very large females today, but I believe that the main movement of females is still a couple weeks away. Anyway, it was fun and I had a blast fishing with two very funny (and talented) guys.


Greg (L) and Jeff (R) with some of the female white crappie caught today

Way to Go Guy,

You are a very talented crappie fisherman to be able to catch fish on all of those lakes.

The crappie have been up shallow since the beginning of March. I only brought home 11 this afternoon.

thanks guy for the kind words (esp. about greg ), as i had a great time learning as well as fishing. little does anyone know guy has unlocked the secret box on nice bass as well as how to teach someone how to catch crappie that had no idea before our trip. the knowledge will last a lifetime, certainly longer than those slabs will!! we had a great time, looking forward to fishing with you again!!

by the way, jim of strikeworks, if you're out there, i do accept donations for front and center shirt advertising!! those crappie didn't know what hit 'em!

Guy,
I think I saw you blast past the old blue Yak today. Glad you fellas had a good day.
Seems someone has moved one of your brush piles around the Murrell area. Pretty much scratched plan A. Didn't find fish on Mr. Big Snake's tree.
Had to resort to Plan C. Flyrod with ssslllooowww sinking jig/fly along stump line yielded 8 keepers, minnows in the same places accounted for 8 more. Total 16 for freezer. Larger fish on minnows, but the Flyrod was fun!

I fished this morning with Scott and Jason, again at Grapevine. Fishing was very slow....until the wind started blowing, and the crappie fairy must have sprinkled her dust on that lake, cause it busted wide open. Most of the fish were males, with some very big females mixed in...and this is good, cause it means that the big females have yet to make that BIG run. Sorry about no pictures toady, but to be honest, I just forgot to take any. Scott and Jason took a very nice cooler of the Vine's best home. All fish were caught about 18" deep on plastic.

Thanks Scott/Jason for fishing with me. I had a great time.


Scott sent me a pic of the cooler from Sunday

Thank Guy for working as hard as you did to find us fish today. I can tell everyone that Guy does not give up easily. He could have easily ended our trip with a few fish and blamed the wind. Either way he kept looking until we found that one spot that was holding a good concentration of fish. The last hour of our trip was really fun.
Thanks again for the education. MCD is in full swing at my house now.

The crappie I caught yesterday at the Grape were a little confusing. The larger ones were males and the medium ones turned out to be femles. Kinda roll reversal there. I wish I had spotted the male mating colors on those big boys, I would have released them to spawn. They were some of the largest Males I have seen in years.

PS. Guy, there do not appear to be any records set yet for Crappie on fly rod in Grapevine. The record for Lewisville was only 10.125 inches long. Hmmmmmmmmm

Fly,

Saw your comment about a Crappie on the Fly for the Vine. I noticed this also after I arrived home last week from fishing the Vine. I looked it up on the net cuz I was very curious to the current record. Shouldn't be hard to put up a nice one soon for the Fly Rod.
I have caught Crappie in the past on the Fly Rod, but there is NO way I would submit a 10 - 11 inch fish for the record books. Cuz I would want it to stand for a while. By the way the State record Crappie on the fly is like 2.2 lbs. And nothing for the Fly at the Vine. Also, the Vine's lake record for Crappie on Conventional tackle is 3.8 lbs. Just from memory, might be off a fraction so don't hold me to it!

This past week I hooked into a very NICE fish. Wasn't sure what it was at first. After a short sleigh ride in my Kayak. Yes, I was pulled a bit after a hook up with a fish while fishing out of my 14 foot Kayak. After about a 10 minute battle and my 6 weight fly rod doubled over, I finally saw the fish. A HUGH Crappie! The biggest I have ever seen. I had the fish totally worn down, gee he had to be after pulling me for a short ride. All I had to do was land the thing. I had my fly rod positioned and had the fishes head slightly out of the water. I leaned over to try and lip the fish. I was about 1 inch shy of being able to reach and lip the Crappie. Sitting in a Kayak with a 9 foot Fly Rod does present some issue's when landing large fish. Remember, I had this fish worn out. But, I was getting very nervous and knew I needed to get this fish in the Kayak soon. So I grabbed the tippet/leader and tried lifting the fish into the yak. I had the fish half way out of the water and you guessed it. It came unbuttoned and flopped into the water. This Crappie easily went 3 lbs. if not more. I have a witness and he saw the whole thing. A few days earlier I had landed a 17 inch Bass (3 lb +) on the Fly. I have been fishing for over 35 year's and I am fairly accurate on a fishes size. By the way this Crappie put up a better fight then did the bass.

Moral of the story, don't ever let the mind start to get fuzzy and do something stupid in attempts to get a fish into the boat. I never bring a landing net with me, but I thought I better start. By the way, I went back the next day and was skunked!

The color of the Crappie was very dark. More so then the one on the far right in the photo at the top of this post. I saw Shad jumping clear out of the water in the area I was fishing. So, I matched the pattern with 2-3 inch long bait fish patterns for my fly.

Just heard from Scott, that none of the fish that they cleaned had eggs (also sent me a pic that I can't get downloaded). Considering where we caught them from, that's good news, cause now I know the females haven't made the big move to the banks yet. The full moon this month is on the 24th, so from about mid week this week, until mid week next week, it should be very good fishing at the 'Vine. Just try to leave some for me .

Hi Guy,

Thanks for the info on spawn at Grapevine, glad you and your customers had a good trip. I am going to try and go this next weekend if I can talk momma into going with me. I want her to get MCD like the rest of us.
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My brother came in 11th with 10 fish. None were caught where the plastic is. He could'nt find them??? Hope there still there!
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I filleted 15 this weekend and almost half were females. There are alot of those 14 inch fish and even some males that big.

You mean to tell me that someone was able to drag Guy away from Cedar Creek!!!!

Hey Guy, if my black skeeter is in the way, just tell me to move it. I would be more than happy to watch you work. I hope to be up there wednesday and thursday.

guy,

just fyi, the fish greg and i cleaned from friday were 50/50 male and female.

j