I can't figure it out. I thought for sure that the crappie would be biting like crazy today. I don't think I ended up getting two bites. I was fishing my local creek bank about 2' deep in 6' of water. Tried 3 or 4 different jig colors. Is it to early for the crappie to be up in that shallow of a creek for spawning yet?..... Or should I just chuck this day up to bad luck. Any tips or hints anyone? It was nice to sit out in the sun and relax though. Nice day out here in abilene today.

Welcome to the Forum coronaski.You will get alot of info from the great people here on the TFF.
Since we dont have any creeks a little further west of you I cant help with that,but im sure some of the Abilene guys will have some info for You.

I haven't been able to pattern them,just catching a few here and there. Having a hard time coordinating fishing time between fronts and work. Been hearing a lot about Ivie,this is about the time that they start to go on a tear up in the rivers. I need to go check it out,maybe next weekend.

First question, yes it is too early for spawning activity but not too early for them to be up the creeks. Does the creek have some flow? It needs some to bring the crappie up into it. Does the creek normally have crappie in this spot this time of year? I only ask this question because the spot just may not have been where they were at. They may have been just up or down the creek at the next bend.


Next time, try varrying the depth of your jig. They may have been holding to the bottom and wouldn't take a jig more than an inch off of the bottom. You just don't know until you try.

Were you fishig around cover? When we get bright sun and high pressure, it's nice for us wearing hat and shades but those fish don't have it. My guess is that they would be holding tight to cover today.

What creek were you fishing?, Time of day?

Mud-Dabber had a pretty good creek report from a couple of weeks ago


http://www.texasfishingforum.com/cgibin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=007930#000000

Ok, lets see if I can anwser all these questions. Yes, the creek has nice flow in it. Most of the time I fish this Lytle creek for Bass and have caught quite a few very nice ones. I very rarely used to fish for crappie but since I recently bought an ulralight pole I have found I like fishing for the small stuff alot. So as far as when the crappie are usually there, I have no idea. I was fishing both shaded brush and some spots in the sun. Tried to mix it up as much as possible. I even tried running my jig along the bottom of the creek to see if I could get a bite down there. I'm pretty new to crappie fishing so mostly I'm just watching these boards and learning as much about technique as possible. Also, to anyone in the area. I'm always up for fishing so hit me up if you want someone to go with. Thanks for all the help guys.

are you fishing north of the lake or south of the lake?

coronaski
you might want to email me. if this is lytle creek in abilene, you may be fishing in an area that the lake went dry three years ago. feel free to email me as perhaps this is not the same body of water. if it is then the fish counts are extremely low.
Regards,
Mud-Dabber

sound like you can chalk it up to a "bluebird" day! We all have those, your creek sounds good, but like always, if they are not on one spot, it's time to "take a hike", and go looking for 'em!

You will find em, they are up there somewhere!

Good Hunting!

Rudy

Point to ponder: I have often wondered if the waters here are "different" from those in North East Texas. I have spent a considerable amount of time on the lakes around Abilene and fish just dont seem to be where they are "supposed" to be. It seems to be feast or famine. I have fished some DFW area lakes and even Brownwood and if you fish drop offs, stumps, brush ect. you will usually "acidentally" catch somthing. Not always the case in Phantom or Kirby. By comparison our area lakes are old, relatively shallow, heavily stained and prone to large fluctuations and creeks hold and flow water only when it rains. I have always heard that 90% of the fish use 10% of the water. Is it possible that they use less than 10% in some bodies? What do you think?

I think your right about the small% of water used on the creeks.Im not talking about the creeks with the lakes atached, Just the creeks with long non flowing water holes. While its dry like it is now and the creeks are not flowing the fish seem to hold to certain areas. When the Rain hits and the creeks go to flowing then everything changes.