I need your help lady's and gents. I have promised to take my son(12) and daughter(14)crappie fishing this weekend but I am not sure what lake would be our best bet. I am an avid bass fisherman but am clueless when it comes to catching crappie. I will be fishing out of my bass boat with good electronics so finding brush piles etc should not be an issue and we plan on using minnows. So here are a few questions I had:

1. What lake should we try?
2. Is it better at night or day?
3. Will 17lb mono line work or do I need to downsize?
4. What size/kind of minnow hooks work the best?

Any information you care to share will be greatly appreciated.

1. Lewisville, or Texoma would be probably the best bet. Ray Roberts has too many dinks. Lavon is also a good lake too. Descent numbers and descent sized fish.

2. I like fishing in the mornings. Just because that's when I get to go.

3. Downsize to at least 10lb but 6 or 8 would be better.

4. #2 hook works just fine. I use jigs normally though and leave the minnows at home but if you are using minnows, you can sit ontop of the large COE piles at Ray Roberts and have some fun fishing those. Easy to find and lots of action just not many keepers. But with young kids, who cares if you are keeping as long as they are entertained.

Almost forgot, I don't mind driving for a couple of hours if needed. I am thinking about Fork, RR, Lewisville, Texoma, Coffee Mill, Bonham, etc..

Well then Cedar Creek, Cypress Springs, or Fork.

Don't forget the jar of Berkley Crappie Nibbles should you go with tube jigs and good luck. I like the morning myself.

Thanks for the tips. I will report back later this weekend. Thinking about Fork since I know a few spots already. Thanks again!

Well the kids decided that swimming in the pool was a better idea so I ended up taking my neighbor. We went to RR and fished the CE brush piles from 2:30 till 5:30. We caught 40+ fish but only 8 keepers. Unbelievable how many 9.75" we caught. Here was the biggun of the trip. 15.3" 2.09lbs. So what is a 2lb crappie compared to a bass? 2lbs crappie = 5lb bass? Sorry, I am somewhat photo impaired.

That's a heck of a crappie. Usually don't see many that size.

Nice.... Did you use live bait or jigs?

Live minnows in apprx 25'. Over the 30' corp brush piles.

Nice summer crappie indeed!

good fish ....

so anyway
we catch them well throughout the day ....
12 foot deep with the bait
any lake any structure in 20 feet or so of water .....
sometimes as deep as 14 or 15 on the bait
the depth is critical ! watch your graph.....
and .....with kids i would fish minnows .....
light line works well but with kids i would stay heavy and use light leaders .....number 4 wire crappie hook
ANY deep water structure .....bridges , old timber , brush piles etc etc .....
go get em ......these tips WILL "ketch" u sum fish
i hear lavon and cedar creek are loaded up with em...