Cedar creek lake

Was looking to go fish cedar creek and fish either kings creek or Lacey creek on monday and tuesday. Are the crappie up in there right now. Any info would be greatley apreciated. Also wouldnt mind snagging into some white bass if they are there.

people were lined up on the banks off the feeder creeks when I drove through there 2 weeks ago. I could see the bobbers in the water and minnow buckets-doubt they were fishing for whites. I would think it's on! I'll be watching for your pictures .

Fished there yesterday, fish are shallow staging close to spawning areas. They are full of eggs and are fixin to Spawn with this next full moon. Water temps were 62 to 64. Kind of a late spawn for cedar creek.

White bass need some rain to get up into the creeks

Quite a few fishing the bank on HWY 175 and the King's Creek bridge on 274 week. Both places great for the crappie spawn.

Were there cars parked on the side of the highway? Heard cars were being ticketed for parking there on 175.

I don't fish creeks, mainly because I have a boat docked on CC and it's just simpler to fish the main lake. I've been out 4 times in the last 10 days and the most productive spots have been pre-spawn spots for crappie on points in 20 FOW. The bigger fish that I've caught still have eggs (or appear to, I don't keep them this time of year). From what I hear, it's a later than usual spawn. The water temperature has really only just recently settled in the 60s. Earlier this week I scanned the back of a good spawning cove and only found a few crappie in the middle in shallow water but maybe the creeks are loaded, can't really comment on that.

I know everyone talks about how good fishing is in the spring but Jan - March is my least favorite time to fish. I guess that is a good sign for people that love to creek fish. Personally, I can't wait for all the fish to return to the main lake. From late April through July I can go out and catch limits of either crappie or sandbass fairly easily just scanning humps (for sandies/hybrids) and brush piles for crappie. Right now I can go out and catch 15 in a couple hours on pre/post spawn spots but half of them are dinks.

nothing under the docks yet Ron?

how do they know which full moon to spawn on? and how do they hold the eggs in until the correct full moon event occurs?
after that how do they know if the moon will be exposed and bright or obscured by heavy upper atmosphere cloud cover?
does the gravitational pull from the moon assist in the eggs coming out? are they using the moonlight for navigation ?
I have heard this full moon spawn event theory for decades, but nobody has ever explained the science behind it.
I would love to hear your reasoning for belief in this ? thanks

Not the ones I checked, at least not bunched up enough to get me to spend time on them.

I went out for a quick 1 hour trip at 11am this morning and found the best fish in 15 FOW instead of 20 FOW . Caught 11 in just over an hour, only 1 was a dink. This 14.5" 1.89 lber didn't appear to have eggs. Will probably head back out this afternoon and check some other spots after I get my ribs on the smoker.

Here's a scientific explanation of how a full moon triggers spawning in some fish. Not crappie specific but does explain the mechanisms in some species:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278727297_Lunar_Clock_in_Fish_Reproduction

For fish to reproduce they have to key in on some environmental triggers for synchronizing male and female responsibilities.

Thanks Ron. A lot there for simple minds to comprehend.

Here's another article about moon phase and the spawn.
https://www.gameandfishmag.com/editorial/fishing_crappies-panfish-fishing_gf_aa056603a/245336

I believe bream, bass, crappie are all sunfish species and have many of the same traits like spawning.

When I was a teenager back in the 70s my dad would take me crappie fishing from late March thru Easter weekend and we would catch em, up untill Easter weekend. We would go after that but it was non roductive as they would be spawned out and we're not biting as good. We didn't have water temp gauges, as he said its time, some times it would be over early April, sometimes late April, I remember on several occasions after Easter it was over. Easter can fall as early on March 31st or late like it is this year. It falls on the third full moon of the year, The further east and south you go the warmer the water temps are, so it seems they spawn earlier that way. Three years ago we hit fork and got on them one week. The next week they were gone. It's probably all about water temp, but if you live eat and breath by the full moon the way my grand parents did it worked. Another full moon story I hold on to is. Catfish don't bite around the full moon. I've been skunked or had terrible fishing days for catfish around the full moon.

Stick and move move and stick. I think 2 more weeks and the last wave of the spawn is over. Then it’s fun times for tge month of May slaying them on the docks dock shooting and shallow timber along with brush piles. Go Get Em !

I was out there Friday and caught 40 plus keepers dock shooting in half a day. Caught a couple that were post spawn but majority had not spawned yet. Water was 59 in the morning. I was really limited with the wind but once I found what to look for, the bite was on. About 40 percent of the docks out there have fish. Just have to know which ones to pass up and which ones are good.

Yes sir !! There today gone tomorrow got to know what docks are holding that’s some what true. But you left out once those certain docks are well known of holding the fish they start to get a lot of pressure and the catching becomes slim to none even furring the spawn. Example : the creeks we was slaying the crappie in folks learned about it and was following/ pot lickers coming as the banks we was catching on went to slim to none from the pressure. So the best part of your story was you have to move around and basically find fish that hasn’t been hit on that certain dock or for example we went way back in some creeks where no one was fishing it and found a mother load.

I don’t know about pressure being bad for the well known good docks. I went behind someone on on e dock and wore them out. Most struggle to shoot docks effectively. Have to shoot 30-40 ft back on some and sometimes they are all around one post. I fish a lot of the same ones year after year but added several this year that held them good and I had never fished them. Who knows if they are good docks or not but if they are good they should replenish

Docks on points are definitely getting hammered right now. Yesterday on CC my son-in-law and I were fishing brush piles about 50 yards from a dock on a point that gets a lot of pressure. We were pulling in fish after fish for about 15 minutes. A boat was fishing the dock and I only saw them catch 2 fish.

Anthony's video on CC shows just how productive dock fishing can be but I prefer to fish brush piles because it's easier -- especially for my guests. I suppose if I were fishing from a bass boat it might not be as hard but from a pontoon boat it's a bit tedious to shoot docks.

The brush piles are really heating up now. There are huge post spawn schools building up on brush piles in 12 to 20 FOW. My son-in-law and I caught 32 yesterday and 29 the day before -- each trip was less than 2 hours long.

I went out from 4 - 6pm yesterday and caught 34 on brush in 10 - 12 FOW. Also of note on CC, the shad spawn has started to some extent. Starting to see fish hitting the shad at dawn along my sea wall.