Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Air Temperature: 59 degrees AM - 79 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 66 - 74 degrees
Lake Level: 581.25' - A bit high for conditions.
Weather Conditions: Moderate Winds from South. Sunny.

Today was a first... I've been crappie fishing for about 25 years and today was the first day I've ever caught my limit (30 fish) of crappie.

I fished same as the past 3-4 trips to Cedar Creek.  Concentrated on the same locations of tree tops, brush piles, log jams, etc on the shallow banks in bays and pockets.  Launched boat on the S.E. ramp by the bridge and started by heading straight out front to the north bay and fished log jams.  Immediately began catching crappie.  Also caught one catfish there in the bay.  Fished with minnows under a bobber about 2' to 4' deep.  Water was high, so it made fishing some of normal spots a bit challenging.  

Moved over to the largest north bay where the other boat ramp is and fished the east pockets.  Caught good fish there too.  Then moved over the the large bay and creek area to the west on the north side of the lake and fished my normal pockets and tree tops and log jams.  Caught good fish there too and one large bluegill.  Then moved out to western most set of bays near the dam.  Caught fish there too on the west side of that bay.  Did not catch anything on the beaver dam, but wind was starting to get up.  

Fished the log jam back in the middle bay by the road on the way back and picked up a couple more fish.  Then headed back towards the truck but decided to stop and fish the first bay that I had started in that morning.  Caught a couple more, but winds were getting up.  Had a conversation with another boat and they made the comment that some people had reported catching good fish to the east of the bridge.  I had never fished over there, but that would likely get me out of the wind.  I had about 25 crappie in the boat at this point and decided to spend the last 30 minutes past the bridge on the south shore to keep out of the wind. 

Started by fishing the log jam, but the area was very shallow.  I had passed up a green tree submerged under the water by the road levee on my way in the area, but decided to fish it on my way out.  Good idea!!  The tree was in 5' of water.  I immediately began catching crappie.  After catching about 5 more, I decided I better stop and count fish.  I had already thrown back the catfish and bluegill, so all the fish in the well were crappie.  I moved fish from the front well to the back and counted.  30 fish on the money!!  It was straight up 5:00, so I packed it in.  I had also thrown back 2-3 short fish today.

An older gentleman nearly 80 years old approached me at the landing and asked me how I did.  He was very surprised when I told him I had caught my limit.  He said, "How did you do that??"  He said him and his wife only caught 1 crappie and a couple bass.    I have been out-fished by these old locals all my life.  It was nice to be the one catching fish for a change! 

I cleaned the fish when I got home.  Ended up with just over 5 lbs of dressed fillets.  Several of the females still had eggs much to my surprise.  Makes me think last year I gave up on the spawn too early and assumed it was over when I should have been fishing tree tops instead of submerged beds and brush.  I suppose you live and learn...

Overall, this was the best day I've ever had crappie fishing.  Sure hope I can repeat it in the future!

 

  

 

 

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Air Temperature: 54 degrees AM - 75 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 70 - 74 degrees
Lake Level: 580.06'
Weather Conditions:  Moderate Winds from W to SW. Mostly Sunny.

Fished for crappie with Jessica today on Cedar Creek.  As I have learned, there is no sense in getting there super early, so we got there about 9:30 AM. Concerned that spawn should already be early, but this year's odd weather patterns suggest conditions are still right for the spawn.

We launched on the north landing in the center of the lake and started our day by heading west to the next large bay.  We kept with the same spawn tactics I've been using over the past couple of successful trips and we concentrated on fishing shallow brush: fallen tree tops, man-made  brush piles, log jams, beaver dams, etc.  We fished in 2' to 6' of water with a bobber and minnows.

Pretty successful immediately on the first top, but wind made it very difficult.  Quickly picked up 2-3 before we had to find better cover from the wind.  The bay by the road produced in the log jams.  Kept "quick fishing" areas and moved on pretty quickly when we didn't have much luck in 10-15 minutes.  Had pretty good success just about everywhere we stopped on the west side.
Late afternoon, we headed to east end of the lake to the north bay where before the bridge.  Continued to pick up a few fish.  Moved to the big bay in the center on our way back to the truck and stopped and fished a couple of new pockets on the east side.  Had success there too!

Ended our day with 20 keeper sized crappie and threw one short back.  Also caught a largemouth and a pumpkin seed.  Overall, very good day!! Looks as if they are still on beds.  Did see a couple dying crappie that suggest they may be spawning out.

Cleaned fish. 3+ lbs of fillets.  Several (5-6) still holding eggs.  Late spawn this season.

 

Location: Bent Pine Pocket - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 4:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Air Temperature: 60's afternoon
Water Temperature: 64 degrees
Lake Level: 554.28' - A little low for the area
Weather Conditions: Bad Windy - 15+ mph. Partly Sunny.

Fished today with Jessica after work. After having luck this past weekend with crappie in the bushes, I was curious if we could catch any in Bent Pine. It was so windy, we couldn't have fished anywhere else. No crappie today. Lake is still a little low to get into the bay shallows. Did catch a couple of largemouth and 4-5 very big bluegill on jigs. Try again when the water get up.

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Air Temperature: 55-68 Degrees
Water Temperature: 60-64 degrees
Lake Level: 578.87'
Weather Conditions: Light 0-6 MPH

Took a day off of work and fished solo today.  Water temperature and lake level were perfect.  From experience at Cedar Creek, I've learned the crappie really don't begin to bite until around 9-10 AM, so no since in getting here so early. 

I put in at the east boat landing today and rode down to the west bay and fished the small pockets.  I specifically concentrated on brush today.  I began catching crappie pretty quickly in tree tops with minnows under a bobber in 2' to 6' of water.  I realized after a while that some of the brush I didn't have luck with early in the day was because I was fishing too shallow on my slip float.  I went back over the deep brush fishing deeper (8') and caught some fish.  Most of the larger fish were caught deeper.

The successful pattern today was to catch 2-4 fish in a bush and then move on.  I was very successful in the west bays and pockets.  I picked up 2-4 more in pocked around the big boat landing bay.  I moved east towards the launch and fished the bay near the bridge and pump station on the north shore. I picked up 2-4 more there. 

Finished the day with 24 keeper crappie and threw back 2-4 shorts.  I caught a few yellow bass and largemouth.  Excellent day, perfect conditions!!

I cleaned the fish and ended up with 4 lbs of dressed fillets.  About 2/3 were females and eggs were milky.  Males were colored back with spawn colors.  Eggs seemed to be ready to release.

 

 

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 7:45 AM - 5:00 PM
Air Temperature: Cold - 30 degrees in AM - 50 degree high
Water Temperature: 59 Degrees
Lake Level: 578.91
Weather Conditions: 6-8 MPH

Fished with Doug and Douglas Ainsworth today.  We used the same tactics as Doug and I did on 3-30-18, but started on the gravel shore immediately.  It was slow here and the fish were not on the bank like they were a few days ago, but the water also came up about 2 feet.  There is much more water in the bushed and brush now.  

We moved on and fished the north shore back towards the dam and picked up a few in pockets around brush, tree tops, dead snags, beaver dams, and log jams.  We were picking up more fish in the brush than we were last week.  We caught 4-5 more bass and a couple of short crappie.  

We fished 2' to 6' deep in 3' to 8' of water with minnows under a cork.  Ended up keeping 11 crappie total.  Good day.  Fish are either in a pre-spawn or early spawn pattern.  

 

Location: Flint Creek - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 7 AM - 11 AM
Air Temperature:
Water Temperature: 57 degrees
Lake Level: 554.32'
Weather Conditions: Windy.  9-12 MPH

Zero fish today.  Combination of wind and opposing currents made it very tough.  The water level is still a couple of feet short of where it needs to be to catch fish in here and in the brush.