Slabs upon Slabs - Ending it Right.

Cedar Creek Reservoir

Time: 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Air Temperature: 63 - 80 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 68 degrees
Lake Level: 580.24
Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny, perfect.  Winds  S 7-15 mph. Manageable.

I started out today thinking this could be my final spring crappie fishing trip and I can report it will be.  I'll be going out on a high note!

After blanking out and producing a big goose egg on my first two stops of the morning (old boat dock bay near Britton Bride landing and the creek under the bridge on the next southern bay), I had my doubts to the morning.  I had put in a solid hour with zero bites.

I moved to the willow tree on the east side of the Britton Bridge levee at 9:00 and immediately began pulling in SLABS! I was amazed at how many fish this tree was holding.  I think I probably caught 12-15 out of it back to back in my first pass.  I fished the little bay behind it and then moved on along the southern shores fishing typical spots and caught fish everywhere.  I also had particularly good luck in the 2nd southern bay past the levee.  I don't fish this one often, but the same fallen log where my Dad and Ronnie had good luck produced well again today.  

I fished the other southern shore areas that had produced well this year and caught steady fish in every one.  After lunch, I went back up to the willow tree and started over and consistently pulled fish out of the levee area again.

At 2:00, I caught my limit.  Technically, I didn't want to stop, so I threw the smallest crappie from my livewell back and caught one more to replace it.  I think this is my first time every culling crappie!  The fishing was so good today, once I started catching, I averaged a keeper every 10 minutes for 5 straight hours.  I ended the day by catching 31 big enough to measure and kept 30 of them for my limit.

Today's fish were BIG.  I caught 4 fish over 14 inches weighing in at up to 1.5 pounds.  

I had a fantastic spring crappie fishing and was happy to have gotten to share it with all my guests.  A big thanks to my Dad Ronny Watkins, Ronnie Pierce, Doug and Douglas Ainsworth, Kyle Macomber, James Harris, and Cameron McDonald for all making time to spend a day fishing with me this spring.  You guys truly made it more enjoyable and we will catch up again next season.