Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry
Time: 6:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry
Time: 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Cedar Creek Reservoir
Time: 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Air Temperature: 81 - 95 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 83 degrees
Lake Level: 580.74
Weather Conditions: Sunny - Hot. Winds SSE 5-11 mph.
Last fall at a wedding, Lance and I talked about getting together to fish one day this year. He came down with the family and after a short discussion, we decided to try something I've never done - Summer Time Crappie.
I must admit, I'm a crappie idealist. I fish when they are very patternable and predictable. That's what makes the winter and spring bite so attractive. I usually catfish all summer long, but crappie have to eat and they can be caught all year long if you know how they behave, where to look, and how to fish them. I'm definitely not a summer crappie expert, but I was up for the challenge.
It's a long drive out to Cedar Creek, so we didn't get on the water until close to 8:30 AM. Out of simple curiosity, I started out in a couple shallow spots I normally fish during the spawn. I didn't expect to get bites, but crappie follow the bait fish and bait fish relate to structure and will go shallow. However, no bites, as expected.
Pretty quickly, we defaulted back to classic summer approach: Finding fish over submerged structure just off of drop off areas and underwater features. We set up in 12-14 FOW over some marked structure and turned the LiveScope on. There were crappie hanging on there like ornaments on a tree. We went after them with a single pole, single jig approach vertical fishing. They were particularly suspended in about 8 FOW in and above the structure. The fish immediately showed interest, but were very finicky to approach and slow to commit to the bite. However, with a slow presentation and a little patience, we hooked up on the fish. They didn't seem to favor any one color over another. They were picky in general, but I'd say we caught a fair even amount on white/chartreuse, orange/black, red/chartreuse, and minnow tipped and untipped.
We fished about 4 marked areas and put about 10 keepers in the boat by lunch. We lost 2-3 top water trying to hoss them into the boat instead of using the net... I knew better, but laziness gets the best of me from time to time 😆.
After lunch, we headed to the far side of the lake to fish some other marked structure, but when we got there, the wind had picked up and shifted in a manner that made vertical jigging next to impossible. We couldn't hold structure or catch any fish, but the water was super clear and we did identify a lot of sunken tree stumps and structure that we marked for next spring's use.
We headed back to re-fish our morning spots, but the heat was brutal and the fish had slowed tremendously in the heat of the day. We pulled about 3 more keepers out and called it a day at 2:30.
We ended up catching 2 channel cats on jigs too. We finished the day with 13 keeper crappie and 2 catfish. Should have had 15-16 keepers had we been using the net.
Although we didn't bring home big numbers, I absolutely would call today a success. I'd never fished crappie in 95 degree heat and 83 degree water, but we found fish and put fish in the boat and learned a lot in the process. Lance and I had a great time fishing and catching up. Hot day, but absolutely worth the effort. Looking forward to doing it again next spring and I'll definitely be more open to summer crappie in the future.
Took a bit of a slow period at work to finally put together that fish cooker I've been planning for the past year. Amazed at the results!
