Are there any crappie fisherman on here?

[Snake River]

Just wondering if any of you guys out there are fish for ccrappie as we do custom plastic baits .
Www.bobsjigs.com

 

[Snopro]

Just wondering if any of you guys out there are fish for ccrappie as we do custom plastic baits .
Www.bobsjigs.com

Definitely, looking for a 16"er. I think your jigs were in my captain's bags at the BCS. Thanks for supporting the event.

 

[Snake River]

We gladly donate to fishing club or event, gatherings, and so forth. Make sure that you get your request way before the event takes place..

 

[plumbertom]

So where do you find Crappie around the southern Willamette Valley?
I've been looking for years and all I've managed to catch is a few very small crappie.
I'll admit that I'm somewhat spoiled to crappie fishing, having lived at Lake Nascimento on CA's central coast. But You'd still think there would be a few good crappie lakes around here.

 

[Snopro]

How far South? Triangle and Lookout point have some nice crappie.

 

[plumbertom]

How far South? Triangle and Lookout point have some nice crappie.

I never tried Triangle lake. Maybe I should, it's not that far from me. Maybe I'll drag my little boat there and give it a try.
As for Lookout Point, I've had nothing but bad experiences trying to fish there.
Not because of the fishing, I've actually done very little fishing when I went. But because of boat problems and not understanding how the wind works on that lake.
I almost feel as if that place is jinxed for me. LOL

 

[Snake River]

I never tried Triangle lake. Maybe I should, it's not that far from me. Maybe I'll drag my little boat there and give it a try.
As for Lookout Point, I've had nothing but bad experiences trying to fish there.
Not because of the fishing, I've actually done very little fishing when I went. But because of boat problems and not understanding how the wind works on that lake.
I almost feel as if that place is jinxed for me. LOL

Have you fished the upper Willamette River? There are a lot of back water off of it. Also you can travel down to cottage Grove and fish cottage Grove Lake in Dorena Lake in the spring. I used to fish behind the Oaks Park in Portland. Go down the railroad tracks and finish the opposite side of the back water flue. There is a pipe that blows back-and-forth in the spring when the carpet gets through responding the minnows come out of the pipe we caught hundreds of pan fish in front of the pipe. Also, you can contact the Oregon Bass and pan fish club in Portland. They have a website and if you feel like traveling, you can go over to the snake river and fish Brownley reservoir. There are three empowerments. The little Brownlee is Oxbow in below Oxbow. There is hell Canyon.

 

[Snake River]

Also, I forgot to add Lake Oswego if you could find a place to park and fish excellent for spring crappie.

 

[plumbertom]

Have you fished the upper Willamette River? There are a lot of back water off of it. Also you can travel down to cottage Grove and fish cottage Grove Lake in Dorena Lake in the spring. I used to fish behind the Oaks Park in Portland. Go down the railroad tracks and finish the opposite side of the back water flue. There is a pipe that blows back-and-forth in the spring when the carpet gets through responding the minnows come out of the pipe we caught hundreds of pan fish in front of the pipe. Also, you can contact the Oregon Bass and pan fish club in Portland. They have a website and if you feel like traveling, you can go over to the snake river and fish Brownley reservoir. There are three empowerments. The little Brownlee is Oxbow in below Oxbow. There is hell Canyon.

There are no doubt many places where Crappie may be found.
I however am of limited mobility due to my age and physical disabilities.
I'm old, fat, and of poor balance with a very weak left side.
So a lot of places are simply off limits to me.
Mainly I fish places with easy shoreline access very close to parking (walking a long distance or over rip rap is out) or where I can launch and recover my boat (when I can afford the fuel) without a lot of effort.

 

[kemfish]

Lookout is a tough shore fish if you're not agile. Same for Dorena. Freeway lakes has crappie, but really need a boat to reach them.

Triangle, only tiny bit of access at the launch, but there is some habitat available within casting distance. Going to be a lot of bluegills to wade through, plus dealing with the recreational watercraft during summer.
Cottage Grove, maybe off the Wilson Creek ramp when the water is up. Good weeds and a channel not too far out. Think I've caught one under the dock too.
Old timers talk about crappie in Fernridge under the bridges, but no experience with that.

Small boat really opens up fishing options around here. Even moving 50-100yds from the ramps at triangle and cottage grove makes a big difference. If you can row that much safely maybe don't worry about the fuel?

 

[Fummus]

Just wondering if any of you guys out there are fish for ccrappie as we do custom plastic baits .
Www.bobsjigs.com

Ab-so-tiv-ly Pos-so-lut-ly!! SW Oregon.

 

[Fummus]

So where do you find Crappie around the southern Willamette Valley?
I've been looking for years and all I've managed to catch is a few very small crappie.
I'll admit that I'm somewhat spoiled to crappie fishing, having lived at Lake Nascimento on CA's central coast. But You'd still think there would be a few good crappie lakes around here.

Well sir, not sure what you consider "nice", but I've caught a few 13" and 14" crappie out of my home reservoir. Don't keep any under 10" cause I don't like trying to fillet poker chips. DM if you like, or we can just chat here. p.s. Im in Roseburg area.

 

[plumbertom]

Small boat really opens up fishing options around here. Even moving 50-100yds from the ramps at triangle and cottage grove makes a big difference. If you can row that much safely maybe don't worry about the fuel?

My boat, although small in my view (I used to run a 24 ft sport fisher) is still a 16 ft. It's a flat bottom alum with a side console, and although it does have positions for oarlocks rowing it in any way other than emergency just isn't gonna happen. I'm too old to work that hard.
But, I do have a very good bow mount trolling motor that would do just fine on a small lake like Triangle.
All of that aside. The biggest fuel concern for me is my tow vehicle. But even just a short run to local lakes has to be planned for when you are on a limited fixed income.

 

[plumbertom]

I'm happy to keep things somewhat on the QT by using DMs.
Roseburg is a fair drive for me, but not out of the question.
Fern ridge is less than 6 miles from my home to the launch, so I've given it a try a few time.
Even tried fishing at the bridges when I didn't want to drag out the boat.
But only caught a few small 4''-5'' fish and mostly caught carp. Not that carp don't provide a thrill on the light stuff I use for crappie, I just don't care to eat them.

 

[kemfish]

Yeah, I misunderstood where the gas money goes. I should know better with the amount of driving I do to fishing spots. Eugene has access to everything, but its all an hour (or more) away.
Fernridge is the closest lake to me, butI never fish it. Tried it a couple times when I first got to Eugene and got nothing, funny lake to fish I think.
Triangle probably your best bet to actually see a crappie. Lots of smaller fish this year, but they're relatively easy to find in or just outside the weeds. Just go before Memorial Day if you want some peace, wakeboarding and jet skis start at 0830/0900.

 

[troutdude]

@plumbertom if night time fishing is do-able for you, here is an older OFF thread link about fishing at Fern Ridge:

B

Thread 'Fern Ridge Crappie'

Apr 21, 2021

Alright I know someone here has fished Fern Ridge.....this water body ALWAYS baffles me....I don't want Bass....Crappie is my fish of choice....so come on speak up....

• bucketman009
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Others

• 

 

[plumbertom]

Yeah, I misunderstood where the gas money goes. I should know better with the amount of driving I do to fishing spots. Eugene has access to everything, but its all an hour (or more) away.
Fernridge is the closest lake to me, butI never fish it. Tried it a couple times when I first got to Eugene and got nothing, funny lake to fish I think.
Triangle probably your best bet to actually see a crappie. Lots of smaller fish this year, but they're relatively easy to find in or just outside the weeds. Just go before Memorial Day if you want some peace, wakeboarding and jet skis start at 0830/0900.

My understanding of crappie is that they go in 7-year cycles.
They tend to be plentiful at the start of a cycle but small and as their numbers decrease their size increases until they hit that jackpot size.
At that point even though there are still large fish around they aren't enough to deplete the numbers of small fries, so the growth/population cycle starts again.

 

[plumbertom]

I'd need to do some checking about boating at night on Fern Ridge.
I'm not certain it's allowed.
I did, however, recently install nav lights on my boat so it's at least Coast Guard legal.
I also installed some below the Gunnel interior lights to keep light off the water n case I manage to get out to do some striper fishing. Keeping light off the water is also important when catfishing, although the opportunities for cats are very limited here in the upper Willamette Valley.
I'd need to look into a floating light setup, were I going to fish crappie at night.
The light attracts small bait fish, which in turn attracts the crappie.