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Go west for crappie PDF Print E-mail
Written by Staff reports   
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Searching for slabs: West Texas lakes have been producing big crappie, and some little-known lakes provide the best action. Photo by David J. Sams.
Searching for slabs: West Texas lakes have been producing big crappie, and some little-known lakes provide the best action. Photo by David J. Sams.
Hot spots dot the landscape in West Texas

More and more crappie anglers are heading west in search of good numbers of big slabs. While many believe East Texas lakes like Toledo Bend, Sam Rayburn and Lake O’ the Pines are the places to go, lakes in the other direction are producing as the cooler water temperatures extend the prime crappie season.

Lake Alan Henry has become famous for its big bass in recent years, but it’s the crappie that bring in a good number of the anglers.

Mike Stafford with Chuck’s Guide Service said the crappie are still spawning, and have been hitting bigger minnows. “We use the bigger bass-fishing minnows,” he said. “The people at the bait shop look at me like I’m crazy, but the crappies have been ignoring the smaller crappie minnows. We really don’t need to use crappie minnows anyway; we have jigs for that.” Stafford said limits of good-sized crappie have been the norm. “Two customers have brought in fish that could have been water body records,” he said. “One was caught at night and the lady didn’t want to wait for the marina to open, and the other lady said she wanted to eat hers.”

At O.H. Ivie Reservoir near Ballinger, Jerry Hunter at Elm Creek Marina said the fishermen are bringing in good catches of crappie, but mostly at night on the main lake. “They are in deeper water,” he said. “But it’s still pretty much a nighttime thing here. Our water temperatures are still 67 to 68 degrees.”

On the other side of the lake, Charlotte at Concho Park agreed that nighttime is crappie time. “They’re chasing whites during the day and crappie at night,” she said.

Some anglers head for little-known Lake J.B. Thomas near Snyder for good numbers mixed with some big crappies. “It’s a flat, turbid lake with low vegetation and most of the population is small,” said Charles Munger, TPW field biologist. “They grow real slow on the lake — it takes four years for a fish to reach 10 inches. But once they get there, they really seem to take off. Guys that work any hard structure like docks, stumps and rocks are doing well.”

In the San Angelo area, the best bites are coming from Twin Buttes Reservoir and Lake Nasworthy. Joe at Field & Stream Sporting Goods in San Angelo said the anglers are tight-lipped on their favorite spots. “They’re catching them though,” he said. “Nasworthy has been good, although it’s tougher on the weekends because there are so many skiers. But we’re sure selling lots of minnows.”

Other lakes reporting good crappie catches include Lake Arrowhead south of Wichita Falls, Lake Brownwood and Greenbelt Reservoir near Clarendon, all on minnows and jigs.
 
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