How to catch crappie on Lake Fork




Seventeen people attended the July Williams Creek Crappie Club meeting, a relatively new group dedicated to promoting the art of catching crappie on Lake Fork. John Bordas and George Durham signed on as new members. Gary Breedlove signed up at the July Swap meet. Pro crappie guide, Brad Williams shared some of his fishing secrets. Williams Creek Crappie Club just formed this year and has 24 members. "We are not pros or anything, just fishermen," says Danny Kemp, club president. "There are a lot of guys who like to crappie fish, but they don't know how to catch them all year. They think the only time you can catch crappie is in the spring." Crappie can be caught right now in the heat of the summer if you know where to look and how to fish for them. Kemp says on Lake Fork the fish are in anywhere from 17 -25 ft. of water. "Action can be slow because of the heat," cautions Kemp. "The majority of the crappie anglers now are using minnows because of the swelter, but there are some anglers using jigs." Is the size of the minnow important? Not really, according to Kemp. "Size of the minnows really plays to where we buy our minnows, what they have. Right now they have smaller minnows. Last Sunday we went out and caught 20 crappie, the biggest fish measuring 14 inches in length. The fish now are averaging anywhere from 10 to 14 inches." You can fish the trees at this time of the year and get maybe one or two fish off each tree, but you can catch more fish if you can find a brush pile. Next Williams Creek Crappie Club meeting is Aug. 10 at the Oak Ridge Restaurant. Guest speaker will be Mathew Carroll from Jigum Jigs. "At some time we will have crappie tournaments, but the goal now is to educate anglers how to catch the fish. A Crappie Academy is on the calendar for November, a 3 day event including taking new anglers out on the water and teaching them how catch crappie in the winter. For more information go to the Club's website, williamscreekcrappieclub.com. Photo: The Williams Creek Crappie Club signed up two new members at the July meeting.




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Lake Fork Weather Forecast

Wednesday

Chance Thunderstorms

Hi: 93

Wednesday Night

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Lo: 73

Thursday

Slight Chance Thunderstorms

Hi: 95

Thursday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 75

Friday

Mostly Sunny

Hi: 93

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Lo: 73

Saturday

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Saturday Night

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Lake Fork

Fishing Report from TPWD (Jul. 9)

GOOD. Water Stained; 82 degrees; 0.23 feet above pool. Fork : Top waters early around pond weed and grass with frogs and poppers still working . Mid morning chatter baits on the outside edge of grass in 3-5 ft is good as well as shaky heads . Best bite is Carolina rigs off shore on points , road beds and humps in 12-25 ft . Big worms and flukes are good . Deep Cranks are good over the same area when the fish are suspending 19-23 ft . Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Lily fields are filling in, hydrilla and milfoil are reaching for the surface. Fish this type of cover at mid day when bass are seeking cover. Frog patterns are working in the shallow vegetation early and late. Small fish patterns like a dock knocker are producing bass and crappie shallow near grass. Large bream have moved shallow, wooly buggers are producing good fish. Channel catfish are cruising 2-4 feet biting clousers. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Lake Fork crappie fishing has been super up and down this past week. The fish are stacked up on brush piles, lay downs, tire reefs and some trees. The bite is the tricky part. Some days the bite is good and the bigger fish show up. Some days the bite is just off and the short fish show up. Seems like the bite may be better on days we have a little breeze. If the winds are calm the bite is very slow. Minnows will get some bites but small 1/32nd ounce hand tied jigs with small bodies and tails are working well on fish that don’t want to bite. Best depths have been 18-13ft with most fish suspended on trees and loaded in the brush. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

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