Crappie Cover? Need Advice.

[Siskiyou]

In the past I have had very good luck fishing for Crappie in a man made lake (warm water) with the old timber still standing in the lake.  I am a "challenged" Crappie fisherman.  This weekend I am taking son and grandson fishing in a rather clean lake that does contain Crappie.  The water level has dropped approximately 50 feet out of the brushline.  Leaving behind the best cover.  Based on what I can see between the waterline and the brush line some areas contain a fair population of old stumps with exposed root systems.  I am making the assumption that this area below the waterline will be holding Crappie.
When returning to the boat ramp the other day I made a scouting trip into this cove.  The fishfinder indicated a fair population of fish in the 30-50 foot range.  I did not drop a line because the grandkids were ready for a on shore adventure, having caught Kokanee earlier.

The surface water temperature is running about 72 degrees but will start climbing.  This is rather clear lake which is filled with snow run-off from the high country.  I have never caught a crappie in this lake.  I plan on fishing with jigs and plastic grubs.  I have spent many hours on this lake fishing for trout and kokanee.  At best I am a newbe to crappie fishing.

I understand the ideal bait is minnows, but I am not geared up to catch them and there are no bait shops around with live minnows.  How do the dead factory packed minnows work out?  I have a sometime fishing partner from the Mid West who has a minnow trap.  I suspect that one of these days I will invite him to try it, but this weekend is for the grandson.

I should note that this lake drops off rather quickly.  According to the fishfinder the bottom is around 450 feet.  Any ideas or suggestions.

[myronman3]

how old is your grandson?  crappies are sooo finicky.   were it me i would go for bluegills, bream, or sunfish (call em what you want, they are the same fish).  they are a whole lot easier to catch; more fun for a young guy.   crappies are just too finicky and i usually can only count on catching them when they are spawning or when i get into them by luck.  especially if you dont have live minnows to offer.    if you are set on crappie,  go for small soft plastic minnow imiatations on a jig.  cast out, let it sink to your depth and retrieve nice and slow, a steady retrieve.   here is a link to give you an idea how to rig it and the type of soft plastic to look for.  it isnt the brand i use, but it is super close.  the closest i could find to post.  
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jhtml?id=0025683&navAction=push&navCount=6&indexId=cat600387&parentId=cat600387&parentType=index&rid=&cmCat=MainCatcat20166&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fpod-link.jhtml.4_A&_DAV=http%3A%2F%2Fa1460.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1460%2F1339%2F6h%2Fwww.cabelas.com%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcontent%2FPod%2F02%2F56%2F83%2Fp025683ii01.jpg

[Siskiyou]

Blue gills and Red Ear are present.  The population is down from what it was at one time.  The water agency has spents a lot of money removing
 logs, stumps, and other floating debris out of the lake.  I guess this keeps the water skiers from suing.  But it hurts the fish habitat.

I must admit that having the boat take a ride on a submerged log was not fun.

The grandson is going on 15.  He prefers to fish from land then the boat.  But he is happy operating the boat so that I can fish.  He had to admit that he was excited about the kokanee salmon he caught earlier this week.  The plan is two fold.  I will take them to feed streams on  the far side of the lake and they will fish feeder streams.  And later they will fish out of the boat.  In turn I will fish near by coves.  This gives him an opportunity to experience another type of fishing.  

I believe I hooked my son on stream fishing years ago when we fished streams coming out of a wilderness.  We got away from the trail.  Climbed down steep bluffs and fished pools below waterfalls catching nice rainbows and browns.  I suspect this has influence their not wanting to be confined to the interior of a boat for the day.

I know there were nice crappie in the lake.  Some years back while waiting for the military to dispose of a bomb we watched the crappie feed under the moon light in that area.  I have checked and night fishing is not allowed.  I believe the crappie are not targeted by most fishermen here.  Most are out for bass and kokanee.  

My friend with the bait trap is from Wisconsin and his method is using minnows.  I plan on getting him out there with his minnow trap in a few weeks and see what I learn.

[myronman3]

those plastic minnows work for trolling  as well.  nice and slow is the key.  most jigs and up and down jigging motion is combined with the retrieve.  not these.  nice and steady and slow; kind of like using a spinner.   good luck.

[Siskiyou]

Just go back from fishing.  Had a great day.  Kept on catching bass all morning.  Nothing big, but fun.

Caught a big, I do not know what.  At first I thought it was a nice Crappie, but I doubt it.  I have caught a lot of blue gills and red ear perch.  Maybe this guy was a Green Sunfish.  It was deep like a good crappie, but the fins just below the gills were "black."  It was gold below the mouth and front of the chest.   The main body was greenish, with marking like a crappie.

We released all we caught.  There is a caution out on eating sunfish/bass because of the mercury run-off from the old gold mines.  The son and grandson had used all their foil the night before cooking the Kokanee Salmon we had caught earlier.  They can enjoy their camp-out, I will get enough sleeping bag time as the season rolls on.

Grandpa returned home to sleep in his bed.  Last night they were driven into their vehicle to eat dinner by the mosquitoes. :blaster: