Crappie at Cave Run Lake

Would really like to go crappie fishing tomorrow at Cave Run. I dont have a ton of crappie fishing experience. Wouldl like some easy instructions to find them in my boat. Havent had the boat that long so I can turn the depth/fish finder on so any complicated directions about would require you to show me lol...I can never find anyone that likes to fish as good as I do so Im on my own. I am experienced enough at fishing however I bass fish from early spring to late fall and know enough t get by and have a good time.

I just want a nice mess to clean and eat. Good size keepers. Was goin to take a buddy of mine with me who knows a little more about it but.....well you know how people are they seem to always find something better to do. So any help out there I actually usually like to put in at Beaver or Long Bow but I am not real familiar with traveling cave run....I can remember as a little girl we caught them at the docks in Scotts Creek but they wont let you fish off the dock anymore :(

Thanks in advance

Also could anyone suggest a good way to find a TRUSTWORTHY fishing buddy. Being female, it is really hard and a little bit scary trying to find someone to just simply go fishing with.....Especially someone that knows a lot about it and is willing to teach me a few things as they go...I am not a NOVICE by any means but still have a lot to learn....It isnt nearly as much fun by yourself when you dont have anyone to shoot the bull with or just simply snag ou out of the water if you were to fall in lol...:) I like to mainly BASS fish but if there is a chance of anything biting I am game. Your suggestions are appreciated...

[QUOTE=FishLikeAGirl36;500648]Would really like to go crappie fishing tomorrow at Cave Run. I dont have a ton of crappie fishing experience. Wouldl like some easy instructions to find them in my boat. Havent had the boat that long so I can turn the depth/fish finder on so any complicated directions about would require you to show me lol...I can never find anyone that likes to fish as good as I do so Im on my own. I am experienced enough at fishing however I bass fish from early spring to late fall and know enough t get by and have a good time.

I just want a nice mess to clean and eat. Good size keepers. Was goin to take a buddy of mine with me who knows a little more about it but.....well you know how people are they seem to always find something better to do. So any help out there I actually usually like to put in at Beaver or Long Bow but I am not real familiar with traveling cave run....I can remember as a little girl we caught them at the docks in Scotts Creek but they wont let you fish off the dock anymore :(

Thanks in advance[/QUOTE]
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Hmmm...... Not sure about this post as I have seen these before from the female population and sometimes they aren't actually someone who is actually interested in fishing info... If you are sincerely a person who enjoys the sport and you stick around, these guys will share their information with you the same as the other board members... I have been fishing caverun in the last month or so, was there tuesday as a matter of fact and we caught several crappie with maybe 10 or 12 of them being in the 9 and 10 inch range, nothing to brag about but dinner if you want to clean them... I have been fishing the buck creek area of the main lake and tuesday I fished the northfork in the poppin rock area... The fish I have been catching in the buck creek area have been suspended 10 or 15 feet deep around flooded trees... Popin rock area they have been holding closer to the bottom in 8 or 10 feet over submerged cover... Most of us aren't too up on giving out specific locations as it might cause a crowding problem on the days we want to go ourselves... If you go. I wish you luck, let us know how your trip turned out, if you are a troll you probably won't get to be very popular here.

Thanks for the tips. Not really sure what you mean about the whole woman claiming to want fishing information thing or the troll thing but either way I appreciate your advice. I trully love to fish. I have fished the poppin rock area but it has been a long time. I just bought a boat back at the end of July :) :) with a real motor that is lol... It is an older boat but it floats and runs so far...I have a small two man with a troller but it was getting a little cramped and I was tired of worrying about getting swamped with a big wave. Since I am very inexperienced it makes me a little nervous taking it out by myself but I have about 10-12 times since July...I am especially nervous when it gets windy cause I have a terrible time keeping the trolling motor going just right so I can fish and not crash into something when the wind gets high. I was trying to watch the weather report for tomorrow and its going to be cool which I dont mind by its the wind that scares me....not really sure how much problems 5-10mph will give me...I read on some other sites about fishing clubs etc...However more often than not I am not taken very seriously by most men even though I am very serious about fishing....Notice I didnt say I was an expert fisherman but I would love to find a club or something so I can learn more than what I already know and possible even fish a few tournaments at some point. Or find someone willing to teach me so I can get better at what I LOVE to do...Ive taught myself a lot and it works for me now but of course we would all like to be more consistent catching fish....If it isnt so windy tomorrow....Im gonna give it a shot...Again I appreciate the adivice...I know basic things about crappie fisihng....I know they generally are found around structure of some kind, brush, a dock etc...Just not really sure the easiest way to find some to catch without running all over the lake and throwing at every set of stumps I find.... do I straight line with a small tube jig....or stick with minnows and a floater....I have small rooster tails will they hit that....I mainly have bass baits...thanks

[QUOTE=FishLikeAGirl36;500672]Thanks for the tips. Not really sure what you mean about the whole woman claiming to want fishing information thing or the troll thing but either way I appreciate your advice. I trully love to fish. I have fished the poppin rock area but it has been a long time. I just bought a boat back at the end of July :) :) with a real motor that is lol... It is an older boat but it floats and runs so far...I have a small two man with a troller but it was getting a little cramped and I was tired of worrying about getting swamped with a big wave. Since I am very inexperienced it makes me a little nervous taking it out by myself but I have about 10-12 times since July...I am especially nervous when it gets windy cause I have a terrible time keeping the trolling motor going just right so I can fish and not crash into something when the wind gets high. I was trying to watch the weather report for tomorrow and its going to be cool which I dont mind by its the wind that scares me....not really sure how much problems 5-10mph will give me...I read on some other sites about fishing clubs etc...However more often than not I am not taken very seriously by most men even though I am very serious about fishing....Notice I didnt say I was an expert fisherman but I would love to find a club or something so I can learn more than what I already know and possible even fish a few tournaments at some point. Or find someone willing to teach me so I can get better at what I LOVE to do...Ive taught myself a lot and it works for me now but of course we would all like to be more consistent catching fish....If it isnt so windy tomorrow....Im gonna give it a shot...Again I appreciate the adivice...I know basic things about crappie fisihng....I know they generally are found around structure of some kind, brush, a dock etc...Just not really sure the easiest way to find some to catch without running all over the lake and throwing at every set of stumps I find.... do I straight line with a small tube jig....or stick with minnows and a floater....I have small rooster tails will they hit that....I mainly have bass baits...thanks[/QUOTE]
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There are several techniques that different folks use, personally I like a minnow and other than in the spring I like straight lining, if you are fishing submerged cover, a fishfinder is almost a necessity to keep you over where you want to fish and it will also show you if there are fish in the area you are fishing, it has helped me more crappie fishing than it did bass fishing... The wind doesn't bother you nearly as much in the popin rock area as it does on the main lake.

It is a bit unusual to run across a lady that fishes by herself, especially from a boat, I have been fishing for a good many years and have run across this only once in that time, not sure why that is as a good many will go with somebody else, just not by themselves or even not with another female.

How did your fishing trip go?
I think you will do just fine if you stay in the Longbow area right now. That place seems to always produce. I would stick with minnows and straight line. You are going to have to locate them and find the correct depth. That can take some time if you dont have a graph or have trouble operating it.

Fishermen always love to see new people join our sport, but don't expect to get much help locating the fish. Everyone has their go to honey hole and they are protective of it. With practice you will locate a few of your own soon.


My advice is to hang around here and become an active member and sooner or later everyone will warm up to you. I would also suggest you join bassboatcentral if you have not already. If you like to bass fish there is days worth of reading and lively conversation nonstop.


Hope things work out for you.

Well lets just say I enjoyed myself lol....even though right when I got there I was checking everything before I launched and when I turned my key on to make sure my fuel pump was kicking on I smelled gas. So I walk around beside the motor and right where it connects to the motor from the fuel line it was pouring the gas. I could wiggle it and almost get it to stop but I would have had to held it constantly. The leak was not in the hose where it clamps but the connector into the motor. Dont know much about it but there is just a little clip you push down and it pops right off and back on but I think I need a new connector. I dont know. I still decided to go out even though I have also been having some problems with my trolling motor. I was there and was fishing....afterall I had already bough bait...lol So I only got to fish about 2 hours just close to the ramp cause my trolling motor only runs about two hours then it will beep several times and kick off...I have asked around and was told it is in the foot control and it is getting hot because by the next day it runs like a new one again. Dont know for sure but if anyone knows an easy fix aside from buying a new one that would be great. Needless to say I really didnt catch anything but I did get to troll around some watchin my fish finder even though I couldnt make much sense of it...

I was there again today, put in at popin rock but couldn't find fish in that area so I ran down to the bangor area and did manage to find a few fish but have been having a tough time finding any quality fish this entire fall season... It seems the smaller crappie that I have found are 10 or 15 feet deep around flooded timber in 20 feet of water or more but again they are 8 or 9 inches... Someone posted they were catching some quality fish in the blackwater area but I haven't ventured up that far, not yet anyway.

fishlikeagirl... If you truly enjoy crappie fishing, hang in there and you will get the bugs worked out of your equipment, as far as your fishfinder goes, if you have a manual for the thing you can get a load of info from it, if not do a search and you might find an online manual for it and learn how to set the functions and it will add a great deal to your crappie fishing success.... I have learned in the last few years that crappie fishing is a whole different ballgame than bass fishing, especially as far as the fishfinder goes... I'm not sure the sonar added a great deal to my bass fishing success but it is invaluable crappie fishing.

I do enjoy fishing of any kind....My favorite is probably bass fishing...Crappie are so much harder to find than I remember lol...My dad always made it look so easy

[QUOTE=FishLikeAGirl36;500994]I do enjoy fishing of any kind....My favorite is probably bass fishing...Crappie are so much harder to find than I remember lol...My dad always made it look so easy[/QUOTE]
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Crappie are actually quite easy to find, not always easy to catch... It was not unusual for me to bass fish several hours and catch just a couple or maybe no bass... After you have spent some time chasing crappie, it will be unusual for you to crappie fish for a day and not at least catch a few fish.... You can just about find crappie with your fishfinder at caverun most any day and I'm guessing other lakes as well, most of the complaints folks have with crappie is with the size fish they are catching... Seldom does a crappie fisherman spend any time fishing and not catch enough fish to be entertaining even if they are a bit under size for dinner.

Caught some nice crappie in 25 ft in the river channel. Use your fishfinder. You know anything about muskie? Just staring to fish for them but dont want to spend a fortune on baits.

[QUOTE=Torpedo1387;501099]Caught some nice crappie in 25 ft in the river channel. Use your fishfinder. You know anything about muskie? Just staring to fish for them but dont want to spend a fortune on baits.[/QUOTE]
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Not sure who you are responding to but I don't chase musky any more, did for a few years many moons ago and am sure it has changed considerably since then... I did notice there were a good many boats returning from the river when we were there the other day but we never ventured out that way, its tough leaving a place where you are catching fish to search for bigger fish when your not too awfully familiar with the territory... I bass fished the river from bangor to blackwater 15 or 20 years ago but have never chased crappie in that area, maybe I need to re-educate myself.