Barren Crappie?

[crappieking]

Anyone been fishing Barren for crappie lately?

I fished today and only had one keeper. The wind was tough. I caught several dinks a gill and a small bass or two. I tried different depths and threw all I had at them to no or very little avail. Put in at Walnut Creek and the water color was just right.

Should have went yesterday or the day before as they were holding the lake much more then. The clearing skys and winds out of every direction didn't help much either. Beat sitting here though!

Talked to a guy on the way out and he had 9. Said a family member had limited yesterday. Where he was talking about is a GOOD spot. Have caught lots of good crappie out of that spot. Don't know why I didn't go there first. [If I had went there the fish would have been being caught where I DID go today. We all know yesterday limits are much more common than a today limit too.] I had fought the wind all I cared to and had a small technical difficulty as my trolling motor prop had decided to fall off and sink to the bottom. So I gave dude the minners I had left and my one lonely slab and headed for the ramp.

[RICHYD4U]

I live so close to Barren (Bowling Green), and I would love to learn how to fish that lake. I've heard great things about it from people telling me that it is a great crappie, bass, and hybrid lake. I'm going to try and figure it out this year, that's my goal. Do you normally do well crappie fishing there? When is the best time to hit it? I saw that you mentioned Walnut creek, is that usually a good spot to find them in? Thanks. Sorry you didn't have a better day, does beat sitting in front of the computer though!

[crappieking]

I am not sure I would classify it as a great lake for anything. Although at one time it was one of the top catfish lakes in the country according to Field and Stream. I would say a decent lake to fish but great might be over rating it. Now on the weekends I won't even go and I live on the lake. It has WAY too much pressure. I have had people come in and bump boats so they could fish the same stick up. The tournament pressure is rediculous in the summer. Sounds like a race track out there in the early AM.....

I have been fshing it since '71. It used to be much better than it is now but that is pretty much the way everything is. It is a tough lake to learn. The corps is the main thing you have to fight with. It is a flood control lake and they do not care about fishing or fishermen. You will have to learn what the fish do when they are pulling it and what they do when they are holding it. That is probably the main variable here. When they are holding it the fishing is MUCH better. http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/wc/reports/lkreport.html will help.

Where to fish depends on water temps and clarity mostly.

the best time for crappie is in the spring when the pre spawn and spawn are on. {when they don't pull the water off the eggs...and they will} The lake doesn't have all that much cover as they won't let you put trees and such in it for cover except 1 or 2 times a year and then they monitor it.

So with that said...Good luck and stay home on the weekends.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Its not good, but I don't think I'd call it "crappy".

[bereabasser]

Ive never crappie fished it but its my favorite lake in the state other than ky/Barkely for bass...i dont know why people say its no good for anything,ive actually never had a bad trip down there

[RICHYD4U]

Bereabasser-
Sounds like you do well at Barren. Any tips on bass there? Thanks.

-Richyd4u

Ive never crappie fished it but its my favorite lake in the state other than ky/Barkely for bass...i dont know why people say its no good for anything,ive actually never had a bad trip down there

[findingem]

There are some big fish in Barren. I've seen it with my own eyes. Some days are better than others.

[RiverLew]

The crappie are hitting well. 50+ Tuesday. Last Thursday and Friday were good also. Saturday stunk and was slow and we oly caught 10 or so, but it may have been I was fishing way over them. They were shallow on Thursday and Friday then were deep Monday and Tuesday. Cold front! 2ft - 19ft.

RiverLew

[E-man]

riverlew 50
I,ll get the grease hot

[RiverLew]

riverlew 50
I,ll get the grease hot

Too late for about half of them. The other half of the crappie we kept are in the freezer.

Good Fishin',
RiverLew

[RICHYD4U]

RiverLew-
Sounds like you are the man for catching crappie at Barren. Could you help a brother out and give me a few pointers. Not looking for exacts, don't want to intrude, just some tips. Would really like to learn since I live so close. Thanks.

-Richyd4u

The crappie are hitting well. 50+ Tuesday. Last Thursday and Friday were good also. Saturday stunk and was slow and we oly caught 10 or so, but it may have been I was fishing way over them. They were shallow on Thursday and Friday then were deep Monday and Tuesday. Cold front! 2ft - 19ft.

RiverLew

[RiverLew]

RiverLew-
Sounds like you are the man for catching crappie at Barren. Could you help a brother out and give me a few pointers. Not looking for exacts, don't want to intrude, just some tips. Would really like to learn since I live so close. Thanks.

-Richyd4u

The crappie just happen to be where I stopped. They are full of eggs and they want warm water to spawn. The dark rocks and wood seem to warm first and warm rains send the temps in the creeks up first. So I always put 2 and 2 together and go up the creeks and find some dark cover that will attract sun rays and radiate warmth into the water. Fifty plus years of fishing. When a cold front comes in, they will drop off the first drop and hold there until they feel warmth again. When they feel warm water then they will be in two foot again. When they are in two feet EVERYONE is catching and you may not get to choose where you fish. (unless you are rude)

After the cold front Saturday I tried to catch them in shallow water (like a dummie) with no success, then I backed off to 19 feet drops and HEY there they were. They were not as eager as they were in 2 feet but they liked minnows on blue tubes, slowly but surely.
My dad always told me some times you don't want to go out for a hamburger, but if someone puts a pizza in front of you in your easy chair, you might just eat it. I think the crappie are the same way.

Good fishin',

RiverLew