Berryessa Crappie 3/27

[NCS]

Sorry for the late post, but I managed a few hours on Berryessa with my father-in-law on Monday morning. Was hoping for Clear Lake, but decided to stay close to home with the short break in the weather. I got skunked, but my guest got a handful of quality crappies on white crappie jigs. All fish were 13"+! We found fish staging in spawning bays, scattered around submerged weeds in 12-16'. Water temps were 55-58. The marina docks didn't produce, and I'm still looking for my first crappie on a fly!
Nick

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I got it, indicator them......seriously.

I watched some third world anglers catch them on a breezy day in the Clay Pit Lake when I was a teenager.

They put a bobber ~2 feet above a white crappie jig and tossed it along the shore near lots of brush growing into the water. The chop made the bobber bob and the jig jig. It was fast action.

Actually I worked in 2 sporting good stores and a real live bait-n-tackle shop when I was a young man so we did the Crappie thing every year at this time. Crappie are a beautiful fish especially large ones. I know they get over 3 pounds. We would sell hundreds of what they called "Crappie minnows" that were very small live minnow so the Crappie could get their lips around them.

Some famous places for Crappie are:

Clear Lake - was world famous?

New Hogan - before they put Stripers in there.

Sacramento Slough near Woodland

Lake Berryessa

The Delta

Clay Pit Lake -Greenhaven Lake now in the Pocket area.

I am sure there are many more.

[ryeflyguy]

Hey Bill,

Where is Sacramento Slough? I looked for it on my DeLorme map but couldn't find it.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It is off the river road from West Sac to Woodland on the west side of the river heading north.

I was just looking at it on the Google maps. It is just north of Hwy 80 if you take North Harbor Blvd or the Old River Road from near the new baseball diamond in West Sac along the river north toward Woodland. You can take 'Country Road 126 or 127 which boarder the Sacramento Bypass and the Sacramento Slough is on both sides.

It T-bones into the Yolo bypass north of Hwy 80 and on the east side.



From the Fish Sniffer web site. ~4# from Clear Lake, CA.

My friend Harry Boley who owned West Capitol Rod & Gun in West Sac caught one this big and had it mounted. It is a beautiful fish. (In Sacramento Slough)