Paddlers catch creek-arm crappie at Beaver Lake

Jigs worked to catch crappie in this file photo.
Jigs worked to catch crappie in this file photo.

Up a creek, but with a paddle, is a good thing when the crappie are biting.

Pine Creek Hollow is a hot spot for crappie on the south end of Beaver Lake during spring. Compared to other creek arms at the big lake, Pine Creek Hollow is small and perfect for exploring by canoe or kayak. Crappie can be eager to bite, as Jon Stein of Garfield found out during an afternoon canoe outing in mid-May.

Stein and his fishing buddy didn't burn a drop of gas catching a fine mess of crappie on the overcast afternoon. Conditions were perfect for fishing and paddling. Occasional puffs of 70-degree breeze rippled water of this scenic hollow.

Now and then, Stein catches 'em with electricity during electro-fishing research as part of his job as a fisheries biologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. He and co-worker Kevin Hopkins manage the fishery at Beaver and other Northwest Arkansas lakes and streams.

Electro-fishing uses low voltage to stun fish around the boat. They're netted, measured and released unharmed.

Boost for redear at Beaver Lake

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is raising redear sunfish this spring and summer in the Beaver Lake nursery pond.

Raising redear will give a boost to the redear population already in the lake. The thousands of redear being raised will be released into Beaver Lake this spring, said Jon Stein, a fisheries biologist with Game and Fish.

Source: Staff report

When he's off duty, Stein is an enthusiastic angler, especially for springtime crappie.

Beaver Lake was full to the brim, near the top of flood pool, after another substantial rain. The fishing partners paddled their way through a log jam in the back of Pine Creek Hollow to reach fishable water.

Stein expected to find a muddy lake because of the rain, but creek arms off the main lake are clearer. Here the warming water had a nice stain to it. The biologist was eager to try some new crappie lures in his tackle box.

Right off the bat, Stein started yanking crappie after crappie with a Slab Buster tube jig fresh out of the bag. Crappie ambushed the little lure from bushes and lay-down trees along a steep shoreline.

Only one problem. "Looks like the little guys are biting today," Stein said, tossing another 8-inch crappie back into the lake. Crappie must be 10 inches or longer to keep at Beaver Lake. The daily limit is 15.

The farther down the creek arm Stein paddled, the bigger the crappie got until he landed his first keeper. Into an ice chest it went. Delicious crappie are the fish of catch and eat, not catch and release.

Gentle paddle strokes moved the aluminum canoe to a sight that would excite any crappie fanatic. Here in a garage-sized pocket of water was the mother of all lay-down trees. The fallen white oak tree had a trunk thick as a burn barrel.

Stein kept the canoe 15 yards from shore and worked his jig 6 feet deep over the lay-down.

"I'll bet the crown of that tree comes out so far it's right under this canoe," he said. The tumbled oak tree gave up two 11-inch crappie.

Now Stein was winching in keepers, but his buddy wasn't doing so hot with a curly-tailed grub. Back in the tackle box it went, to be replaced by a jig with a funny name that started getting bites. A Shinee Hinee, made by Arkie Lures in Springdale, saved the day.

The Shinee Hinee tempted crappie with a black body and chartreuse tail. A length of silver tinsel on the jig is a trademark of the Shinee Hinee.

Nowadays Arkie sells a smaller version, the Tinee Hinee, and a larger Big Hinee.

Prospecting for crappie by canoe proved a success. Eight keepers 10 to 13 inches finned in the canoe's little live well.

"The crappie population is Beaver is really good right now," Stein said while the pair cleaned their catch. "We did our elecrto-fishing studies for black bass a few weeks ago and shocked up a lot of crappie. We don't record data on crappie, but the numbers were impressive."

Not only that, crappie can be scarce on the north end of Beaver Lake near the dam. Electro-fishing turned up good numbers of crappie on the north end this spring, Stein said.

A mantra of Beaver Lake crappie chasers is that crappie are more plentiful on the south half of the reservoir, but they're bigger on the north half. Crappie outings this spring indicated that's true.

On this canoe crappie trip, Stein had to weed through several small crappie to get a nice mess of keepers. Not so on the north end of the lake. Every crappie Stein and his buddy have caught this spring on the north end has been 10 inches or longer, including a whopper 14.5-inch crappie caught near Rocky Branch park.

There's more than one way to catch a crappie. Fly fishing is another method to catch them, as long as the crappie are shallow. Bob Wiken is active in the Tightlines Flyfishers club and recommends using a Clouser minnow.

"What do crappie eat? Minnows," he said.

The popular Clouser minnow is so dear to Wiken's heart he has a Clouser minnow tattooed on his arm. And not the kind you wash off. It's the real McCoy.

Bill Goodson, another Tightlines member, recommends fly fishing with white or black micro jigs. There's another fly called a Crappie Candy that temps crappie with a sparkly color scheme.

"But if I'm out after crappie," Wiken added, "I'm going to be casting a spinning rod and using a crappie jig."

Flip Putthoff can be reached at fputthoff@nwadg.com

Sports on 05/22/2018

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