seminole crappie

Question
thinking of coming down from ohio to crappie fish this spring. when is the best month to come? i know you are a lot warmmer than we are. i will probably stay at trails end marina near bainbridge. do you know anything about this part of the lake? thank you

Answer
Al; If the weather isn't too bad February through the end of March is probably the best time for crappie, although crappie are caught from early fall to it gets very hot.

Trail's end marina is located on the Chatahoochee arm of the lake about 25 miles southwest of Bainbridge.  Some very good crappie fishing is found on this arm of the lake.
While I have not fished for crappie that far up the river I have caught some really nice ones further down river about a mile or so above the junction with the Flint. The river there is normally about 30' deep in the channel. Of course a part of the problem with early Spring is just how much rain there is up in North Georgia and how much water is held back in the lakes upstream.  If they have lots of rain the river may be high and somewhat muddy.  It usually does not get really muddy though.  

From Trail's end go out into the main channel and head South.  Using your depth sounder look for drops or humps virtually anywhere in the river and try for crappie.  As you probably know crappie move around a lot.  To be honest the way I have found best for finding crappie is to look for boats.  If you see several boats in an area there are probably crappie there.

As you come down the river toward the dam look for the daymarks for barges.  Around these is sometimes good crappie fishing.  Down the river the markers head Northwest toward Bainbridge.  This is the Flint arm.  The Flint is a couple of feet shallower but has quite a bit of structure and cover.  Just upstream from the mouth of Fish Pond Drain (You will need a map of the lake)in the channel of the Flint you may see a bunch of boats stretched out for a mile. They probably are on crappie.

Since I live on Spring Creek about a mile above Rattlesnake Point I do most of my crappie fishing here.  Around Rattlesnake point there is water 20-25' deep and acres of drowned forest.  This is good crappie fishing.  I have caught them in the boat road and back in the trees.
My late brother-in-law used to catch crappie up there enough that on some maps his name is listed as " Cannon hole".  That would be a long run by water from Trail's end but if you trailer your boat back toward Bainbridge a few miles to "Reynolds' Landing" you will find yourself only about half mile above the point.  Reynolds' landing road is the first paved road after you pass Parkside market and the Farmers and merchants bank at the intersection of Ga.253 and Ga.374 about 4 miles.  I have caught good size crappie all around through the flooded forest.

If you contact me before you leave home to come down I will do my best to try and find where the best crappie fishing is taking place.  You can call me at 229-861-2366 or e-mail me at [email protected]

I hope this has been of some help and I will be glad to update if you contact me again closer to time to get here.

I am

Jack L. Gaither  (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole, Georgia.