By Ken Eilert
keilert@express-news.net

GRANGER — The sun was just beginning to start its daily ritual of baking the area around here, and the light breeze was already a pleasant respite — even at 8 a.m. when crappie guide Tommy Tidwell eased away from the ramp at Wilson Fox East Park.

Moments later, we pulled to what looked like nothing more than the middle of the lake. Tidwell dropped an orange buoy marker near one of the many artificial reefs below the water, and we began the process of lifting crappie into the boat.

Granger Lake is a Corps of Engineers flood-control and water conservation lake between the Central Texas towns of Granger and Taylor that opened in 1980.

The fishing here is about the same as most fresh-water impoundments in the area, with largemouth bass and catfish in healthy numbers. But the lake also sports a very large population of white bass and crappie — which was the target species for this trip.

For many years, anglers have been building fish attractors in the main body of the lake designed to hold crappie to specific areas. Initially, these were generally Christmas trees tied together and anchored with concrete blocks.

“Those Christmas trees seemed like a good idea at the time, but that’s some of the worst things people can put into the lake,” Tidwell said. “We lose more tackle by getting hung up on those and have trouble pulling the fish out, too.”

More recently, fishermen have taken to creating artificial tree habitat using plastic bottles, PVC pipe and even old garden hoses. Tidwell said some of the finest possible attractors are made of bamboo.

“One of the best things about bamboo is that it doesn’t deteriorate as fast, and your structure lasts a lot longer,” he said.

The trick, of course, is knowing where those structures have been placed.

When Tidwell heads out, he lines up his fishing holes by triangulating landmarks on the various shorelines, checking his depth finder along the way and driving right to a spot that is almost certain to hold fish.

For the uninitiated, crappie fishing can be frustrating. The “bite” is usually very subtle and not at all like the aggressive strike of a black bass or tug of a catfish.

It’s more like the feel of a wet dishrag at the end of the line or the light tap-tap-tap similar to a perch or sunfish.

The day we fished, the winds were beginning to pick up by 9 a.m., and staying on a particular hole was quite challenging. In spite of that, we still managed to pull in several fish from nearly every place we stopped, never staying in one location more than 20-30 minutes at a time.

The bait of choice on this day was a series of 1/32- or 1/16-oz. jig fished straight down from the boat with light spinning reels and a light-weight rod to feel the bite.

“I use the artificial baits when the water is a little muddy or murky,” Tidwell said. “Usually, the crappie tend to bite better on live minnows when the water is clearer.”

Most people think of the spring spawn or fishing at night under lights when planning a trip for crappie. But that’s not the case at Granger Lake.

Tidwell said that the crappie bite on Granger increases as the sun moves higher in the sky — and that was certainly the case for this trip. As the temperature began to heat up and the sun climbed higher, the bite picked up, and we landed nearly half of our table fare around noon.

As the calendar moves into July, the white bass will begin schooling on the main part of the lake, and youngsters especially love the excitement of hauling in the pesky fighter.

Tidwell is excellent at teaching young people how to fish and uses his experience as a public school teacher to educate novice crappie fishermen about the lifestyle of the tasty quarry and how best to entice the fish into the boat.

“About 8 years old is the best time to bring a kid out to learn how to catch crappie,” Tidwell said. “We sometimes have people bring kids out that are a little younger, and we can have a lot of fun on the white bass with them. We’ll cast out and then hand the rod to the kid and watch him get excited to reel in a fish, then we’ll take the fish off, cast again and hand the rod back.”

As the noonday sun was beginning to burn off the remaining morning clouds, the cooler held nearly 20 fish.

A quick trip back to the dock and less than an hour later, we were headed home with a couple of bags of tasty fillets waiting for the grill or frying pan.

DATA BANK

Contact

Guide: Tommy Tidwell

Online: gotcrappie.com

Phone: 512-365-7761

Background: Tommy Tidwell is a lifelong Granger area resident who has been guiding at Granger Lake since 1986. He has a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M.

More info

– The best live bait are medium minnows, and the top artificial lures are white or yellow jigs on 1/32- or 1/16-oz. lead heads.

– The daily bag limit for crappie is 25 (10 inches or longer).

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.