# Cowan crappie advice in cold weather?



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

Hey guys, I'm heading up to Cowan for the first time ever tomorrow...it's going to be FREEZING but my fishing buddy got the green light from the wife, so we're going to take a shot at some crappie. I'm a bass & catfish guy, so I'd love to hear any advice you guys might have for a rookie. From reading the forums and other websites, my plan is to fish white and chartreuse marabou jigs tipped with minnows tied off around 10 feet in what looks to be 10-20ft of water. We're going to try the northwest corner of the lake by the dam where the 2 coves meet the lake. For tackle, I'm going to modify my bass poles and tie on a 10 foot leader of 4 pound mono or braid and slip floats to downsize them. I have some random jigs, beetle-spins, and Crappie-Nibbles as well if the Marabou jigs don't work.

I printed out the DNR topographical map: 
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/portals/9/pdf/pub229.pdf

and I also found this older map:
http://www.gofishohio.com/lakemaps/lakeCowan.jpg

I'm not looking for fishing hotspots, but I'm more interested in understanding what crappie do when the weather plummets in a cold front. Do they hold tight to cover or do they just suspend in deeper water? They couldn't have spawned yet, so I'm thinking the edges of the coves might be a good place to target them. Do you guys think we are wasting our time out there in 40* weather? Thanks in advance for any tips...I think of crappie fishing as casting jigs into fallen trees...I have much to learn.

Also, I'm coming from Cinci and was wondering where we could buy minnows on the way up. We'll probably be hitting the water around 7am.

Thanks again,
-House


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## RetiredScout (Mar 24, 2011)

House,

You're never wasting your time when fishing! I am in the same boat as you guys, my wife gave me a green light as well for this weekend. I will be at CJ Brown enduring the weather just to fish, the bite will be slow and rough but I will be there. Wish you guys luck, i've never fished Cowen before so I can't give you any advice.


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## small talk (Feb 13, 2009)

I'm no crappie guru, either...but here's a blog entry from my experience at Cowan in spring 2009 you may find useful. 

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/blog.php?b=82

I think being good with a fish / depth finder will be key...just my novice 2 cents worth.

I'm thinking of giving it a go either there or Rocky Fork on Sunday just to do something out of my norm...and my family loves a crappie fish fry!

Good Luck!


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## bigdamram (Apr 15, 2009)

the first and only time i've fished cowan was 2-3 weeks ago, the fiance and i on a spur of a moment went out at about 430 and the truck said 46* when we launched. we caught about 20 on slip bobbers and minnows, none of any real size. They bit real light, but always held on, making for throat and gill hooks by the time we realized we had something on. We only had time to fish the cove directly across from the pontoon rental ramp, down by the dam.


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## buzzing byrd (Feb 27, 2008)

Fishing pole bait shop on sr 350 just south of lake. If the owner is there talk to him, he knows whats going on with the lake.


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

small talk said:


> I'm no crappie guru, either...but here's a blog entry from my experience at Cowan in spring 2009 you may find useful.
> 
> http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/blog.php?b=82
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tips guys. That was a great fishing report SmallTalk, hopefully I can post a good one too when I return. I really appreciate the post. I made a zoomed in map of the dam area and marked the 3 spots we were planning on targeting. I'm sure it will certainly change once we are on the water, and that center creek channel sounds like it is worth investigating.
Latest forecast is showing 17*-24* by lunchtime. My family thinks I'm nuts 
I'll have my lucky UC gear on if anyone sees me out there, send a "hello" my way. Good luck guys & thanks again!


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

My guess they'll either suspend in open water or just go a little deeper. You should be able to find them probably 8' or 9' deep or less.
I find that if you can find them the will still bite. Try minnows on slip floats but don't discount jigs.
Do you have electronics???????????


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

crappiedude said:


> My guess they'll either suspend in open water or just go a little deeper. You should be able to find them probably 8' or 9' deep or less.
> I find that if you can find them the will still bite. Try minnows on slip floats but don't discount jigs.
> Do you have electronics???????????


Yea, we'll have 2 boats with mid-range fishfinders. This is turning out to be a little competition between my fishing buddy and 2 of his friends. 2 boats, 2 guys each going head to head on a species of fish not a single one of us has ever targeted, lol. I think he has a Humminbird 500 series and I might bring my portable unit just so we can get another set of "eyes" in the water. I'm not sure what the other boat has in it.

I was brain storming out in my garage and was thinking about making a double-rig under a slip float that has 2 hooks coming off of it. A minnow tied off at 8 feet and a jig tied off at 10+ feet to help find them:








Is this a dumb idea?


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## small talk (Feb 13, 2009)

WAREHOUSE said:


> I made a zoomed in map of the dam area and marked the 3 spots we were planning on targeting.


That's funny...you've marked the two points that caught my eye before heading out on the trip that was the blog entry. LOL! That said, I had more luck in the left 3rd of the map you're showing.

Judging by his handle, Crappiedude probably knows a whole lot more about this game than me. That said, this will a good time to trust your electronics. I know that much!


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## Countryboy23 (Mar 13, 2011)

Well i wish you luck up there.My advice is to get there early cause theres alot of pros that get there early find the fish and lock down ALL DAY.I went up there last saturday not knowing anything about crappie fishing and caught a few nice ones.They were in the trees a couple feet deep.In those 2 coves straight across is where i found them.I watched a guy tie up to a giant submurged oak and SLAY the fish for hours,he said they were around 8ft deep.The day i went was windy so the only break from the wind was the north shore and it was full with boats.After throwing in the towl i cruised around the like and found good lookin timber on the south shore but the wind was so strong from the north it was unfishable.Anyway hope you figure them out and can teach me something.Goodluck.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Sorry for the late reply, I had to do emergency plumbing repair for my niece.

That is a good idea, but be flexible in your approach and vary debth until you find them. Also a modified drop shot rig could prove fairly deadly it just depend on where the fish are. I don't think crappe are as moody as bass, find them and they will eat most times.
If you ain't catching...keep moving.


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

Here's my recap for Saturday 3/26/2011

Temp: 25* @ 7am -> 39 @ 3pm
Windy: 13mph winds from the North/NorthEast
Partly Cloudy
Water Clarity: Stained, unknown water levels.
Bait: Marabou Jigs tipped w/minnows or Crappie Nibbles
Location: Cowan Lake (West, coves across from south boat ramp)
Time: 7:00AM - 2:00PM
21 total Crappies; 6 were over 9 inches
Biggest Fish - 11"

We hit the lake right at 7am and were greeted with a nice 10+ mph wind in our faces and 20degree weather. Needless to say, we were the only ones out on the water that early. We headed across the lake to the coves that I had marked in my earlier post and began marking a ton of fish in the 10-16 foot range, mostly in 20-25 feet of water. We fished into the east cove and marked some fish. The first fish we caught was actually a white bass, tight lined near the bottom on a bare minnow. I was fishing two poles with double crappie rigs. I had a pink marabou jig with white tail tipped with a minnow on one leader and a chartreuse jig on the other. I had depths tied off at 10 and 12 feet for most of the day, but occasionally went deeper.

The bite was slow throughout most of the day. It picked up briefly once the sun broke through the trees, but I never felt like we were really "in the zone". 21 fish for the day wasn't very exciting, but I'm still glad we went out.

Looking back, I think we were definitely fishing good spots. I might try fishing a bare hook with just a minnow for a change, and maybe fishing the two hooks 3 feet apart just to cover more depth. We didn't explore the main creek channel and deeper water towards the dam, but since we were marking fish I don't think that would have mattered. I think they were just cold! Overall, it was a good time. I got my first fish for 2011, but I think I'll stick with largemouth bass and stripers 

Thanks again for everyone that chipped in some advice. It really did help.

-House


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## Countryboy23 (Mar 13, 2011)

Good job man.That wind yesterday was really cold.You didnt say if you kept any but a good crappie dinner would have made me extra happy.Eiether way got it dun.Now hopefully the warm weather comes so we can slay some bass!!


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## small talk (Feb 13, 2009)

Love the follow-up...excellent report fellow crappie novice! Really like the format.  You have my respect for braving that cold for the sake of learning something new. I was at my son's track meet for 5 hours Saturday...rough day outside. Way to go...hopefully next week can all get back to what we do best.


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

small talk said:


> Love the follow-up...excellent report fellow crappie novice! Really like the format.  You have my respect for braving that cold for the sake of learning something new. I was at my son's track meet for 5 hours Saturday...rough day outside. Way to go...hopefully next week can all get back to what we do best.


Yea, I totally copied your fishing report and put in my own data 
too bad I wasn't able to leave your 19-keeper fish count in there too! I had planned on keeping enough for a little fish fry, but my hands were too cold and they were coming in so slowly that we just let them all go. I'm more of a steak guy anyways


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