For Swatzell, Douglas Lake is about crappie numbers and plenty of them. Unlike nearby Cherokee Lake, he said Douglas is a “point lake,” and you just fish it differently. In his words, in the spring, it’s super great for point fishing.
The longtime crappie angler said water temperatures in the low 60s are important, but he watches lake levels as much as anything. Both drive the crappie action on Douglas. As the lake starts to come up, the fishing gets better, and you want to be on the water once it reaches the 960 to 970 level. The level and warming surface temps put the crappie on the banks and in shallow water.
Once they start hitting the bank and associate themselves to shallow points in the Indian Creek and Muddy Creek areas, Swatzell could care less what the weather is doing. He said it doesn’t really affect the bite once they’re where he can find them. Any slate points will work going back into the creeks as long as they’re not overly steep. The best ones have gradual falls.
It’s a standard fly-and-minnow situation fished under a float for Swatzell -- the basic Float-N-Fly technique. He puts about 5 to 6 feet of line between the fly and float for this shallow-water tactic. Swatzell said to cast up on the bank and jig it back with the float to the target area until you locate holding crappie. His boat is usually in 8 to 10 feet of water. The ramps at Muddy Creek, Swann’s Dock and Walters Bridge are good access points.
Swatzell has been hitting Douglas Lake hard since 1971 and said he used to be a bass fisherman until he discovered the lake’s immense crappie action. Now, it’s crappie exclusively for him.
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