Sardis Lake Fishing Guide (Where To Fish)

Sardis Lake, who has a surface area of 14,360 acres, 117 miles of coastline, an average depth of 17 feet, a maximum depth of 55 feet, and an elevation of 584 feet, produces enormous bass in addition to offering fantastic crappie, catfish, and walleye fishing chances.

Located five miles north of Clayton, Oklahoma, along Oklahoma Highway 2, Sardis Lake is a reservoir in the Pushmataha and Latimer counties in lovely southern Oklahoma. There are multiple boat launch ramps at Sardis Lake, including those in The Narrows, Sardis Cove, and Potato Hills South. For largemouth bass, spotty bass, white bass, walleye, white crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, redear sunfish, channel catfish, and blue catfish, Sardis Lake is a fantastic place to fish. From this article on Sardis Lake fishing, we are planning to share all useful and important information that you need to be aware about. We got information for this article from Mathew Woods, who is a fishing expert in Sardis Lake.

With the construction of Sardis Dam on the Little Tallahatchie, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Flood Control Act of 1936 resulted in the development of this sizable reservoir. The dam also produced Lower Lake, a 425-acre lake that the locals refer to as being lower and smaller.

What are the best Sardis Lake fishing hotspots?

1. Engineer Point

Woods chooses hotspot No. 1 based on the winds on Sardis Lake. Even in July, the lake may get choppier in the afternoon breezes than most fisherman are willing to endure. Engineer Point provides some wind cover, which is unusual on this lake, according to Woods. Additionally, it is the closest put in to a number of my other fantastic places, saving you from having to sprint across the whole lake in choppy conditions.

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2. Marina Ditch

The Corps of Engineers excavated a causeway behind Engineer Point when the lake was constructed. For larger boats to enter and exit the main lake, this causeway provides deeper water access to Sardis Lake Marina.

In the summer, the flats on each side of the ditch are about 16 feet deep, according to Woods. “Crappie are attracted to the sharp drop down since the bottom of the ditch is 25 feet away.” Woods suggested paying attention to the ditch’s tiny curve, which breaks to the right as it enters. Additionally, it will have some current flow, which also draws crappie to the edges. In July, tight-lining two minnow rigs from the front of the boat is his favorite method for fishing this region. Set your poles to fish at a depth of 12 to 14 feet, he said, and you’ll be right at the top of the ledge.

3. Sardis Lake Marina

All year long, but particularly in the sweltering summer, some crappie will be drawn to and held by the extensive roof structure of the covered boat docks. Under the docks, the water’s depth will range from 16 to 24 feet. Using a single 10-foot pole, Woods jigs the shaded region by tossing jigs in the 1/16- to 1/8-ounce weight range into open slips and in between boats and dock arms. He said that midday offers the best fishing because the sun drives crappie deeper and closer to the docks in search of cover. He said that crappie “tend to move about a lot beneath the docks.” You’ll find them beneath there someplace, and they’ll typically be grouped together, so keep fishing even if you fish six slips without getting any bites.

Hotspot No. 3 is not known for producing large fish, but it does produce a lot of smaller fish—on Sardis, a fish must be at least 12 inches long—along with some keepers on occasion.

4. Rock Pit

On the opposite side of Engineer Point lies Hotspot No. 4. Engineer Point Recreation Area is protected from the wind by the shoal barrier island. A loaf of bread to your truck’s hood and larger are among the boulders that make up the barrier. From the top of the cliffs, the granite ledges stair step down to 20 feet of water. Woods proposes tight-line trolling or hand-poling the drop-off. Instead of being concentrated in one place, crappie are often dispersed across the whole point.

You can catch them at that depth anywhere on the point, according to Woods, once you know what depth they’re holding at. “They often will be on the rear side if the wind is blowing in off the lake. It’s a good spot for an ambush.

5. Thompson Creek

The following three to four hotspots for Woods are runs for tight-line trolling. His go-to lure is a double-hook minnow rig with at least a 1/2-ounce weight at the bottom. Although Woods advises fishermen to feel free to roam throughout the zones, the precise GPS coordinates will be significant for the trolling run. Thompson Creek, the next significant tributary on the south bank of Sardis Lake near hotspot No. 5, is an example.

The guide acknowledges he doesn’t merely troll the channel edge at the mouth of Thompson Stream; rather, he finds better success crossing the creek back and forth. The particular mark is the channel edge. Woods said, “Don’t simply run the channel.” “Around the creek’s mouth in early July, a lot of fish will be dispersed in search of cooler water. In fact, some fish never leave the mouth region; they stay around here for virtually the whole year.

6. Thompson Creek’s terminus

This hotspot designates where Woods will troll in the most southerly direction. While Thompson Creek meanders farther south, the water is often shallower than 10 feet and devoid of fish at this time of year. Woods does have a tendency to orient more toward the channel edge farther back. The creek channel, which is only about 20 feet wide but well defined, descends from around 6 to 8 feet on top of the ledge to 16 to 18 feet in the channel, according to him.

Woods clarified that although the branch streams were not cleared of trees when Sardis was built, the main lake in front of the dam was. On the bottom and borders of the channel that will retain crappie, look for leftover wood cover in the form of stumps, fallen timber, and layovers.

7. Clear Creek

When approaching from the main lake, hotspot number 7 has the Clear Creek boat ramp on the left-hand side of the hotspot. Similar to Thompson, Woods loves to go from point to point rather than merely troll the channel edge close to the mouth. A minimum of a mile and a half of water must be covered since Clear Creek is the longest tributary on the lake, and he will troll three quarters of the way back.

Clear Creek is a day excursion all by itself, he said. “Don’t let all that open sea scare you. They do these gradual drawdowns on the lake all summer long, and the crappie are continuously migrating. Since white crappie are often the dominating species, finding and capturing them is rather frequent throughout Sardis. When researchers were having problems locating a sample of black crappie after they had exhausted their allotment of white crappie tags in Sardis, Woods pointed them to Clear Creek.

At times, Clear Creek seems to have an abundance of black crappies, according to Woods. “Most people don’t care, but Clear Creek is a solid bet if you’re seeking specks.”

8. Vacation Inn

Trolling crankbaits is the most well-liked and successful crappie fishing technique on Lake Sardis in the month of July. Woods acknowledges that it may not always be his favorite, but he accepts it for what it is.

Once again, this hotspot delineates a type of border. The edge of the standing timber, which is a no-land man’s for crankbaiters, and Holiday Lodge, a well-known outfitter and launch point, are both just in front of it. Crankbaiters capture a ton of white crappie that hang just above the thermocline that will begin developing in June from this location all the way to the dam, he said. “The pattern lacks a lot of logic or rhyme. The thermocline is where crappies are suspended, searching for baitfish to eat.

Two fishermen may troll 10 rods with 10 crankbaits following a search pattern in Sardis since there is a five-rod limit per fisherman. The region often has water levels of 16 to 18 feet, and the closer you approach to the dam, the deeper the water becomes. Woods advises focusing on several streams, ditches, and channels that branch off the main river and may have drop-offs of 6 to 8 feet.

9. Lespedeza Point

Lespedeza Point is the last hotspot on Woods’ list. Crappie have access to shallow water out in the lake up on the point thanks to the long, sloping point. In addition, a sandbar that extends from the north coast of the lake to the specified point to the east impacts the movement of baitfish and the current and attracts crappie. The water is 6 to 8 feet deep up on the point along the sandbar, while the deeper water off the buildings is around 26 feet deep.

Slow-trollers may be successful in this region, locating fish on the sporadic structure that covers both the point and the sandbar, according to Woods. In search of fish suspended in the water, crankbaiters will fish the drop’s margins, skirting the sandbar and the point. The valley created between the two sites, which has a few abnormalities in the bottom, is one of the location’s more appealing aspects, according to Woods.

Final words

These are the most prominent Sardis Lake fishing hotspots. Keep these options in mind and plan your fishing tour accordingly. Then you can end up with gathering the best possible fishing experience in there.

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