Thread: Only 12

Sometimes I harvest a large number of crappie , we manage a small private lake and it requires quite a few to leave there on a regular basis. Other times , knowing full well folks want fish to eat , I will keep a few to give away from public waters.
Mind you this , the folks I give them to seem more than grateful every time I bring them some, no matter the size or quantity. The other day I stumbled into a decent bite on my lunch break. I wasn't prepared to keep any fish , but the fish were looking pretty fat and happy and it's been a minute since I gave some up.
The good news is I carry an ice chest in my truck , along with a 5 gallon bucket for those just in case scenarios.
The bad news is both of those items were in my truck a pretty long walk away from where the bite was. But get this , it was the landing net find day and it occurred to me to just use it as a fish basket for 2 reasons . One I left my phone in the truck and couldn't get any proof of the bite images and then 2 ,I thought the folks would enjoy some still kicking to take home with them after work.
Well long story short , that net will hold only 12 ,best I can tell you , I suppose I could have stayed a bit longer and went for a few more , but it was getting heavy and full.
It was a bit of a chore to get them to the truck but them there folding nets will collapse and make a pretty darn good fish carrying basket.
conditions and presentation time : high noon , sunshine , stiff south cross wind , 14 foot of water , in the shade , used a float set 5 foot deep and a clear with pepper flake jig on a pinkish head , only white crappie in the mix and managed to land around 20 plus , lost multiple really large fish though .....and am darn sure it was a that stupid whatever name j hook causing that scenario. They just don't penetrate the boney upper mouth area worth a flip compared to a sharp sickle hook ....thats a fact yawl
Them fish really enjoyed it being "popped" and stopped AND WOW would they sink that float fast !
p.s. if I decide to give some of them J hook jig heads away in the future you should pass on taking me up on that offer !
FOR REAL

Nice mess bro!