Crappie.com - New place with a friendly face

Got out again for another kayak crappie hunting trip and even ventured into new territory. I enjoy fishing the creeks coming off the Coosa river close to the GA and AL state line with my usual spot being on the GA side. This trip I decided to go ahead and cross into AL with exploration of new waters in mind and I’m glad I did.

Before I get to far into the story of my trip I wanted to post a picture of my kayak and how I like to have it setup.

I have a very simple setup and I’m continually adding to it. From the front back I have my insulated fish bag to place my catch straight to ice. Takes up a lot less space than a cooler and easy to work with. I have my small tackle bag with essential plastics, scents, terminal tackle, small first aid supplies etc. 3 rods 2 setup for dock shooting my favorite way to crappie fish and 1 setup for cast/retrieve or live bait. I have my paddle and net attached to the clips on the side and not pictured I have a brush clip to anchor on to branches, docks or anything I can clip it to. In the very back I have my trolling motor/ battery with an extension placed on the trolling motor for ease of use while sitting. Last item I’ll bring up is something new I just recently added and it’s the Engel live bait cooler 7.5 quart the perfect size for kayaks IMO.

This live bait cooler kept my minnows alive all day and even with it being in direct sun a cool water temp was maintained within. I opted for the rechargeable aerator pump and it’s so quiet you forget it’s even on at times.

Back to the story of my trip. Upon arriving at the boat ramp I began to search out an optimal launch point that’s out of the way of others. As I began to get all my equipment ready for launch another fisherman was putting in his boat and struck up a conversation. He proceeded to give me some pointers due to it being a new to me area and even offered to give me whatever he may catch for the day if he happened to see me before he left out. It was a friendly way to break the ice in a new area.

My first attempt at finding crappie was a really nice blow down in about 8-10 feet of water fishing cork and minnow tried and true this time of year. To my surprise not a single bite…. After about an hour I decided to hit the docks and man there were ALOT of docks to shoot and explore. Finally made it to a dock and felt the amazing feeling of the THUMP!!! First nice crappie of the day landed. The day ended up being full of alot of effort the bite was not as strong as I hoped it would be. I ended up catching 10 but came home with 19 due to 3 friendly fisherman sharing their catch with me and one of them being the fisherman I spoke with before launch.

Color of the day was lights out/ bumblebee and with chocolate milk water conditions this color came in clutch! I used a 1/48oz jig head size 8 hook and switched between a zman BallerZ and BG itty bit. Both produced equal results.