Puzzled night trip 7-21

[M R Dux]

I headed out to a bay on KY Lake last night to see if my luck had changed from the previous trip. I knew the front that just passed thru was going to have a north wind blowing but hopefully not too hard.

It was just getting dark when I dropped a buoy to mark brush on a drop I wanted to try. I dropped my anchor and put out the new lights I am so proud of. I didn't get the boat positioned exactly where I had hoped so rather than put down the Terrova, I decided raise the anchor and kick the boat forward a few feet with the Yamaha. BAD MOVE!! Seems I had just enough cord out on the rear light to let it get into the prop. WHACK!! I knew instantly that sound wasn't going to mean well. I pulled up the cord with 2 inches of what had been an 18 inch light still attached. Nobody to blame but the guy in the mirror for that one. I had a spare with me so no sense in crying over spilled milk.

I got positioned and started to put out 6 rods, 2 of them ultralights with 4 pound line. I hadn't got all the rods set when one of the ultralights bent double. I thought I had hung it up but when I grabbed it out of the holder, the fight was on. Ends up it was a gaspergo over 10 pounds. Luckily I was able to keep it out of the other lines and get it up to where I could get a good look at it. It ended up breaking the line at the boat.

As it got darker, the baitballs started to form but no action. I set my minnows at various depths, hoping to find the zone. It never formed. The next fish I caught was a warmouth about 10 inches. Beautiful little fish but I had never caught one in 20 feet of water. Jigging all around the boat didn't produce either.

Over the next 3 hours I managed to catch 2 keepers and zero yellows. The lack of the yellows really puzzled me since they worried the hair off me the last trip.

The north wind continued to increase so around 11:30 I called it a night. Below is a screen shot off my X-26. Looks like I was where I needed to be but the crappie just didn't bite.

[crp4570]

Hate to hear about the lights. That sounds like something I'd do. Maybe the 3rd time will be the charm, give them one more try.

[dallman]

I hate you lost that light, smart idea to make two. I would like to make a couple of those lights this winter. Did you use any certain website for instructions and parts.

Thanks,

[pab1981]

Fish are pretty tricky to figure out with the graph at times. Not familiar with that color palette and far from an electronics guru but I don't see any fish feeding in that shot. The fastest action for me is when you see fish rising up to feed. Several times this year that I have hit big wads of crappie the graph looks like feeding stripes. But on the flip side I have also caught a bunch of 6-8 fish wads from spots that look barren on the graph. You just see blue streaks up out of the wood right before you feel the thump.

[M R Dux]

Since 95% of my crappie fishing is trolling, I look for schools of crappie that give the appearance of a Christmas tree viewed from the side on my 2D unit. The school will be wide at the bottom and gradually get narrower as it gets toward the surface. Those are usually active fish that are away from cover. I had marked such a school with a marker buoy before dark very close to the area in the pic. I went to the nearest structure where I had a waypoint, which happened to be 10 yards or so away from the buoy. The fish didn't show up for the lights like I thought they would. Fishing away from normal structure (bridge pilings, docks) at night is not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to learn.

I did have something interesting happen right after the light in prop fiasco-- I had the Lowrance X-26 on 2D and my HB 998 on down image at the same time, side by side. On the 2D it looked like a huge baitball. On the 998 it looked like the fish symbols that used to be on the cheaper 2D units. There were probably 20 somethings marked as individual fish that swam thru the screen shot. At the time I just dismissed them as Asian carp. Later on I had some gar swim thru on the opposite side of the boat from where the lights were hanging. Whatever they were, they didn't bite and didn't hang around to see what else I could tear up.

[deadaim]

I know things can be totally different on the inland ocean you fish in relation to my little lake but night fishing is 95% of my fishing and I never have any luck over brush piles at night other than hang ups. I always look for channel ledges, drops and thermocline.

[M R Dux]

Not liklely to see a thermocline on KY Lake. I was set up right on the break of a point that had brush on top(16') and at the bottom(23"). That screen shot was when the boat happened to drift over brush. I typically only anchor the nose of the boat but am starting to think I need to anchor both ends.

I see on the other post that you have lanterns but what appears to be power cords on the floor. Are you using both lanterns and submersibles? How deep are your submersibles?

[deadaim]

You do need to anchor both ends of the boat for zero movement. A lot of my strikes are very very lite sometimes just barley raising my 4 pound test and not even moving the tip of the pole. I try to get anchored good over the dropoff and out of the wind as much as possible. I don't even look for fish just the channel or drop. I Use the lanterns because they fry the bugs and drop them in the water. I use green LEDs about three feet deep under the boat. The lanterns make a difference. I have come in with fish when the led only guys didn't do near as well. I also fish either under the light or on the outer edge. I use the smallest minnows I can get and use a long handle dip net to get shad off the light the smaller the better at least on Cedar. The lite bite is the tricky part.

[CrappiePappy]

You do need to anchor both ends of the boat for zero movement. A lot of my strikes are very very lite sometimes just barley raising my 4 pound test and not even moving the tip of the pole. I try to get anchored good over the dropoff and out of the wind as much as possible. I don't even look for fish just the channel or drop. I Use the lanterns because they fry the bugs and drop them in the water. I use green LEDs about three feet deep under the boat. The lanterns make a difference. I have come in with fish when the led only guys didn't do near as well. I also fish either under the light or on the outer edge. I use the smallest minnows I can get and use a long handle dip net to get shad off the light the smaller the better at least on Cedar. The lite bite is the tricky part.

Sorry I have to mention this, Deadaim ... but, possession/use of Shad on Cedar Creek Lake is prohibited, and you can be fined.

I know, I know ... I'm being a buzzkill, but I just don't want anyone reading this to "get in trouble by trying it", or "get anyone in trouble, by reporting it". Personally, now knowing that the Shad are there and no reasonable way to remove them ... I'd like to see the KDFWR remove that restriction. Seems pointless to keep it, seeing as how their efforts to eradicate them failed (from day one) and they have re-established themselves as the primary food source for most of the stocked fish in the lake.

... cp

[chaunc]

Doug, you may be fishing in too deep water at night. Try the 8 to12 ft range next trip. Those crappies move shallower at night to feed. Couple of my buddy's night fish in those depths and do very well. I'm still catching them at those depths first thing in the morning.