Tin Boat Winter Tides Crappie Catching

[Rojo]

One of my favorite conditions to fish Crappie. Unfortunately due to hooking "Shorts" as fast as I could drop a jig the Taco or better sized Crappie were few and far between. I feel the hard 9 degree freeze we had for days last year is to blame. There was a fish kill, I have confirmed thru bayou residents. Never in my lifetime have I seen a freeze like this. Anyway like shooting ducks on the water in these conditions. Just drop the jig and when your line becomes tight the thump is right there. One right after the other.



The tide was so far out I had to put the 40 Mercury on Shallow Water mode to idle out of the slip. The waterline is usually right under the little pier stringer. You can see the high tide waterline on the stringer.



I kept 15 Tacos then quit because handling the shorts has a mortality rate too. We have plenty for a big batch of Crappie Tacos. Natural colored plastics got bite after bite. Not exactly a attractive cooler shot. I was catching so fast I just left the cooler open to toss back the few that made the cut.

[SuperDave336]

Nice! Mmmm, tacos!

[Rojo]

Nice! Mmmm, tacos!

YES! Crappie Tacos are on the Menu! Bon Temps' Tin Ranger would not have launched in that slip. That old 40 Merc is a 15in shaft mounted on a flat bottom 14-48. 20in shaft Tin boats would need to use the trolling motor just to get out if they could launch. I have a MoonLighter graphite Push Pole that I carry to push over very shallow areas to get to deep Crappie holes others can't reach. Fishing where others don't certainly improves the bite rate.

[Rojo]

This Push Pole was 22ft long but was broken during Hurricane Katrina. I just threw the broken piece up on a metal storage rack till I got the bright idea to make this Pole for the Tin boat. The extra length lost doesn't bother me as I'm standing on the aft seat when in use and not up on a poling platform. By turning down a piece of anodized aluminum pipe and fabricating the T-shape on the end I also stick this pole in the marsh mud with the pointed end and tie off my boat over deep holes in winter to jig Crappie as the wind is usually blowing in the marsh no matter what and holding the boat in the right place is next to impossible.

[SuperDave336]

Push poles are pretty popular for kayaks too. They like to run them through the scupper holes as an anchor.

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Mmm tacos with a fried mushrooms side!

[Les Young]

[Nugget]

[Ketchn]

KABOOM ��

[skeetbum]

Noice cooler shot anyway, haven’t seen one of my own in too long. Cool looking tin boat too.