Had the same kind of day fishing mid lake creeks and coves, 60 degrees early fish at 8', later in the day the fish were right on the banks. No big fish today but lots of 8 to 12 inchers.
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Had the same kind of day fishing mid lake creeks and coves, 60 degrees early fish at 8', later in the day the fish were right on the banks. No big fish today but lots of 8 to 12 inchers.
The wife and I got to Gentry Creek Friday just after sunset. Got six hits in 15 minutes, with one big old girl. Fished all day Saturday at Gentry (wading w/ 16 footer), culverts on 266, bank fishing with a bobber, Crowder, and Juniper point. Only got 12 all day. Most people getting a few, all on minnows. We got ours on brown/orange and black/pink jigs and a blue/green plastic. One young man did very well by dipping jigs in 1-2 feet of water at Juniper.
Then we enjoyed a great steak dinner at Pete's Place in Krebs.
Went at it agian this AM. Bite was at daylight then everything stopped. Caught one dink shallow nothing else. Saw a fellow in boat catch about 6 females in about 11 feet of water of a point. He said the temp was `64 F from his boat. I got 67 F wading. Wasn't the type of weather today for the crappie to "turn on"....cloudy for future reference. Bigskyfisherman is using a 16' foot rod...he must be using a spey rod. I prefer single handed.
Juniper point/Bug Tussel...Fished this am around day break the bite was early then nothing. One fellow in a boat fishing near a point in about 11' of water caught several females. The fellow from the boat had 64 F. I was wading and caught one small dink shallow, nothing else. Must be the change in the weather to cloudy...the crappie didn't "turn on". I used a thermometer and got @ 67 F. Bigskyfisherman is using a 16' rod???. He must be using a spey rod. I prefer 10' single handed.
Juniper point/Bug Tussel...Fished this am around day break the bite was early then nothing. One fellow in a boat fishing near a point in about 11' of water caught several females. The fellow from the boat had 64 F. I was wading and caught one small dink shallow, nothing else. Must be the change in the weather to cloudy...the crappie didn't "turn on". I used a thermometer and got @ 67 F. Bigskyfisherman is using a 16' rod???. He must be using a spey rod. I prefer 10' single handed.
Steinbeck said, “It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming”.....
Rick, I use a telescoping Black Widow rod. It is for doodlesocking. There is no reel and no guides. You just tie your line to the tip. It is superlight (a lot less than any rod and a small reel), and the 16' length lets you wade around the trees and brush without getting too close and scaring the fish. You can also reach further out from the bank if you are not wading. I have pulled a lot of 2+ pounders out of the brush and have not broken a tip yet. Of course, dipping into thick cover results in an occasional fish getting wrapped and lost (usually a 3 pounder, at least that's my fisherman's estimate of the size).
Yep I agree about the bite being at daybreak. Got down to crowder at 6:30 and the bank was covered in people. First 2 cast Bam! Then it slowed. Then it quit. Finished with 3 decent females and one male. Took the opportunity to do some scouting from that point. All fish caught under a slip cork but dragging the bottom. Color was metallic green 1/16 sickle and Crazy angler plastic in chartreuse.
Went yesterday evening from around 4:30 to bout 7:30 south of elm point ,, my partner was in the boat pitching minnows in front of the bushes and i was wading and dipping bushes all fish were caught in less than 2 fow most in bout 6" ,,,,cleaned 35 threw back and probably lost that many as well ,,bite was kinda negative yesterday fish would just push the bait and if ya were not paying close attention you wouldnt catch em
Good luck and see ya down there
It's fixin to bust wide open. Another few days of warm weather and the spawn will be on full steam. We're catching them shallow here by the dock and I've got several reports of guys catching them shallow at different spots in this area.........all of them in less than 2 feet of water. Good luck to all.
I've got a secret for those smart fish that just push the bait around. But I tie and use flies which are chenile and marabou. But this will probably still work for you. About the second time they push the bait around...I put a drop of smell on it and then they get it deeper in their mouth. I have a small bottle of herring oil and then I sweeten it with sugar (old steelheader trick). I'm sure about any fish scent will work...maybe try shad smell-ola and be sure and dump some sugar in it. Fooled more than one today with that trick.....had one doing that and missed him twice....put smell-ola on the fly the third time and nailed him. The crazy thing about it was, I had my indicator set for about 12" and when I waded to where I caught the rascal...the water was about ankle deep. Figure that one out.
It has busted wide open. More about smell-ola. The best I think is Pro-Cure, Inc. Salem Oregan, 503-363-1037. www.pro-cure.com. I think the oil will work better than the jel and I’m sure they have shad.
i will ill have to try this out ,, thanks for the tipQuote:
Originally Posted by Rick Wall
Rick Wall - Did you have to let the secret out?
I just thought everybody wants to get smell on their fly
Another secret....don't eat fried chicken and handle your bait
Steinbeck said, “It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming”
I use to fish with Curt Gowdy near Cody, Wyoming. One day he would buy the worms and the following day I would buy the worms.
Caught about 50 good keepers Friday evening through Monday morning off my dock in Sandy bass bay across from Belle star. Some caught on minnows but most keepers caught on slab bandit baby shad and bobby garland tux shimmer. Most still in 12ft of water at about 6-8ft but catching males in about 4ft of water close to banks. Wind shift today seems to have almost totally shut them off. : (
Jas6199, I'm actually glad to hear that. I went today for the first time in almost 3 weeks, fished an area that I'm not real familiar with and I blanked out!!! Was thinking maybe I just didn't know where to fish but hearing that I wasn't the only one not catching makes ME feel a little better anyway. Lol. Maybe they'll be biting tomorrow. 🙏🙏🙏
Rick - NOW your getting personal about sniffing my fly:yikes. Why you wants ta goin puts smell on my fly?:dono:biggrin
You and Curt must have been fishing worms near Wapiti outside Cody for cutbows.
WAIT A DANG MINUTE!!! What are you doing lurking from Wyoming????????????
Fished with clients on the South end again yesterday in the rain for most of the day. Fish were biting good during the rain and as soon as it stopped the bite went south. We still ended up catching a few big ones after the rain to keep our trigger arms cocked and ready. WT was 63 when we began and got up to 65 before leaving at 6pm.....Ranger
Attachment 159792
Fished today with the Glut1 Research Raffle winners from last November. We fished the South End today on a short trip due to Birthdays and a late start. We left the fish biting on the banks in 6" of water. WT was 63 when we started and got up to 67 when we left at 3 this afternoon.....RangerAttachment 159799
My 2 best from yesterday,16 in and 15 in Attachment 159841
Clifft--awesome.
Sorry I haven't reported in awhile, but we fished from 5-dark yesterday and kept 34. We were using lime/chart jigs fishing 6-10 inches deep catching males and females on the bank. Water temp was 72 EB
EB are the fish on the north end shallow like they are down south ??,, im tired of drivin to Mcallister !!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eufaula boy
Thanks
I'm actually glad to hear that. I went today for the first time in almost 3 weeks, fished an area that I'm not real familiar with and I blanked out!!! Was thinking maybe I just didn't know where to fish but hearing that I wasn't the only one not catching makes ME feel a little better anyway. Lol. Maybe they'll be biting tomorrow.
There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process. ~Paul O'Neil, 1965
Cliff, Them's gooduns! You still fishin Gentry end?
Fished with clients Ben and his dad James Sharp from Kansas City today mid lake..we had an awesome day and was on fish from the get go...we caught well over 50 first double dipping early with the WT at 64 degrees and the females were in 4' to 6' DOW..as the water warmed to 65.5 they moved right up on the bank in 6" to 1' of water using Single Jig and Rod..when the wind got to strong to fish the open points and wood we moved to a sheltered bank and caught them with cork-n-jig.....was a beautiful day....blk/pink 3" Slab Slayers were the bait they wanted today..out fished pumpkin/chart, blk/chart, lime/chart 7 to 1.......Ranger
Attachment 159896
Great report and good news Ranger. Next week they'll be at my doorstep! Thank you sir!!
CrappieCrazy I haven't found them on the north end on the bank like I did down south. Now I wasn't way south when I caught those fish and they weren't just everywhere you had to pay close attention to what banks they liked, fished several great looking coves that didn't produce fish. Not sure if it was the wind blowing in them because them seem to like the protected banks. EB
Brian, I've fished several areas from 9A all the way south and it's been spotty at best. A place producing fish one day will be dead the next and vice-versa. Nothing I have found is really consistent and I know the spawn is on and going strong, but finding a good spot has been difficult. Some of the places I have always caught crappie this time of the year are low producing or not producing. But when you find them stacked up, you catch a nice mess. Water temp was 69 here at the dock today, not sure what it was on down south. I fished 5 locations and came up empty handed today.
Had some boat issues today but fished around 9a yesterday and nothing. Did catch a few around crowder but looked like an ou game with the crowd down there. What kind of boat do you fish from stink?Quote:
Originally Posted by Stinkfinger
Brian, I appreciate the answer it was worth a shot for a shorter drive,,I've noticed this year also that the fish are pretty particular on the areas they are using I have spots that are usually loaded with staging fish and shallow fish that I haven't even got a sniff of a fish and other places that I have hardly caught anything in the past years that are packed with fish this year. Very strange ,,,,I had some friends going down today so I looked at a lot of different areas yesterday for them probably 25 different spots and I only caught fish in about 4 spots ,, on a good note they went down to those areas and him ad his partner ended up with 62 this afternoonQuote:
Originally Posted by Eufaula boy
thanks again
Dog, just fishing from the bank right now, no boat. But spoke to my son and I may drive over to Ada on Friday and drag it back over here. Just an old 50's model aluminum V-bottom that leaks like a sieve.... but I've got some good memories in that old boat. I'll be able to get into some of those areas I can't reach from the bank.
Ranger you were catching a lot females that were spawning out on an open point? I thought they liked to spawn back in the sheltered areas?
Cleaned 31 out of Rock Creek. They were hard to find......most were 2 to 4 ft deep
Lots of good questions and responses hopefully I can make some sense of it, remember guys that we have been 2 weeks behind because of the temps. Also the areas of the lake will be later than the creeks. The man that taught me never caught them real good on the bank until the last week of April to the first 3 weeks in May. He fished them every year since 1966. His multiple 100 fish days were always mostly in May. So be patient guys, we are just now hearing of fish being caught all over the lake.
Fishers, females will be on the points most of the time in a little deeper water than the depth of the beds. They are only on the beds for 36hrs anyway, and they dont stay, they move on and off till they lay there eggs. Thats why the minnow fisherman, spider riggers, and double dippers catch more of the big females
I hope I helped EB