That distraction could make it hard to fish.
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That distraction could make it hard to fish.
Had some friends down at our place this weekend. Since it was raining, we picked up some minnows and decided to see how the fishing was at our dock. We caught about 25 crappie over the weekend, but only a couple of them worth keeping. Also caught several little cats. Ended up letting the few go that we actually kept -- not worth the effort to clean them.
Even caught a crappie and cat at the same time - that was a lot of fun.
Attachment 212563
Horrible saturday.. 5 total crappie, 2 keepers, water was muddy everywhere we went.. Well I know its always dirty, but dirtier than I remember a couple of weeks ago...I can't wait to get my spider rig setup on the boat.. cover more water more effectively and find them ones whose lips aren't so tight.... Next outing will be back in Indiana where I know the haunts...
Sure has been silent for big E the last month.Anyt body fishing ?
I got a couple of hours in on Gaines Creek a few days ago. Caught a few keepers and several dinks but nothing special. I was long lining jigs in the channel. When I went to brush shallow all I caught were dinks. Jigs only - probably should have brought minnows.
Fished I-40 rip rap 3 times within the last 2 weeks. Only the 1st time did I catch anything of significance. The last 2 days the bite had almost all but shut off.
We fished at the dock a few weeks ago on minnows. We had a couple dozen minnows left over so I decided to just dump them into my minnow box that I hang off in the boat slip (water temp is cooler so I hoped they'd last a couple of weeks). I still haven't gotten around to repairing the lid of the minnow box where the screen has come loose from the wooden frame - so I hung the box where the lid is above the water line. We were down last weekend and I was totally surprised to find 2 perch had gotten into the minnow box -- they had eaten all but 2 of the minnows. They had to have jumped up onto the top of the minnow box and fell in through the loose screen then couldn't figure out how to get back out. But since they had a confined food source, not sure they would have wanted to leave anyways.
Good story Steve- thanks for passing it along!
X2!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crappie ciller
Got to the lake on Saturday and found a 3rd perch had gotten over into the minnow box. Still had 1 minnow left in there -- he must be a fast swimmer to keep away from 3 confined perch. Now if I could just catch crappie that easily.
Well I haven't posted in a while but haven't been able to go much since football has started. Went out yesterday evening a couple hours before dark and caught lots of little ones. Only had 2 keepers. We were fishing rip rap in 3-6ft with mikes custom baits pump chart and blk chart. Hopefully I'll get out this weekend. EB
Quote:
Originally Posted by OK Toon
Show those smart perch a trick and put them on the bottom of a jug line
Regardless of the 3 perches fate I think you should free Willy- we need his super minnow bloodline in the okie waters gene pool. Imagine fishing with super minnows like Willy- heck, 5 or 6 of those hardy rascals might last you all day- put the Arkansas minner wholesalers out of business!
All 3 perch and the super minnow were released.
It was the right thing to do Steve. Guys- the Free Willy petition will not be needed after all.
Well i got to go out and fish for a couple of hours yesterday evening. Ended up catching a few but did not have any fish that were bigger than 10-11 inches. I was pulling jigs on natural bank in 6-7ft of water tried some deeper stuff but they are just not there yet. I was on the north end. EB
Been fishing the dock here in Arrowhead Estates and getting an occasional bite, but its been slow. Not sure how well anyone else is doing on other parts of the lake. I do occasionally see guys fishing the culvert in Crowder on highway 69, but haven't stopped to talk with any of them. I think with cooler weather the fishing will get better, hope so.
Fished for a few hours Saturday morning at our dock. Had one sandie and one little kitty. Not a single crappie for the day. Think it's time to change out the cedars and prepare for winter fishing. Dropped the tarp wind block and tested out the propane heater I picked up from another forum member earlier this year. So I'm ready for some cold weather on the dock -- just hope the crappie are too.
Tried Gaines creek today trying to get out of the wind....I got spanked......tried brush, break lines, log jams, anything else i could find......fished from 5ft to 15 ft and got blanked
Andy
Yikes Andy! It's happened to all of us, one time or another. At least you got to go!!
thats true Redge......but I have never been blanked at Gaines....i mean not even a drum or anything!!!!!!....lol
Andy
Then we need to get together Andy. I'm an expert at zeroing out in Gaines! LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by cpd21
crappiepappa - then maybe you need to unzero on my favorite watershed lake which has beaucoup black crappie
Need to do something different for sure! change socks maybe?:scratchhead
Got a late start yesterday and not getting the boat wet till 11am. Been on Gibson for 2 months but since it was so late getting started the view and new water was very much appreciated. Fished wood and cast n drag technique first off showing fish on wood in 16'-19' but only getting bit just a few times and only dinks as well. Started looking and did for about an hour before finding a 13' ledge with a drop of about 3'-4' which was in places a sharp drop and in others a gradual drop. HDS showed this ledge was loaded with fish. Marked both ends with bouys which was approximately 80yds long and double dipped painfully slow along this ledge. Long story short was able to catch all sizes of crappie and over 50 total with 20-25 keepers in about 1 1/2 hour timetable. Found these fish around 12:30pm and the bite was over at 2pm. Kept 8 for supper and released the rest to fight another day. 10' Huckabee Rods, 2 Crappie Pro Heads with a 1/4oz on bottom and 3/16oz on top, 3" crappie kickers in black/chartreuse and brown pumpkin/chartreuse in color. When I say the bite was over the crappie were still there which I could see them on the HDS but they wanted nothing to do with anything I put in front of them. Tried several different baits, color heads, and 3 different sprays. They were done. Wt was 58-60 degrees anywhere I went with a 6"-8" visibility after the rains........Ranger
Great detailed report Mark which should help me find crappie that are not associated with wood- a next step in my education and past due. So I gotta ask a dumb question now. How did you identify the fish as crappie ? Did you find them on SS and then DSI? What did they look like?
George the last time I checked no one makes a unit that will identify a certain species of fish. It was just an educated guess from years of fishing that had me on that ledge. And yes I saw them both on SS and DI......the only sure way to be positively certain is fell the thump and jerk one on board......Ranger
I thought maybe the shape of the schools or spacing or something might point towards crappie vs etc. there is really no substitute for experience tho is there! It's easy to spot wood in the SS but I am not seeing schools of fish like I have seen on pictures of others screens.
Great report Mark, like the detail.
George I didn't see the typical pattern you would think of schooled crappie all bunched up in a wad. These fish were scattered all along this breadline and very tight to the bottom. There were also a few fish mixed in a little higher in the water colume. Along with that I also saw several small pods of shad mixed in as well. It became very easy to call a bite due to seeing those small schools of baitfish and seeing the jigs below. When you crossed over the bait you got bit every time. On several occasions I caught 2 at a time one on the top and bottom hook as well. It's a classic pattern for this time of year especially when you have high skies and a front blowing in. I will also say on this day if I had been fishing a mud bottom these fish would of had dirt on their bellies......Hope this helps......RangerQuote:
Originally Posted by Crappie ciller
I've noticed while fishing with Redge and sometimes others you can see your jigs on DI. Why is it I can't see them on my screen? Do I need to adjust my sensitivity?
Allen it depends on locator and transducer. I am using a hds5 on the front but in 2d sonar mode. That's just the normal sonar picture you get from most units. I again have my unit set on auto sensitivity and depth. You might try adjusting the sensitivity on your unit and see if that helps. I will also say on a Lowrance unit the cone angle is 20 degree for the 2d, which I have to be in 10' or deeper to see my jigs. At 20 degree in 10' of water you are actually only seeing a 2' wide stretch of bottom or less. It can also depend on the angle of you transducer, is it a pick or skimmer, is it pointed straight down or maybe it has hit something and could be tilted to the side or front-backwards a bit. The deeper you go the easier it is to see the jig trail. Let us know if adjusting the sensitivity helps you.......Ranger
Mine is easier to see in sonar mode but sometimes can be seen in down scan mode as well especially when moving up and down. Sensitivity should help. But we usually rely on depth with pulls of line of the reel as its not always able to see them. Keep in mind that transducer is 12 to 24" under the water
If I ever got invited on your boat I would explain it to you.:biggrin
Rdjj, all you have to do is say come get me!
Be sure to wear your back and belly brace cause your gonna need some comic relief Allen when Doug fishes with you ...... Just Sayin ........Ranger
X2!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranger09
Oh Nooooo! Lookin froward to it. I need the relief from tension!
Got to fish with cpd21 in his 2004 TR20 bass boat. First time I've got to fish out of a Triton and I enjoyed it. The wind was pretty strong all day so we stayed on protected banks on brushpiles in 8-15ft. It seemed like the fish were more in 8-10ft than in the 15ft stuff. We were dippin 1/4 ounce Timmy Tom jigheads with blk chart and pump chart mikes custom baits, slab slayers and beaver bottom baits. We were on the south end of the lake the water vis was 10 inch vis unless you were close to the creeks they were muddy. We ended up keeping 22. Had 5 around 1.50 but no monsters.
Crappiepappa- turn your trolling motor on then adjust your sensitivity on your unit. When you do this you will find the sweet spot were you can see your jigs with very little clutter. EB
Thanks Mark- excellent description! I would never have identified those fish as crappie without your explanation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranger09