Saturday-COLD-Burnt Mills-COLD-50 small crappie-COLD

It was 38 when I put in and the temp never got higher than 41, couple that with NW winds 5-10,the sun never showing itself, and sitting on top of 43 degree water, and all that made for one of my coldest days on the water. It's no where near the lowest temps I have fished but for some reason I just could not get warm. Oh well, same ole same ole for Burnt Mills, 50 crappie, all between 9" and 10", still catching them off the bottom in water 25' plus. I tried a little bit of shallow water with no bites. I can't imagine the 43 degree water temp has the crappie real excited about hitting the shallows. Same as last week, casted Kalin's Money jig and hung a few poles with Wasshoppah's over the side. Solid chartreuse did best.

My boat leaked a bit but nothing too terrible. I am thinking of also trying the JB water weld on the inside of the boat as well. Only problem being I will have to remove my front seat base and cut a hole in my deck to get at it.

I feel your pain on the cold. I wasn't too bad. Got some nice goose down bids my wife bought me. But my hands were hurting there a few times and my lil partner had to bundle up n extra gear I had. Tap, a buddy of mine had to fix a Jon boat some years back that was full of leaks and I think he told me he used alumaweld or something like that. Said it worked wonders. Might want to try looking that up n c what you find. It may be a spin off of jb weld. Tootsieroll

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Originally Posted by TapOut64

My boat leaked a bit but nothing too terrible.

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Duct tape it before you put it in the water.

I just got cold reading your report! :). Glad you caught some fish though. I just couldn't do it today! It should get better soon....

I'm with you about the cold. I am not usually the one that gets cold, but the last two days of fishing I've been colder than heck. I guess it's just the wind and lack of sunshine, but my hands and feet are still not thawed out. Good luck with your boat. If I were you, I'd get access to the inside as well as the outside. That done, cut two pieces of aluminum same size and big enough to cover the crack. Drill a 1/8" hole at each corner (through both patches and the hull). Coat the insides of both patches with JB Waterweld and flush rivet through the patches and hull. After the rivets are in place, coat everything again with JB and let it cure. You won't have any more problems with a leak (at least there).

Mike

Hey George looks like it's time to switch lakes. I'm just kidding. I was thinking of hitting b/m myself today but until the water temps come up some gonna hit the other lakes. good try

I think I'm going back to Florida, too cold for me. Hey you go out and caught lots of fish. That's better than most of us warm weather fishermen. I'll be going to lake Marian in SC next week, the temps are going to be in the 70's.

That does sound cold. Sunshine can make the difference. It is amazing the heat is adds to your setup.

I wonder what the water temperature would be on the bottom where those fish are coming from. I guess the lake doesn't have a thermocline. If not, then wouldn't the entire lake be about the same temp? Except maybe the top 12-18" on a sunny day? If the entire lake is the same temp, would the fish have just as much chance being in 5' of water on some fallen shore structure? You just never know what they are thinking. On a really slow day, do you ever just move to shore and pitch to some shallow water?

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Originally Posted by Ranger690

On a really slow day, do you ever just move to shore and pitch to some shallow water?

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I tried some shallow water but never got a bite. I know they can be found there late in the day when the sun is out and it's cold but I didn't have any confidence in finding them there with 100% cloud cover all day and NW winds.