Just when you thinking you’ve got it figured out, Mr. Humble pays a visit.
For the last couple weeks (up until Saturday), every trip was producing serious numbers of crappie on Canyon Lake, 70 to 100 per day. I was feeling pretty smart and proud, then another cold snap arrived. With winds from the north at 20+ mph, lower temperatures and cloudy skies, my pride was replaced with a huge dose of humility. Only one crappie on the whole morning trip.
My clients, 57 and 80 years old, were not crappie fisherman and wanted to learn. However, after about an hour of fishing with the cold wind blowing, they were ready for the dock but decided to continue for the sake of learning. We caught a few small strippers, perch and largemouth but the crappie had lockjaw!
Because they were new to crappie fishing, I had some minnows, but the previous trip’s production was courtesy of Matzuo sickle hook jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp Nibbles. We fished minnows, jigs and crankbaits in multiple places but the crappie had either moved or were not interested in biting. With only a few minutes remaining to fish and as a matter of teaching, I rigged up a couple rods for tight-lining deep down the middle of the channel. To my surprise that is where the only 11” crappie was caught.
Lessons learned…First, just because the water temperature says upper 60’s and the crappie “had” moved from the deeper water to begin spawning patterns does not mean they will not move deep again and wait for more favorable conditions to return. Second, if you don’t want a good shot of humility from time to time, don’t attempt guiding!
