got my first crappie on Josephine....by accidentr!!

I was fishing Josephine in Sebring today and got my first crappie. It all came about a little oddly though. I started looking for fish at some pads in five ft of water that showed a zillion fish yesterday afternoon..This morning..nothing. So I go to start the motor and it takes a few extra pulls but it starts. Go to shift gears on the ole gamefisher and the handle literally falls apart as it was plastic. I had already tried to fix it with some epoxy a month ago and this time it entirely disintegrated! Soooo no forward . I try a few hooks stuck through the shaft to move it but all it does is bend the hooks even though they are pretty good size. I DID have vice grips in the boat until last week but took them out for another project. Ended up having to row for about 45 minutes to get back to the dock and get the vice grips out of the car. While rowing ,I decided to let two lines trail behind me..One with a little green and black grub..the other with a gold colored spoon...Two minutes before I got to the dock I get this huge tug!..It ended up being a small crappie about 7 or 8 inches long maybe. Amazing..when I'm really just goofing off...I catch one!!

Oh yeah. anyone have a suggestion for fixing the handle problem? Vice grips working fine for now but need something a little more permanent. Even if I could find an original handle I'm afraid it would also be fragile due to age

Good read!! :cheers2I use gorilla glue on EVERYTHING...don't know if would work on that.

Put on pictures of the handle if you can. Then I'm sure someone will pipe in.

I figured out the handle problem yesterday!! I was at my father in laws house and took the boat over to fish in the Kissimee river...he lives literally 300 yards from it in a place called Hidden acres . Anyway..he does a lot of woodworking so I thought he might just be able to fashion something out of some of his scraps. I found some 5/8 dowel material and he drilled a hole through it the same size as the shaft that controls the gears. We cross drilled through that hole for the pin that holds the handle to the shaft. painted it black and it isn't really noticeable that it's a dowel unless you're right up on it!! I don't think this one will be breaking anytime soon!..and the best part...free!!!

Great fix! Love woodworking

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Originally Posted by stevefishes

Great fix! Love woodworking

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He just got a new lathe..and makes lots of doll houses...even one like a church with lights ,carpet and pews and a pulpit!*l* It was fun collaborating with him on the handle.

Your story from start to finish coins that phrase, Better to have some luck, than no luck at all or all is well that ends well......anyways now you can go catch more crappie by accident :ThumbsUp

I went back to Josephine today and went totally determined to catch a crappie this time. All I took were three dozen minnows and some artificials. I really didn't touch the artificials. I drift fished with four poles ..one on bottom..the other three with lines set at different depth from three feet to about five in mostly 7-9 ft water just let the wind ...a light steady one..push me over the width of the lake. On the first pass I missed a good bite but caught one big channel cat.. Each pole on the first run just had one minnow on it. As minnows were starting to float in the bucket..I upped it to two per hook. Started the long second run and missed one bite then caught a 7 lb (approx.) catfish. At the end of the run I missed another good bite when the line broke. On the third run, there were three minnows on some of the hooks..and one of those caught a monster speck..at least for me! I have pretty big hands and it was as long and wide as both hands put together. I'm guessing at least 16 inches. and a good pound or more. beautiful black crappie with an aqua blue stripe just under dorsal fin. Really sparkly looking! It gave a great fight!. I am beginning to figure out that the area where it was seems to attract fish. I have caught several catfish or small bass there already. I think Ill be using the multiple minnow method again as they seemed to like it. Most hits I've had while drifting and every hit was a big one. There was also a nice double rainbow and lt blue/ orange sky against a line of rain that cooled it off a little . This was the latest I had been out...It was about 7-8:30 pm time slot. I left because heavier rain was on it's way but this day sure was fun!

when I caught this crappie...should I have just dropped anchor there and kept fishing at the depth I caught it at? Is it probable that I missed a school by drifting on across?? or did the movement itself probably attract it? oh..And I have now changed the line on the one that broke. It had been there a while....