Maiden Voyage - Sort of!

We had some serious fuel pump problems with the old 9.9 hp (1972) Evinrude on the small boat (12'). The marina tried their best but could only offer their condolences! Fortunately, they had a "slightly" used 8 hp Mariner. Now Walt has a Mariner on his 16' Tracker that we use on the regulated Quabbin Reservoir for most of the season. (The small boat isn't allowed due those regulations.) So, we rely on this small boat for our local crappie fishing.

The marina assured us that this was a "peach" of an engine. So, Walt an-tied up and we now have a new engine on the small boat. Picked it up this morning at 9 am. We were on the water by 9:30 am. First fish in the boat was a small crappie on my first cast! Good way to start the engine's christening.

Not sure what the water temp was, but it was cool - probably in the low 70's at best. Air was in the mid 60's by the time we launched. We pulled off around 1-ish with 34 fish caught & released. Walt had the "hot rod" today, boating the most and best quality crappie. We also hit 13 bluegill, some of which were very decent size.

We fished with curly tails, straight tails, paddle tails and Roadrunners, changing frequently to try to keep up with the mood of the fish. And the eagle sat on the powerlines watching us and cackling, as they do, to let us know how lousy we were as fishermen!

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Not a great picture, but figured we'd show you the "master" was watching! Here are some shots of some of the better fish Walt nailed today:

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That was the best of the day.

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All in all a fine day to be on the water (as is any day I suspect). We christened a new (to us) engine and didn't get too bothered by the water skiers and power boaters playing about.

Personally, I would say that 45 years of service from a piece of equipment is pretty darned good! And your numbers for the day are darned good, even while you were admiring that new engine......

On your water's away from the Q, were you trolling and drifting like you do there or were you casting and working things in a more traditional manner? Judging from the shoreline in the background, I'm guessing pitching and reeling.

Yep....mainly casting. The water we were fishing was only about 6 - 8 feet deep where the crappie where hanging out. And the area had weeds to the surface. Very difficult to fish. We were plucking off weeds with almost every cast. But that's where the crappie were, so you just had to deal with it. We may have done better with a bobber, but stationary presentations (we tried) netted us too many bluegill. The crappie wanted it moving through the vegetation.

We tried to troll for a bit and I actually got a nice crappie doing that, but the weeds made it frustrating! Once the weather chills and the weed flats die back a bit, the more open water will become more productive - I hope anyway! :)

Will you continue to troll as the water cools or will you do more casting, even on the Q? I'm curious to see when you notice a need for a change in presentations as the water cools. Are they still active enough to attack a trolling lure as opposed to a slower presentation, with stops and starts and pauses and at what temperature (roughly) will we see a real slow down?
Won't know how long I'll keep going out until it happens.

Enjoyed the report and pics.

To: 6poundtest
To answer your question about trolling. The Quabbin closes on Sat. that is the end of the season up there. At that point we will start fishing locally when the weather and other interferences allow us. Trolling in cold weather has not worked well for me in the past, as the water cools I have found that the slower presentation is required for Crappie. The faster presentations will work for the Yellow Perch and the larger ones appear in late Nov. or early Dec. As for the Crappie when the water cools, I shift to the straight tails and around Thanksgiving time I will shift over to the tube type lures. Moving them slowly along the bottom has been a killer presentation for us in the past. After Thanksgiving Day it seems to get better by the day (depending on the year) right up till ice up. Hope this answers your questions and if you have any more please contact me. Walt

Thanks, Walt; good info for me to think about.