Afternoon bite on brush?

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10-20-2022, 07:41 PM
91tiger

Afternoon bite on brush?

I’m pretty much a morning fisherman. I’ve been having really good trips fishing jigs on brush on sunny mornings. I’m really wanting to take my 5 year old son and put a slip cork and minnow over the top of the brush piles and let him reel a few in. I’ve been taking him to the pond all summer and he’s gotten really good with the bream. Time for a new challenge.

With it getting colder I don’t want him miserable on his first trip. He is a skinny little fellow and absolutely hates being cold. So I thought about taking him one afternoon. But I’ve never tried the crappie on the piles in the afternoons. They usually completely shut down for me around 11:30 most mornings. Just wondered if there is a good feeding period most afternoons as well? I know the stripers, perch and bass all feed good in the afternoons. Just never tried the crappie. I assume they turn back on but thought I would ask people on here that have done it way more than me what your experiences in the evenings have been.

I feel like if the sun gets too low, they will start spreading way out off the brush. Is there a mid afternoon feeding period most days?
10-20-2022, 07:56 PM
tackleboat

2 Attachment(s)

I think you’ll do fine in the afternoon. I too see a lull in the action from 10:30-11:00 but usually picks back up after 1:00-1:30. I would look shallow. Amazing I caught at least half my fish Wednesday in 10-11 foot of water. I don’t usually fish that shallow but lucked into a few good spots. For proof here’s 2 photos on one look at the depth of the fish and not where the boat was positioned. I was casting to it at 45 feet . Attachment 439592 Attachment 439593

Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
10-20-2022, 08:30 PM
91tiger

Thank you.

Even my morning fish have been shallower than normal. They are normally at about 10
to 12 feet on the top of the piles and lately they have been more like 4 to 8 feet. Well above the piles.
10-21-2022, 05:40 AM
TreednNC

Ive caught fish in the last week in a wide variety of depths. Anywhere from a 2.11 in the back of a creek in 5ft of water and several in 3 to 4ft, on out to fish 20ft down in 35ft of water in the same day. As far as time of day, I love the morning calmness, but the afternoon is when the fish seem to settle down and cling to brush if they're going to, and get more predictable. Often, in the mornings, you'll see them roaming (even during a brush bite), and hard to get on and target specifically (with livescope), and they just seem to sit still better after lunch for some reason, whether they're parked in open water suspended, or staged on brush. Mornings it's a crap shoot it seems.
10-21-2022, 06:09 AM
burdawg

You'll be fine in the afternoon...good luck, Chip!

Keith
10-24-2022, 12:17 PM
NCkenner

Quote:

Originally Posted by 91tiger

I’m pretty much a morning fisherman. I’ve been having really good trips fishing jigs on brush on sunny mornings. I’m really wanting to take my 5 year old son and put a slip cork and minnow over the top of the brush piles and let him reel a few in. I’ve been taking him to the pond all summer and he’s gotten really good with the bream. Time for a new challenge.

With it getting colder I don’t want him miserable on his first trip. He is a skinny little fellow and absolutely hates being cold. So I thought about taking him one afternoon. But I’ve never tried the crappie on the piles in the afternoons. They usually completely shut down for me around 11:30 most mornings. Just wondered if there is a good feeding period most afternoons as well? I know the stripers, perch and bass all feed good in the afternoons. Just never tried the crappie. I assume they turn back on but thought I would ask people on here that have done it way more than me what your experiences in the evenings have been.

I feel like if the sun gets too low, they will start spreading way out off the brush. Is there a mid afternoon feeding period most days?

The striper fishing was really tough last week on Clarks Hill so Thursday afternoon late we gave up and stopped at a couple brush piles. I didn't have the livescope equipment in the boat, so I just "winged it" and guessed where the fish might be in relation to the brush pile. We caught 7-8 before leaving for supper and that was enough info to know the brushpile bite was reasonably good. On Friday afternoon 2:00ish, we went back to the same brush and (with the livescope) caught about 40. So yes the afternoon bite is good. :highfive

Chris
10-25-2022, 05:41 AM
91tiger

Quote:

Originally Posted by NCkenner

The striper fishing was really tough last week on Clarks Hill so Thursday afternoon late we gave up and stopped at a couple brush piles. I didn't have the livescope equipment in the boat, so I just "winged it" and guessed where the fish might be in relation to the brush pile. We caught 7-8 before leaving for supper and that was enough info to know the brushpile bite was reasonably good. On Friday afternoon 2:00ish, we went back to the same brush and (with the livescope) caught about 40. So yes the afternoon bite is good. :highfive

Chris

That's a great report and makes me feel better about taking my son in the evenings. Next sunny and calm afternoon that I don't have meetings, I may just surprise him and pull him out of school a couple hours early with the boat hooked up. I used to love it when my Dad would come get me out of school because the stripers and whitebass were running up the rivers.