Any water temps on EFL? Are the crappie still spawning or are they done? Upper or lower lake?
Thanks, Bassky
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Any water temps on EFL? Are the crappie still spawning or are they done? Upper or lower lake?
Thanks, Bassky
Lake temps last week were mid 60's. As far as the spawn goes, I have caught crappie up until the 1st week of June with eggs in SW Ohio.
As far as upper or lower end it's not going to matter too much. I think they may have a regatta going on down by the dam this weekend so that should take out that section of the lake completely.
I would think my main concern would be what all this rain was going to do to the lake itself. I bet it goes up at least 5 or 6 feet. There will lots of junk floating so be careful.
They are forecasting the river to go up to 47ft. by Monday. Gonna be a mess for a while
I heard EFL is having a regatta this weekend and some of the lake will be closed
I fished EF on Monday evening... Didn't do all that great, but caught 8 crappie in a couple hours. Mostly whites. Some blacks. But they weren't real shallow. More like 6 feet down in 12 foot of water. I went 2 weeks before and caught tons of crappie, mostly black but some white, in 3 feet of water or less. The males were really dark. I don't think they're done spawning entirely, though I think the peak time has past. It's just tough timing that right with the weather changes and everything else.
What area of the lake is closed during a regatta? Can you still put in at AFTON ramp or is it closed?
Where can you put in and fish?
Bassky
I think the only ramp that is closed is the Dam Ramp.
Water didn't go up too much, only 1.2' overnight.
water isn't bad and not very muddy. The bite was solid yesterday even in miserable weather.
"water isn't bad... not very muddy... bite was solid... even in miserable weather"... wth ??? lol
We did well Sat. Water temps were 63-67. Water was stained. Had to put in at campground ramp. Afton was closed. Crappie were shallow and appeared to be still spawning. Most of what we caught, still had eggs.
Bassky
He guys, Ive only fished EF once this Spring, but I am getting tired of the -10hp lakes and so is my trolling motor, trying to plan where to fish this weekend and wondered just how crowded you EF regulars think the lake will be? I wanted to go last weekend but found that half the lake would be closed
It will be a zoo with the Holiday weekend but plenty of coves to fish to get away from the crowd. They still didn't have the dock in at Bantam last weekend. Not sure what they are waiting for but it is very non user friendly right now. I guess they are sticking lots of money into Eastfork soon to get some big national rowing competition there. Maybe they will improve the ramps and docks. They need more boat tie off options. I had to help the Coast Guard tie off on Saturday because the dock had none.
Tom
I've found the holidays to be a crap shoot. Some years have been crazy busy and other have been so-so. I never worry about it I just go and deal with it. It is a pain in the butt with that dock not in at the Bantam Ramp. I talked to one of the Rangers and he said the dock had $8000 in damage from the winter ice but it's been fixed for a few weeks now and was supposed to be put back in 2-3 weeks ago.
just be careful out there, went one memorial day weekend and it was a mess. i am sure the water patrol will be on the lake so that will hopefully curb some of the ignorance out of the pleasure crafts
After my buddy just text me pix of many huge crappie he was catching, I will be on the lake early Sunday and hopefully limit out early!
Any good bank spots right now up at EFL?
I went Thursday to East Fork. Put in at the ramp near Boar's Nest. It had rained the night before but water wasn't too stained. Crappie bite was pretty good and a few looked like they had eggs but the bite was best for me 8-10 feet down in 12-18 foot of water. Seems like the warm weather just got here but I think we're already at the time of year where the best crappie fishing will be done from the boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by hoytman27
We will be on the lake at 6:00am tomorrow hopefully avoiding the masses and will report back tomorrow night.Quote:
Originally Posted by mbk
Ok, well Wife and I got up at 4:00am launched the bass tracker at 6:00am (only two other trailers at Boars head ramp) and found that the cranking battery decided to die, so not knowing if the 50hp merc had a alternator I decided to just troll to the nearest cove. I think its called slab cove? anyway then I found out that the half of the two dozen minnows I bought from wormies were dead, oh well I have plenty of jigs. Well we caught pretty many dinks with maybe 2 being 9", caught s few gills and plenty of channel cats, all were released. We loaded up around 1:30 and headed home.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom 513
I wrote off Sundays trip to bad luck and ended up renting kyacks on the Whitewater river Monday morning, through a minnow like fluke on a 1/8th oz weighted hook and caught 2 very nice LMB guessing they were in the 3 to 4# range, normally I catch SMB on that river but have done pretty good on the LMB too
I hate that when that happens.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom 513
In the past I've had that a few times. What I did was I used a trolling motor battery to start the motor and then once the motor was running I unhooked the cables and hooked them back up to the dead battery to let the alternator recharge the starting battery. As it turns out, THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST THING TO DO. I read somewhere that running an outboard motor not hooked to a battery could cause a stator to fail. Of course I read that after I've replaced 2 stators in that motor. I would have been better off leaving the motor hooked up and just jumping the motor off the TM battery or just use the TM to fish that day.
I hope this helps save someone a few dollars.
i have had to use jumper cables from the trolling battery to start my 50hp a couple of times. Not sure what year your motor is, but mine is a 2004 and it has the cord mounted under the cowl that you can use to pull start it if you ever get stranded. Not sure i would want to pull start a 50hp but its nice to have the option if need be.
Crappie max I am glad to hear I did the right thing, I about sold my sole (racing equpiment and camper) to buy this boat and want to take care of it, I think I will add a set of jumper cables to my boat tool box now.
Kissfan actually my boat is a 2004' pt 176 with a 50 3cyl mercury although it looks about new, I did basic maintenance on it this Winter when I bought it and dont remember a recoil starter and I am with You trying to pull that much compression would be tuff.
I will have the 2yr old cranking battery load tested this week, if its not up to snuff I will get a new one, is there any batterys You guys prefer? Ive read where the 3 stage 6 amp charger on the boat will charge agc and gell batteries too besides your standard battery, wondering if the Optimas are worth the bucks?
Tom
That boat should last a lifetime if you take care of it.
I just use Everstart Max 29 series from Wally World. I used to use Duralast batteries from AutoZone and I replaced them every 3 years for the TM. These batteries just started their 4 year of service in April and I'm still using them. I noticed a day at Cowan using the TM only they were tired at the end of the day but were still working. For most of my days of fishing They should be fine but if they show weakness...they're gone.
I upgraded the electronics a few years ago I went to a bigger starting battery (from a 24 to a 29 series) I didn't put a cranking battery in but I put a deep cycle battery since I have a consistently heavy amp draw with the (3) electronics, live well, bilge pump plus the starting going to that battery. It's only 2 years old and I just started to notice on days when I have the live well on all day it will pull the battery down low enough that it shuts the electronics off when I start the big motor. This battery is only 2 years old. It's still a wait and see how this battery lasts the remainder of the year.
Either way I will replace them this fall/winter if they make it that long.
I'm thinking of putting a separate battery for the electronics but I have no idea where to put it or how I'll keep it charged.
I had a set of Optima's a friend gave me after he used them one year, he didn't care for them. I used them the next year and wasn't impressed. He's not the kind of guy who takes great care of his stuff so I don't know if that had anything to do with the mediocre performance or if it was just the nature of the beast. I do know I'll never buy them.
I have a 15amp BPS 3 bank onboard charger. It charges everything overnight just fine no matter what I do the previous day.
I hope this helps.
PS I tried to pull start my 40HP Merc...it dang near killed me and I never did get the motor started.
Just sayin.
Thanks again Crappiemax, I love the boat and folks cant believe its 10yrs old, I think the previous owner had 2 hobbies and one was taking care of his boat thankfully. I replaced the trolling battery but have still run it down this Spring twice fishing a 10hp lake in the wind, trying to decide if I just want to add another battery and run them in parallel like I did on my 13ft boat or go all out and buy a 24volt trolling motor which could end up being a expensive venture. Ive got a account at the local Napa and will see what they have to offer to replace the starting battery if needed, but having a set of jumpers sounds like a good idea too.
I had the same problem years ago. I went with a 70# 24v Motor Guide. I truly hated that TM. I could never get the boat to go slow enough when I long lined. It was a 5 speed and maybe if it was a variable speed it would have been better. I used that motor for 2 years and sold it. I went back to a 12v system, Motor Guide 55# Tour (variable speed). In the 2 years I owned the boat I have to say I was never impressed with the performance of the 24v system. The batteries didn't hold up nearly as well as I had hoped. I still run 2 batteries with the 12v system and never run into power issues even on TM lakes like Cowan as long as the batteries are 3 years old or less. I guess if I had a heavier glass boat or if I only bass fished it would have worked okay.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom 513
I'm not pimping Motor Guide TM's. My foot just likes the cable steer better the power steer on MK's.