Where's the shallow bite??

I haven't been Crappie fishing in several weeks. I plan to keep a limit for dinner tomorrow. Where are they biting shallow?

Last ones I caught were 15-18 feet deep.

Caught a handful on lay downs near Beaverdam last weekend. They weren't on fire.

Last Memorial Day we caught a good mess under 65.

I fished the Flint River off Hobbs Island Road this morning. Caught 6 or 8 small Crappie and two or three dozen little gills. Best bait was a small spinner with a white curly tail. I never got into any good fish, but had many small fishing hitting all day. Still a nice day to be on the water.

Mr Ditch, I am in the planning stages of outfitting my kayak to do some basic spider rigging. I went back and found your post where you showed some pictures of your green old towne yak and showed how it was rigged up. I have a few questions for you if you'd be kind enough to explain. First, where did you get that material from which you made the arm for your transducer? I have a pelican castaway, and it has two rod holders behind the seat that point backwards at like a 70 degree angle, one on either side of the seat. I don't use them, and want to make some kind of arm like devices that i can slide or clip into those holders. I want it to be able to fold up so that it can be out of the way, but also can extend out to a couple feet in front of me on either side, and can hold rod holders, or a drink holder, or something like that. Secondly, what length rods do you find optimal from a yak? I am not going to rush out and buy a bunch of equipment, but I am looking to gradually expand my equipment i use to troll. Lastly, I have a few cheap, clip on type rod holders that I am trying to make work. I see that you were using the scotty recessed mount rod holders on your boat. Do you think I can make it work with the clip on type holders, or should I upgrade to some like yours? Any other advice you could give me about technique and equipment would be awesome. Thanks

i tried to copy a link to another thread of pics of my rod holders. didnt work.

wahanlin,

Sorry for the delayed response. I've been buried in work and out of town. The material I used for the transducer arm was ordered on line, it's call "starboard" and is used in the yachting and boating industry. It cuts like wood, but doesn't rot or degrade. I order my rods on amazon, they're Shakespeare Crappie Hunter Spinning in 10 Foot length. They are a very light action, but work well for me with the right reel (you need a good drag). Many times I only have 18 inches of line off the tip of my rod, you need the flex and a good drag to ensure that a Crappie doesn't pull out or a 5 pound Channel Cat doesn't break your line or rod.

Part of the fun is rigging your boat and making changes. What works for one person might not be best for the next. I like the scotty recessed mounts because they're very stable and hold my rods great when in use, but I can remove them when not in use to keeping the sides of my kayak smooth and uncluttered when paddling rivers or fishing a single pole. One big issued, whatever rod holder you make or buy needs to allow you to lift the rod up when you get a hit. If you have to push the rod forward to remove you will lose/miss a lot of fish. Removing the rod from the holder should maintain pressure on the fish or even help to set the hook.

Thanks for all the info. It is fun working with my boat trying to make the most of my setup. I would love to meet up with some of you guys that troll from the yak and see how you do it.

wahanlin,

I usually post some open invites during the summer for other kayakers in the area to link up. I'll be doing the same this year.

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My son pulled these out of the neighborhood pond in about 3 foot of water.

Good looking fish! It always amazes me the fish that can be caught from the urban jungle. One of the ponds in the Cummins Research Park in Huntsville has tons of 13 and 14 inch white Crappie. There not accessible from the bank, but you can catch one after another from a kayak spider rigging.