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Started with steady pick of sub/barely legals but then found what I was looking for and the keepers were there as I expected. Kept 15 cause thats all I wanted to clean but caught probably double that of easy keepers. Wife joined me for second half of day and she was treated to a show by 2 eagles as well as catching fish on her new rod/reel. I caught fish from over 40 to less than 25 FOW but the bulk were around 30 and near but not in the bait. All fish were on minnow fished on/close to bottom.
Also upgraded one of my rigging rods to a Southern crappie…..all I can say is sweet rod!
Good to hear. Must not have been at "the bridge". Lots and lots of dinks there. I'm gonna try the s-curves tomorrow and near the dam for some larger fish.
me and my buddy managed to pick off 25 nice keepers out of the crowd slow trolling jigs and minnows in the deepest part of the channel under the bridge. Found the larger fish suspended at 20' in 38 FOW.
Was not by the bridge. My advice is look for deep water with bait near flats in the 30 ft range. At some of the places folks may think you are striper fishing as they will be using the same area. Most of my fish came from areas where I wasn't marking bait but it was only a baseball toss away in the deeper water.
Get a good bottom map to stare at while warm in the house, pick the spots that look interesting then go check them out. I've found several little places that are pockets in places that I would have just trolled along in the past without focusing much time. By studying the map I've got a good list of spaces that I want to try and see if they too are holding fish. Its hard to leave fish and explore but by the time I've put enough for dinner in the box, I TRY and force myself to move along. This is my take on the advice I was given and it has really helped me be productive and out of the crowd. It has worked at Falls, Harris and Jordan. Thanks to my advisor(s)!!!
Sounds like a great day, thanks for the report!
There were plenty of keepers there. We left around 11 after using about 9 of 10 doz minnows. We only kept 8 but could've easily kept our 2 person limit plus another.Quote:
Originally Posted by hockey86
Same here. We caught around 90 fish with 60 keepers.
I fished around the bridge for a while today but it got a little too crazy and I took todobien's advice and ventured to a few new spots. Ended up putting a few more keepers in the box but didn't really slay them. Still had fun trying some new spots. Don't know who was around the bridge when the gentlemen fell in but it goes to show the importance of a good life jacket. He had one of those that inflate as soon as it hits the water. By the time I got to him he was climbing back on board. Pays to be better safe than sorry.
Sorry if anyone thinks I'm highjacking the original post. Probably should've started a new thread.
Good job finding some keepers. I hear you 100% on it being hard to leave fish to go where there's "probably fish". I fish the Black River and I've got my honey holes that are my "go to" places when I start fishing. I know I can go to one of these places and catch fish. But I look on google earth and there are coves that look as good if not better than the ones I'm fishing in, and I've even been told about one sweet spot, but it's SOOO hard to force myself to leave. But exploring is well worth the time. Every now and then you find a spot that winds up being an ace up your sleeve. Anyway, nice report, glad you got on some fish. I'm gonna post tomorrow for today. Gotta go clean fish now.
Have a bunch of the southern crappie rods just got some 16" you will really enjoy those rods great action