Just wondering if you've been on the river much.
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Just wondering if you've been on the river much.
Yes I have... Meldahl pool the past few months quite a bit..... Side imaging deep brush/old trees.... Been working pretty well...all on jigs.. I don't get the numbers like some of the pros on the Ohio board out of the river but I've been averaging 15-20 crappie per trip half those small but the other half MY GAWD........ I have a very hard time fishing my home lakes after figuring out the river.... Amazing size..... I don't know what it is about those river creeks but the dogs and I just couldn't enjoy ourselves any more.... So peaceful and your lucky to see another boat all day this time of year. What I can't figure out is, for some odd reason I just cannot get them in shallow creeks.... Find deep creeks with brush I can gettem
My shallow bite hasn't been great either. They should be stacked in the bays around here by now. We're on the same wavelength on the deeper brush. Every pile I find with bait is a limit waiting to happen. I've been drop shotting minnows though. I have gotten some on jigs, but they've been hammering minnows. Using a 1/4 to 1/2 Oz depending on wind. I've been catching some nice ones too. Took me an hour and a half to catch a limit Thursday. I just hate being the only one out there. My oldest is getting hooked too. Keep me postedQuote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
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Nice fish. Love the creek fishing but I've still got a lot to learn... My small boat keeps me from exiting to the main river and travelling up to the next creeks but I know the one creek I put in at pretty well. Last time I was out, it was slow fishing - probably because the creek was really muddy. But am heading there again Wednesday.
I am really happy to hear that East Fork seems to be ok for crappie still. I want to try and make it there Friday. I'll post how I do. Last couple of years at East Fork this time of year, minnow trolling has worked really really well. For me, East Fork has the numbers but if you are fishing for a trophy, the river is the place to be.
Alright so id love to keep this thread going, but also pick your brains a little bit. Seems like you have some things really dialed in with your graphs. Ive gotta ask, what graph are you using that is giving you enough detail you can pick out bait IN BRUSH?? and are you picking this up from the helm of the boat (drivers seat) or on the front graph on the trolling motor. I have a hummingbird 997 and while I am an animal at finding brush piles and stump fields with my graph I can assure you I have never been able to always pick fish or bait up "in the brush" as so many say they do. I don't doubt them or you one bit, I just wonder if I have my graph out of adjustment or something. basically when I find a brush pile, I have no idea if fish are in it or not I just have to fish it to find out.Quote:
Originally Posted by toomanycasts
Love the idea with the drop shotting minnows, are you using weedless jigheads to do this or non weedless and trying to keep above the brush?? I try like hell to get waaaaay down In the brush, honestly all the way to the bottom of the pile and it never ceases to amaze me that I get my best fish all the way on the bottom, 18-20 ft deep at times.
Lets keep this thread alive and get this board back up and running. Been very dusty in here the past year compared to how it used to be. I plan to possibly fish tomorrow somewhere not sure where. Thought about trying ohio brush creek. very long deep creek, almost like a small river. Only tried it once, but did catch a few.
Also, I am not asking what creeks you are fishing specifically but what pool are you fishing?? I fish the meldahl pool. I like the lower pool better but hell myself along with kycreek have this area within minutes of our home so this is where I fish.
Lastly, are your creeks full of shad right now. I tell you why I ask this question, and keep in mind I have zero problems finding bait balls and shad with my side and down imaging in open water, but my creeks are damn near void of shad right now. It is really weird, I can drive down the center of my creeks and the screen be blank. I visited the Indiana creeks a few weeks ago and TOTAL OPPOSITE! Shad popping everywhere, white bass blasting the shad, side imaging lit up like a xmas tree all the way up and down the creeks. I swear I just don't get it!!!! my creeks, (white oak, eagle, 3 mile, cabin, bullskin, turtle) seem void of shad but what is really odd is the other day I was headed in for the day right before dark. I pulled out of eagle creek to turn right to head to the ripley boat ramp and I swear it looked like it was raining!!!! Shad were all out in the river!!! creeks void, not one popping and as soon as I hit river they were every where. Id say you could find them in white oak slew. always shad in that slew but I hate that creek. cant seem to get them for crap in white oak.
mbk what pool are you fishing??? Im not a huge fan of muddy water unless it is spring time. Then I run TO IT. muddy water warms quicker in spring and crappie aren't afraid to be in muddy water. most times shallow.Quote:
Originally Posted by mbk
I am in Markland pool. I actually live in Florence, KY so I will usually head down U.S. 42 to put in either at Big Bone or Gunpowder. I can be there in less than 20 minutes. I think there are many good creeks all along this stretch with deeper pools. I've fished a few of them. I've heard many good things about Hogans, Laughrey... As I said, I'd like to explore more but I have a small boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
I fish the mcalpine mostly. Two pools down from you, I think. As far as bait goes I haven't seen much shad shallow here. I have seen millions of them in the creeks on the cannelton, which are similar to the creeks in your area if memory serves. I am by no means a good deep fisherman or electronics guy but I am trying to hone my skills. Usually if I see bait near a brush pile its shad suspended above or around it. The piles I'm fishing don't have shad but minnows instead. They show up as dots all around the brush. I mistook them for clutter at first till I seen some spit up in my live well. Some of the crappie I'm catching have a minnow half swallowed when I look down their throats. Noticed minnows in their stomachs too while I was cleaning them. No shad at all! I'm really surprised. The minnows are just a little different than the standard crappie minnows. I guess that's why they are hammering them. The jig bite is much slower. As far as my drop shot goes, I'm just tying a standard crappie hook with a palomar knot and using a bass casting sinker 12 in below. It really let's me feel the brush with less hang ups. U get the feel of it and can get it through hang ups. I'm running an 898 HD si at the console and an 859 HD di at bow. Using 2d I watch my bait get down to them. Don't really look for fish too much on the graphs. The stuff I'm fishing is so dense you'd never see em anyway. I have seen crappie and bass on sparser deep cover on reservoirs. This stuff is just what gets caught from high water over the years. Been fishing 15 to 20 ft. BTW been catching nice spotted bass too. Need to fish with a jig or shakey head to mix it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
If you haven't already, give Craigs a try. Good creek/large bay especially if your in a smaller boat. They have a ramp in the creek too. Makes it nice if the river is rough. Never crappie fished it, but I'd bet a jiggin pole there's some good ones in thereQuote:
Originally Posted by mbk
Funny u mention gun powder.. I was fishing one of my creeks bracken creek and ran into some bass guys.... They got to chatting with me and the fella told me he got into a bunch of big crappie in gun powder by accident on crank baits during a bass tournament this past spring... Said he and his partner wore them out that day.... I've never fished it.Quote:
Originally Posted by mbk
Great info man.... I am actually looking to get a downscan graph for up front and mount transducer on Tm head..... I like your idea about just hook and dropper sinker. Really that's kind of the way ppl spider rig with multiple poles.... I tried the spider rigging geez all I did was get hung upQuote:
Originally Posted by toomanycasts
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Originally Posted by toomanycasts
I actually fished Craig's last year. I scouted it one winter and had to try it because it looked so good.
We did catch crappie, though most were short fish. It is surprising just how shallow that entire area is though. I'd say 10-12' is the max depth in the area. But 5-7' is a far more prominent depth. One fun thing about Craig's was that I got to try dock shooting. I hear so much about it on the reservoirs down south that I wanted to try it. There are lots of docked boats on Craig's and I did actually catch my best crappie at the docks there.
Went today two diff creeks.... One was a smaller creek.... Went about a half mile up the creek and was blown away by what I saw.... Water temp 44-45!!! River still 52-54.... I tried a few spots figuring that wasn't gonna work.... Watched graph on the way back out... Mouth was 51 so figured I try it. It was shallow caught one dink jig and corking... Decided to go in search of bigger creek perhaps not such a water temp difference from river... Found it but my usual spots I got a handful of dinks..... As I headed up creek I decided to play with my settings on my graph and noticed I was in 400 klhz so decided to try the 800 setting... Geez I been missing out! Went over several of my usual spots not spotting any dots but I knew it would pick them up as I ran by a few small bait balls that were clear as a bell so I just kept searching... Went by s tree that I have fished several times with zero luck most times.... Man I stopped the screen and was counting each individual fish... Turned around and caught 7 out of that tree and 5 of them were good ones... The pics are the same fish.... Tree was in 16 ft of water fish were in the branches a foot or two off bottom.... Not a very good day but learned some stuff.... The fish in the pic was caught at a different spot and had some color but the others were as white/silver as you could imagine... No colors at all! Figure those fish have been deep a while... All on jigs. Odd color combo to brown and chart. All white crappie all day
I meant my setting was on 200khz and I switched to 400
Good Post.
I have the Miami River right in my neighborhood. Never heard anything about crappie being caught though. But I plan on trying it for myself. Never know, it might be the Mother Lode.
Craze not sure but sounds like your fishing Brush Creek. you may want to try Cabin Creek, or the one i like Three MIle Creek. i have also done well in Bullskin & Locust Creeks. the fish are not as deep...Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
mbk like toomanycasts said you may like Craigs Creek it has alot of docks. from Big Bone its not far down river, if you go be sure to try Turtle Creek a cross the river...Quote:
Originally Posted by mbk
Where can a map be seen of the creeks?>
they are on my lowrance units & you can see most of them on google maps
I hit Brush creek yesterday morning and boy what a week's time makes. Couldn't find the crappie yesterday. Nothing but spotted bass. Like Robin said the temps have really cooled off this week. Once you got past the 1st straight stretch the water clarity went to 6-8 inches & the farther you went from the river the colder it was. Like he said river/creek mouth temps are 50-51 and I saw 44-46 up the creek. Didn't have one bite up in there either, deep or shallow in the same locations that I caught fish last week. Went back closer to the river & found the spots. Might go down river this week & see what I can find.
Larry I'm glad u are on here chatting!!!! Always enjoy your input. No I have only fished brush creek once which was two years ago (I think?) and didn't do to good. my PLAN was to try brush creek tomorrow but not sure after kycreek report..... We fished today in some different creeks that were EXACTLY the way kycreek explained..... First half mile of creek 52-53 another half mile you were at 45 and dirty. Fishing was DEAD in that cold muddy water.... Not a shad to be found but the mouths were LOADED with shad and is the only places we could get fish in both creeks we tried out today..... We tried SUPER hard to get fish shallow and zonked out... Fished 14-20 feet deep damn near on bottom and did pretty good..... Uncle got a white nearly 14" and we got several between 10-12" but geez 90% of what we caught were 5" long white! Hitting 2" tubes..... Three mile is awesome when it's on that's for sure. Been hit or miss for me this season but that's not to say I ain't holding my tongue right.
The stained water doesn't bug me one darn bit honestly. 6-8" perfect in my book but the cold water in those areas I think is just a huge change for them... In less than a week that rain dropped h20 about 10 degrees..... I don't have any doubt that fish are stacked in the cold dirty water I just think they were still trying to stabilize..... Just my two cents anyways. I'm going somewhere tomorrow not sure where yet.... It will be river..Quote:
Originally Posted by kycreek
My uncles gig one today. Pretty good one
Fished Big Bone today. We caught lots of crappie but most were short. No giants, some keepers but average size was smaller than I was expecting for this time of year. Water temps low 50s and fish were cold. Most caught were pretty deep.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
Going to try EF on Friday if weather cooperates.
Is big bone a creek? Or lake? Where it at? Never heard of itQuote:
Originally Posted by mbk
Big Bone is a creek in Markland Pool. There's a ramp at Boone's Landing in Union, KY where you can launch for $5. There's another creek called Gunpowder 2 miles up river which also has a $5 ramp, also in Union, KY.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
Got out this morning. Only caught 3 on the jig and float. But I go 17 more in deep brush on jigs. Caught most of them around 15 ft. They all come off piles I haven't fished which was nice. Going back thursday
With all the shad at the mouths of the creeks, it might be worth bouncing a sauger jig or two down thereQuote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
Had a good day on river.. Got into a good batch of blacks that were built like brick poopoo houses.... Jigs at various depths.....
you guys keep talkin and posting pic, i need to get with Ricky D so we can come down and hope you will show us how to fish your creeks
Good fish Robin. Sent you a PM.
I know you are kidding us. Those are KY Lake crappie :biggrinQuote:
Originally Posted by CrappieCrazed
I could only catch the smaller ones on Monday of this week. I will be back, hopefully early next week to try for some of those. Nice fish!
Ya know what's crazy???? As much as I fish which in the fall through winter can be up to 4-5 times per week I have never been to Ky. Lake.... I have never been to lake eerie, I really don't get out much.... I have gone to Georgia and fished before but honestly I'd just assume stay around home... I'm not much on traveling.Quote:
Originally Posted by mbk
Nice thread Robin and yes those are some true Ky Lake quality fish and if you can catch them at home...why go anywhere else.
Good Fish
Took uncles boat out today instead of mine to blow the bugs out of her. Don't get the ole tri hull out much any more since we don't catfish much any more.... Hit the Meldahl pool creeks caught three dandies in 5 minutes thought we were gonna smash fish.... Caught 6 today.... These three were good ones. Snapped pic turned them loose. Jigs.
It was a awful nice day today but I was grounded. I'm going to try to get out tomorrow afternoon for a while.
I didn't realize the river had so many blacks in it.
A lot of days I get a 50/50 mix of blacks and whites. I did catch my first black nose crappie last week out of the riverQuote:
Originally Posted by crappiemax
Seems like I catch a lot more blacks in the Fall than the spring. 10-1 whites on most days.
Wow today i suuuuuuucked!!! I'm gonna blame high pressure.. Found plenty of shad but right off the bat I didn't like what I seen... Shad were glued on the bottom in the deepest parts of the creek.. Zillions of them.... I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what but it's always hard fishing for me when shad are driven to the bottom like that..... I'd LOVE some input from others on what you think makes the shad do this.... I have to chalk it up to super high pressure!!??
Anyways, got to play with my new graph some today.. Like it so far.... After finding this and not getting bit I knew it had to be a bad day