A Lunch date

I typically have a lunch date with my lady every week at an Italian food spot we enjoy . the other 4 days a week i typically try to have a lunch date with a few crappie . Keep in mind even the larger crappie are subject to release and i go just because i want to see and or feel a bite . The fish here in downtown Ft. Worth are not typically easy to Ketchn in many cases due to various reasons. The spots i hit are no secrets and sometimes there are folks already in them when i arrive .
Case in point .....i hit a spot and there are 3 fellas already minnow "fishin" with big ole bobbers that look like tennis balls . They proceed to tell me they are not biting today . I tell them you have to remember these fish are getting the tackle box tossed at them and it isnt always easy to Ketch fish that have become wary due to angling pressure .
I then proceed to pitch my jig and first cast i set the hook ! second cast i set the hook ! third cast i set the hook and it goes on and on . They are just looking at me with that look like they just saw bigfoot ! so anyway here comes one that has about 6 rods laying on the ground . He says what are you using ? I said just a bare jig a friend of mine makes on a gold head about 18 inches under a float . I tell him the fish are somewhat suspended at what i imagine is about 4 foot down in 9 foot of water . So off to the races we go . he begins pitching like its on and proceeds to pitch where i tell him . Float goes down and he sets the hook like he is afraid to hurt the fish ...MISS ......
So now my new" bud starts offering me advice ...he says man you set the hook like you are Marlin fishin . you should go easy on them or you will just rip off the crappie lip ! :yikes
I told him the various reasons i set the hook like that and that sometimes i do in fact put large holes in the lips , but with an ultralite 7 foot and mono and long casts with a styrofoam float if i dont set it like that I wont Ketch many of the fish that are fooled into striking my jig . Now mind you this ....i have always been known for earth shattering hook sets and in some cases my buds will tell ya my feet even leave the ground and or boat deck ! I have even had professional crappie "fishermen" tell me to ease up on em ! nonono
But mind ya in the end i take that advice as always and place it where i wont ever find it so is there no chance of me using it ! rotfl
So there you have it ...i managed 28 crappie and one sand bass on my lunch date to my "new" buds ONE bluegill .....
as always stay tuned cause it aint over quite yet .....have a great day and hope you enjoyed the read and photos :cheers2

Nice story and photos.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shipahoy41

Nice story and photos.

---

thanks sir and btw ,,,,i had a dinner date the night before with some crappie as well .......
BAKED BAJA CRISPY ones that is ......:cheers2

Great story, I have a few just like it. It's funny how some people are full of advice. Anyway you made me laugh first thing in the morning that's not easy.

Nice read, thanks.

Hay Ketchn I have you some good advice. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". You doing good. Thanks for the fishing information and pictures.:ThumbsUp

You da man fer sure yeah. :fingerdance

Yep..you can lead a horse to water,but..................:biggrin

good read thanks

because of you I caught catfish....really appreciate your stories...keep em comin.

thanks so much for the nice comments and reads yawl ....
it is my pleasure for sure to tell fish stories ....
glad yawl enjoy them

Love your stories, keep them coming.

Good story and excellent photos. enjoyed the read.
In the photos, the fourth one down from the top on the left hand side, is that a trick of the lighting or is that a black nose crappie with the black strip from the dorsal to the lips?
If that is a black nose crappie, is that typical of what you usually catch?

my photos display different on my computer but i would assume you are talking about the fish with the black stripe down the front . I ketch them in some spots pretty often and in other spots i never see them . i hear they are a genetic coloration thing found only in the black crappie . a recessive pigmentation gene i think is what they call it . Cedar creek lake is loaded with them and we find them often in other lakes as well. i always thought they were possibly a third strain of crappie but have read and been told thats not the case. one thing for sure the "mohawks" (what i kawl them) hit like a freight train everytime and fight rather well also . i almost didnt get to take a photo of the larger one as it went around several different logs and was fighting like a black bass minus the jumps ...
these 2 came from Lake Worth near downtown Ft Worth
here is another photo of a smaller one i managed on that lunch date as well ....
and YES sir they are some mighty handsome fish :cheers2

You are, indeed, correct sir !! Blacknose Black Crappie it is :ThumbsUp

And while some argue whether it's a dominant or recessive genetic trait, it is simply a pigmentation array that creates the black stripe. It's not a hybrid or crossbreed, though crossbreeding does happen naturally (on occasion) just like the crossbreeding of a White & Black Crappie sometimes does. And biologists have used Blacknose to produce hybrids, like the Magnolia Crappie (sterile triploid).

Like you, I perceive them as "harder hitting" & "harder fighting" than a normal Black Crappie, and have even had them leap completely out of the water upon hookset. This "leaping" has occurred on a couple of occasions, once in which the fish of about 1.5lbs jumped clear across the bow of a Tracker TX17. Easily a 8ft distance from exit point to re-entry point in the water, and a good 3ft in the air :woohoo It was exciting enough to have caught a 1.5lb Crappie, at that time, but the aerial acrobatics has greatly enamored me toward this particular fish.

... cp :kewl

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ketchn

and YES sir they are some mighty handsome fish :cheers2

---

Very cool.
Being rather new to Crappie fishing, I have been reading and researching the crap out of this fish. A recent thread about a Golden Crappie got me looking at other variety and I found this article on the Internet.

Do You Know Your Crappie? - Wired2fish - Scout

I must say I like your photo of the fish better than the ones in the article. It is much clearer and easier to see the distinct strip.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

You are, indeed, correct sir !! Blacknose Black Crappie it is :ThumbsUp

Like you, I perceive them as "harder hitting" & "harder fighting" than a normal Black Crappie, and have even had them leap completely out of the water upon hookset. This "leaping" has occurred on a couple of occasions, once in which the fish of about 1.5lbs jumped clear across the bow of a Tracker TX17. Easily a 8ft distance from exit point to re-entry point in the water, and a good 3ft in the air :woohoo It was exciting enough to have caught a 1.5lb Crappie, at that time, but the aerial acrobatics has greatly enamored me toward this particular fish.

... cp :kewl

---

Thanks for the info and that sounds pretty exciting?