Belews Lake 10-20-16

Fished Belews Lake today. Caught 55 crappie, 23 white perch, 2 bass, and one channel catfish. Fish were mostly small with a few 1/2 pounders mixed in. Typical for this lake although I have caught 1 1/2 lb fish previously. Longline trolling with jigs. All colors and styles worked. Water temp 71. Leaves on the water made trolling difficult. Probably caught a bushel of leaves today. Caught some fish in 10-12 ft of water. Maybe Fall has finally arrived. I have fished for crappie on this lake for 35 years and maybe catch 1 white perch a trip but today I had white perch in one area that would hit all 6 rods at the same time. After a couple of passes and having to use my pocket knife to correct the tangles, I moved to the other side of the lake. I use tandem rigs and a couple of times had 8 fish on when I would go through a school. I have never seen white perch this size here. This is a BAD sign. Good day on the water until it became too hot. Kept a few for dinner.

RickAttachment 250300Attachment 250301Attachment 250302Attachment 250303

That is a great post. The perch is a debatable item. There is a good catfish population . Blues and flathead they will work on the population some Nd the spots will help . I would love to pick you brain about areas. As I have a little time spent on belews

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Were they caught all on artificial or did you have minnows in the mix

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Good job! I may have to try Belews sometime.

Good catch on the crappie. We had a time this summer on Jordan when all ten of our rods got hit by perch. When you go through a school of them, the only thing to do is what you did--move.

Call me sometime @ 336-643-4360.

Rick

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Originally Posted by froggywaters

That is a great post. The perch is a debatable item. There is a good catfish population . Blues and flathead they will work on the population some Nd the spots will help . I would love to pick you brain about areas. As I have a little time spent on belews

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I only use jigs. Many years since I bought minnows.

Rick

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Originally Posted by froggywaters

Were they caught all on artificial or did you have minnows in the mix

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Absolutely . Anytime better than the next ?

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Originally Posted by froggywaters

Absolutely . Anytime better than the next ?

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Afternoon and early evening.

Rick

I am so excited to see this post! Rick, I live right behind you in that picture! I bet I even saw you out there while I was going to work. I've noticed a boat in that area several times in the past week so either you've been there or that's a known spot :)

I've been trying like crazy to catch crappie in this lake. We just moved here about a year ago. I keep my pontoon boat down on the docks on the other side of that bridge. I went out today and it was just so windy. I tried jigs under slip bobbers in the cove with wood stumps all over the place. No dice.

I'd love some advice/help in fishing this lake. 55 fish sounds insane to me. The best I've ever done so far is 4 or 5 bass in one trip.

Speaking of, I'll probably be out in that area tomorrow morning. If you see a pontoon boat out there with a red cover over most of the seats (I'm too lazy to fully pull it off) that's me :)

QUOTE=ekim22;3302040]I am so excited to see this post! Rick, I live right behind you in that picture! I bet I even saw you out there while I was going to work. I've noticed a boat in that area several times in the past week so either you've been there or that's a known spot :)

I've been trying like crazy to catch crappie in this lake. We just moved here about a year ago. I keep my pontoon boat down on the docks on the other side of that bridge. I went out today and it was just so windy. I tried jigs under slip bobbers in the cove with wood stumps all over the place. No dice.

I'd love some advice/help in fishing this lake. 55 fish sounds insane to me. The best I've ever done so far is 4 or 5 bass in one trip.[/QUOTE]

Most of the crappie fishing that I have done is from the hwy 65 bridge to the upper end of the lake. Usually I longline troll and spend most of my time above the 158 bridge. No secrets here. Just put out some jigs and troll .9 mph. Fish were all over the area. No real spots. Also there are some brush piles in this area which can be found with your depth finder. Years ago, I put many in that area. I have caught fish up 1 1/2 lb. Heard of 2 lb fish but have never seen one. This was my first trip to Belews this year. I only go there in the Fall and Spring due to the pleasure boat traffic. The past 2 years the water level has been very low and trolling was too difficult in the shallow water. I hope you have luck in the future and maybe we will see each other on the water.

Rick

Is that speed a type "o" ? 1.5 ~2 MPH is the fastest I have ever trolled for crankbaits

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I pull crappie jigs @ .9 mph.
Rick

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Originally Posted by froggywaters

Is that speed a type "o" ? 1.5 ~2 MPH is the fastest I have ever trolled for crankbaits

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Originally Posted by ekim22

I am so excited to see this post! Rick, I live right behind you in that picture! I bet I even saw you out there while I was going to work. I've noticed a boat in that area several times in the past week so either you've been there or that's a known spot :)

I've been trying like crazy to catch crappie in this lake. We just moved here about a year ago. I keep my pontoon boat down on the docks on the other side of that bridge. I went out today and it was just so windy. I tried jigs under slip bobbers in the cove with wood stumps all over the place. No dice.

I'd love some advice/help in fishing this lake. 55 fish sounds insane to me. The best I've ever done so far is 4 or 5 bass in one trip.

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Ok that is reasonable I was not sure. I do jigs a d live bait in what I called a controlled drift <1 MPH and crankbaits from 1~ 2 max on long lines for action and depth control

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Thanks for the info Rick.

I don't have any long rods (I usually cast / flip for crappie) but that won't stop me from trolling for them lol. I ended up going out Saturday but the wind was so terrible I couldn't find anywhere decent. I didn't bother going back out Sunday morning (slept in).

Saw someone in that spot on my way home yesterday, around 5:30-6pm. Any reports?

I'm potentially going to be out there Friday morning...if not Friday, definitely Saturday. Gonna also put down a few bottom rigs for white perch.

Not me. I fished Lake Townsend yesterday.

Rick

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Originally Posted by ekim22

Saw someone in that spot on my way home yesterday, around 5:30-6pm. Any reports?

I'm potentially going to be out there Friday morning...if not Friday, definitely Saturday. Gonna also put down a few bottom rigs for white perch.

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Ah okay Rick. It was a high-sided white boat. Thought it mighta been you.

I currently have Friday off but I'm not positive I'm gonna actually take it off. I'll be out there Friday or Saturday.