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It's Thursday Nov 12 and the rain is coming down... hard. Expecting 1 inch plus today. Tomorrow, Friday Nov 13 looks like a nice day to be on the lake. How will the hard rains affect the crappie fishing over the next several days? Thanks for any insight you guys are up for sharing.
I am planning on going out tomorrow on the Yak.
Dont know about Jordan, but I fish tillery, badin, and high rock mostly. High Rock is the first lake so it gets very trashy and muddy first and quick, but tillery is on down the chain and it usually takes it a day or two to really muddy up. And there are usually creeks in all three that are fishable unless it is a huge rain.
I’m planning on going Saturday morning
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Tunica cutoff is a Mississippi river run lake in Tunica MS. I probably spent half my life in the 1970's fishing there with my grandfather. I can't count the number of times we limited out on bluegill (100 each), most of which were a 1 lb or more. And trot lining for catfish in the standing willow trees. Amazing memories. As I recall, when the Mississippi river hit about 5 ft on the Memphis gauge, muddy Mississippi river water began flowing into Tunica cutoff. If the river was rising rapidly, you could see a clear demarcation line in the lake... one side muddy and the other side clear. Overall, fishing slowed down when the river was rapidly rising and the fish you did catch were on the clear side... nothing on the muddy side. At some point, the river would stabilize... or rise / fall slowly. After the river stabilized, it would take the lake maybe a week to recover and fishing to resume to normal. Spent a lot of time bass fishing in the mid-south in those days too, learning to cast way back into the brush piles and under tree limbs. My grandfather passes away in the late 70's and I moved away from Memphis in the late 80's and have never gotten back into freshwater fishing (spent some time surf fishing Hatteras in 90's and early 2000's but that's another story). Wife and I bought kayaks this year and have started getting into Yak fishing on Jordan. Still steep on the learning curve... how to catch crappie (which I never fished for before) and how to keep from falling from the Yak. Anyway, the muddy water thing is why I am asking about the affect of heavy rains on fishing in Jordan. Tight lines.
They still in the lake but it will change them up, years back rod had a tournament in jordan the night before it poured rain, water was coming in the river side but hadn’t reached the upper lake yet, there were logs everywhere, I was the only one to wieghin a limit , I found them in the channel right where the mudd met the clean water and stayed on that edge as it moved up lake, the fish used the mudd edge as cover , about three years ago ftc had a tournament on jordan, water was 10’ high it was literally level with the parking lot at farrington, we found a underwater pond that was usually in about 3-4’ of water(13-14’ that day) and just stayed with it and won by over 2lbs. Mudd will change things but they still gotta eat, though it may move them from your usual haunts
It is officially a huge rain. I haven't seen this much rain all year. Not since May, 2019 when we got 9.5". The seasonal creek behind the house is 30 yards wide, and the front field is a river down low. Local roads closed. Not good news for the Yadkin chain. I just got the second emergency alert on my phone this morning for flash flooding.Quote:
Originally Posted by cwright
What a great question NC_Fishrat. While I'll certainly agree with much of what's been said about the fish still have to eat and/or fishing the transition between muddy and clearer water during rainy periods... I generally hold to the tried and true logic that I always have: It's better (if practical) to fish the third day of any given weather system or general weather pattern. This has always worked for me... and especially since I am not a practitioner of fishing muddy and high debris high water conditions on any river systems or reservoirs when I don't have to. I'll choose to err on the side of safety every time and choose to go on days when its a little more pleasant and predictable. Just my two cents.
I can't prove this idea, but I believe that when the water gets up high, a number of the crappie go up into the woods. I've been in some areas and caught nice fish. Rain comes and lake goes up--fish disappear. We're talking more than 5', probably what will happen tonight.
What do y'all think shad do ? She at 217.88 already thinking about putting in at new hope , so don't have to do long run. Up s- curve with possible logs.
The lake is headed up fast, but at least the river is cresting. Remember that a mile or so below the Jordan Dam, Deep River and Haw River merge to form the Cape Fear. Deep River does not have a dam on it, so the Army Corp waits until the Deep river is back to normal, then starts letting water out of Jordan. Usually takes about three days. This prevents flooding down at Fayetteville and Wilmington. The green line is normal pool for Jordan.
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I think that your observation is a valid one indeed JL. I believe that the reason for this is because crappie are members of the sunfish family; they will behave much like Large-mouth Bass, Bream, Bluegill and many others who in fact do tend to go into the woods during high water conditions. I don't think they do this to explore new territory or anything like that... but instead to pursue baitfish which I believe are busy pursuing and foraging on a vast plethora of microbes and insects that can be found on the newly flooded ground... and the larger sunfish (including crappie) and other fish species are simply keying in on the shifting high water food chain.Quote:
Originally Posted by JordanLimit
When I checked earlier this afternoon it was 5.66' high. I am guessing that tomorrow it'll be around 8' we should still be able to launch without having to swim to the dock right??
When I checked earlier this afternoon it was 5.66' high. I am guessing that tomorrow it'll be around 8' we should still be able to launch without having to swim to the dock right??
223 and still rising. Wouldn't be surprised to see 226 by the morning. Hope the ramps will still be open.
Attachment 388536
Seaforth ramp
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Did u fish ?
Yeah went to Sharon Harris
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And. What was out come. There ? Already talked to 2 that fished harris today and nada. ?
Bait fish stacked in 14 ' but nothing happening.
At least you guys went for it instead of staying home and blowing and mulching leaves like I did.
You could have just as easily killed 'em. I plan to hit Harris or Jordan in the next couple of days.
Attachment 388586
1.45 lbs
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That's a nice 'un mac. How was your fishin' day overall??
2 cats 1 bream 2 crappie better than staying at home
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Quick report
Friday Nov 13, put in at Farrington Point. Water level was around 222 and the ramps were completely flooded. Paddled over to the Farrington road bridge. Water was flowing backward (away from the dam) under the bridge. Drift fished the channel and around the little island with jigs. Nothing. A couple of fellows fishing minnows were catching the occasional short. Started paddling back to the canoe / yak launch and saw some seagulls working the water between the yak launch and the bridge. Did a bit of slow trolling through the area and caught a 14in striper. Fish in the boat is a successful trip! That was the only fish in the trip.
Sunday Nov 15. Wind was ssw at 15 and the Farrington launch was a no-go with whitecaps. Water color was good but there was a good bit of debris floating. Put in at Beaver Creek. Water at beaver creek was dirty and full of debris. Wind was just too much to deal with in the yak, so gave up after about 45 min. Good learning, not good catching. Tight lines!