Swan Creek WMA Kayak Report - 22May21

I tried out the hole DB mentioned in Swan Creek WMA south of the railroad tracks off Sandy Rd today for about 2.5 hours around lunch.

It's tough to navigate near the launch (Confirming it's not for the faint of heart...) A lot of stumps, very thick grass, and it is very shallow for the most part. You definitely feel like you earn anything you catch once you find them.

I ended up finding bluegill beds and one shell cracker. I believe it was my first shell cracker ever, since I guess I didn't know how thick they are! I thought it was a warmouth at first, especially growing up fishing much further south.

I kept 10 of my larger fish, and released quite a few. I needed to get back home to help my wife with our little boy, but I left the fish biting! I caught one fish on a 1/16th jig head and 1' chartreuse / orange slider. I should have used a lighter jighead since the grass was so thick, but now I know.

Caught most of the fish on Berkley Gulp Red Wigglers 6-10 inches under a float. I found a few beds, so it was a lot of fun to see how quickly the bobber disappeared after landing. It was almost unbelievable a few times.

Hard work, but a lot of fun!

Attachment 401724

Some good looking gills for sure. Congrats.

Thanks! After further review maybe the bottom left fish is actually a Warmouth!

The red ear flap edge got me.

Nice catch

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 153Crappie

Thanks! After further review maybe the bottom left fish is actually a Warmouth!

The red ear flap edge got me.

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Looks like a huge pumpkin seed

Sent from my SM-J737T using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

It's a Warmouth, there's a bunch of them in that hole. Easy to tell, the mouth is much larger than a gill or shellcracker. Glad you got a change to try that little secret, I call it the stick marsh since it's nothing but moss and sticks pocking out of the water, LOL!

Nice trip

Good job!!!


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The moss is thicker than in the last few years. Only opens up close to the spring. I fished it a week or so ago and caught a few gills and a pumpkin seed. Could not get the bass to hit the frog or floating worm. It should be good with the full moon at the end of the month. It is definitely a chore getting out to the open water. A big thanks to Ditch Basser for cutting the tree that fell across the put in point.

I cut back some of the tree branches to allow launching, the Swan Creek maintenance folks came back and removed the whole tree. They're the heroes!

Good looking, healthy!

That grass is hard on the fisherman, but great for the fish. Everything I catch in there is thick and healthy looking!