Kayak Trip Report, Bradford Sinks on Redstone Arsenal

I fished Bradford today, fast and furious hour then everything shut down once the sun cleared the trees. I kept 5, returned 8 larger fish and several dozen short Crappie. The water was 51 degrees at daylight and crystal clear. You could see the bottom in 6 feet of water (deepest water except in the far south end). When the water gets this clear all the fish move up under the pads and there's no way to get to them. Fish came off jig and bobber on pad edges about three feet deep in 6 feet of water.

No perch, I'm still looking!

Thanks for sharing! Went this morning (haven’t posted yet) and slow bite before dawn but picked up after sunrise for about 90-120 minutes. After that time I couldn’t catch anything but 2 more crappie


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Sounds like a great trip

I don’t have much clear water around here to fish. Whitey Outlaw fishes lily pads on Lake Marion a lot. There is a good video with them fishing the stuff. Uses a staff to clear little holes then drops right in the stuff straight down. I’ll see if I can find the video and it help you any.

https://youtu.be/qjhAc7_11xw?si=dzgdSHDmGlrgiX-1

Thanks! I usually fish the edges and drop into holes in Bradford but the water is so clear and the pads have thinned with winter that the fish will see you from 50 feet away, even in a kayak. I searched the open areas with side scan and not a baitfish school or fish anywhere. If it had stayed cloudy with a little wind to create some chop on the water I would have done much better. Still a beautiful morning on the water!

Thanks for your report

It's actually weird to paddle along the pad edges and being able to see the stalks going all the way to the bottom in 6 feet of water. The lack of rain and the cold water stops the carp and buffalo from feeding digging up the bottom. It was so clear it was like walking along a sideway looking around. I paddled up to several laydowns that extend out past the pad edges and could see each individual limb all the way to the bottom.

Later in the winter, especially if we get some rain to cloud up the water there will be nothing left of the pads except stalks. The bait fish will school and move to the deepest water available, and the Crappie will follow. Once visibility is down to only 12 to 18 inches I'll spider rig the same area and kill them. The lack of rain and runoff in the creeks has changed my usual fall pattens. I'll still catching fish, just a lot less than usual. Not a big deal since I fish every chance I get and return most of my fish anyway.

Next outing, I may have to give Forest Ingram a try. Water will be down and clear, but it's loaded with the littles I like to keep and eat!

Thanks for sharing!
Man do we ever need some rain.
Same results here ! Super clear water caught 4 fish first hour then the sun popped over the hill and it was over ! We sure need some rain! No bait fish or crappie in areas that’s usually loaded by this time of year!
the cool nights I’m sure will help but without the rain it’s going to be a much slower bite than usual for me this time of year!

I don't want the creeks blown out looking like Chocolate Milk, but a little color to the water makes all the difference!

Sounds like it was a great day to check out the sinks DB, thanks for the report.

Cotaco had some color to it today. Still no fish for me. Don’t feel too bad because everyone I talked to wasn’t catching much.


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