Fishing Forum

After receiving the encouragement / blessing from my Wife and Mother-in-law to get out and relax for a while, I decided to try my luck with a few Crappie.<br /> I put in at Scull Island around 8am and headed for the Crappie hole. The air was quite cold and a very light breeze but it warmed up quite nice and with a couple hand warmers it wasn’t too bad. First stop was a dock. I had high expectations and expected to load the boat quick. After about 15 casts and only three fish and no good keepers my expectations started to subside. I continued to try different depths yet never really figured out the target zone. The majority of the fish appeared to be tight to cover and back tight under the dock not out on the deeper edges and columns like I had expected. Persistence paid off or the bite slightly increased yet the quality fish were few and far between. Around 9:30 I believe I had caught around 20 Crappie but only 3 slabs. I did have several that were over 10 inches but not 12. I am trying to keep only the fish that are 12 to 14 inches. Throughout the morning I tried different weights and colors yet nothing really seemed to trigger the Crappie and the 1/16th didn’t trigger a bite. I knew the fish were there and at times I would watch my line slightly move off and I would set the hook yet have nothing. On a few occasions I actually snagged Crappie in the side, belly or tail therefore I knew they were there just not active. I continued to force feed them and managed 9 good keepers while fishing three different docks. I decided to hit a bluff and as I worked up the Bluff I managed a few nice Bass a couple spots, three big Drum and a few scattered Crappie. I did hook into a very nice Small mouth (over 5lb’s) however he schooled me in the end. I had just caught my third Drum when I casted to a small eddy on the bluff. When I started to glide the jig back I felt weight on the other end so I set the hook. The fight was on and I was a little impatient thinking it was another Drum. The fish stayed deep and was taking me out in the channel when he decided he wanted to rise from the deep water and see what was creating this tug on his jaw. As the fish ascended I grabbed my net as I was trying to catch up to his quick assent. The fish came up and made a half heart attempt to jump then headed for the deep again. As he made the jump I realized this was no Drum but a quality SM. I tried to adjust and loosen my drag as he quickly descended but it was too late, the SM pulled off! I had tightened my drag after the second Drum to try and land the fish a little quicker and that was my mistake! I had a SM over 5 in a CBA last year and this fish was quite a bit bigger than that one! After getting my composure I continued to fish up the Bluff and managed a few more Crappie and a couple to put in the cooler. I decided to back track and try the docks again before heading home. I managed to course a total of 13 nice slabs and ended up bending my rule of fish having to be over 12 inches to take home. There is just something about taking a limit home even though I had probably caught two limits of Crappie during the morning that were over 10 inches I only had 13 in the cooler so my last two fish which were slightly over 11 inches found there way into the cooler. I caught all fish on a 1/32nd with a very, very, very slow retrieve and the majority was caught using the BG shad or pearl stinger at around a 10+ count. <br />