Fishing Forum

Did anyone notice the wind blowing?
Today I went to strike for some Crappie fishing. The weather forecast was for up to 20 MPH wind water temp was 55 at launch. About 9:00 am or so maybe later the wind hit. WOW was about all I can say. I took the FC4 today because I wanted a lower profile in the water. Right out of the gate I got a nice 14” Bass by accident. I didn’t get another bite until after noon. I worked the bank weaving in and out trying to find them. The water warmed up to 60 and I started to get a bite once and a while. To say it was slow would be a disservice to slow. I got 8 Crappie is 11 hours fishing. I will say that 6 of them were good fish so that made up for it a little.
I had to stay tucked into the bank because the wind was so bad. All I can say is I am pooped out. Ron









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Crappie fishing on Strike sure has been slow this year. It seems to me they don't bite that well when the wind is blowing hard, and the fact that the water has been so cold and blown out hasn't helped matters either. I usually get a few while I'm there, but i have to work hard for them.

I find it kind of interesting that all of those appear to be white crappie. Since black crappie are the predominant species in the reservoir, I wonder where they are?
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They may be few, but dang those are some nice crappie!
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Two were black but the rest were whites. I have had to work my hind end off for the last two years to get crappie. 2009 was a awesome year for crappie fishing at least for me. Did you go yesterday? Ron
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Hard to tell with the one on the top left due to the camera angle, but going by body shape, the one on the bottom right looks like a male white in breeding colors. Male whites look a LOT like blacks at this time of year. I've seen pics on other boards of crappie in other states you would swear were blacks, if not for the body shape and the guys who caught them swearing there are no black crappie in the body of water.

I was thinking of going tomorrow, but I may go tonight since it looks like the wind has died. They actually seem to be biting a bit better after dark.

You may want to try another type of bobber, Ron. Those red and white bobbers don't work well when the bite is slow. Not sensitive enough. The fish feel the resistance and spit out the hook, and if you get a bite where the fish grabs the jig and swims toward the surface, you'll never know it was even on the line. Get yourself some Thill Stealth bobbers in different sizes and you'll never go back. When you get a lift bite, the Stealth pops up. Plus since the line is attached at the bottom of the bobber, and most of the bobber is underwater the wind doesn't blow it around as much.
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I was at CJ on Friday as well. Windy is putting it mildly. Around 3pm I headed up the snake arm, and it was whitecapping. It sounded like driving a car over a badly washboarded road.

I started out trying a shallow cove and caught one crappie right off the bat. Covered the cove completely, and didn't get another bit for an hour. Moved into the narrows and couldnt get a bit. Wind was blowing so fast it was like trolling for salmon...
Put on 6 sinkers (bigger ones), with dual jigs as well, and finally started getting some bites. I ended up catching 14. My dad never caught a one..

I put out my crawdad trap with some leftover popeyes chicken, and didn't get a single dad... perhaps they don't like popeyes.. Oh yeah, caught one small perch too. Not a single bass.. Water was showing 53 degrees on my fish finder..
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I was actually using a slip bobber on the other pole. I only got two on that rig. I was tossing the jig and reeling back with my UL but that didn't work. I tried the old round bobber and that was the only setup that seemed to work. I might have to give the others a try. Ron
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wow that water looks terrible ! 09' the crappie fishing was excelent. last year was slow and from what i have heard it is very slow agin this year. my dad and his buddies did o.k. in march. they averaged 50-80 or so the few times they went out. which i would have caught in 20 minutes in 09' . not sure what the deal is at c.j. i personally feel it was fished out. but i know that is not a popular idea. but every day that year the bruno arm looked like the wallmart parking lot the night before thanksgiving dinner with all the boats. you figure 80-100 boats with 4-5 people each catching a conservative 50 fish thats a ton of fish taken out of there but who knows ! nice report. at least you are fishing ! i haven;t even been able to get out this year.[mad]
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I think I read somewhere that crappie are on a 3-5 year cycle. The fish population peaks, then dies down then peaks again. I'm thinking next year should be better hopefully.
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I know one family that has 4 boats. They took 1800 crappie out of strike in 09. I limit my self to 20 fish max for crappie. Ron
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I fished CJ today with a fly rod for crappie. It started slow but seemed to pick up in the afternoon with the average crappie at about 12" female and the biggest at 14". Seems lile a small black nymph like a pheasant tail worked best. Brought home 15 and lost a few too.
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Stacy how do you rig those bobbers?
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[quote idahoron]I know one family that has 4 boats. They took 1800 crappie out of strike in 09. I limit my self to 20 fish max for crappie. Ron[/quote]

2009 was very hot for me... one trip 4 of us caught over 1500. My buddy tried using 4 jigs at once and was catching tripled. I caught doubles regularly. I had many trips where we caught 800 - 1000 that year. Even in 2007 and 2008, it was nothing to catch 100+ per trip.
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Nice catches Ron were thinking about a trip up there this weekend, gotta go hit sportsman's cause i cant find any of my jigs [frown]
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The Stealth bobbers have a stem with a small hole at the bottom. You can run your line through the hole, or run your line through the ring on a small snap swivel and clip the snap to the hole. That way makes it easier to change bobbers. You can use it as a slip bobber, or fix it in place by clipping a bb sized split shot on either side.
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Thanks Stacy! I'll give them a try.
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