Muskrat, Chickamauga, crappie / "big" white..., 2-23-13, solo

[FishNews]

Wow - I don't know where to start but I'll give it a go. I crappie fished from 11:30 until around 4:30 in my same 'ol spot that has been so kind to me. I had bass boats lobbing T-rigs all around my boat...kerplunk - kerplunk ! I was thinking hey guys...give a crappie fisherman a break here ! I wish I could give an accurate number of the fish I caught today but I did lose count. I'll put a conservative number at 80...I think it could have been well over 90. I lost at least 15. It was absolutely insane from around 3:00 until 4:30. I easily doubled my numbers as I caught crappie after crappie after crappie during that time period. The sun popped out for a little while shortly before 3:00 then for the next hour and a half it was cloudy again and the wind wasn't blowing at all until I left. For once in the last two weeks the wind wasn't an issue all day. I used minnows and jigs again. I continue to catch all of my fish just right down on the bottom in mostly 14-17 feet. I don't cast my jig out at all I just vertical fish every time. I think the crappie like all of this stuff being dropped right in front of their nose instead of going out of their way to chase it. Water temperature there remains 47-48 every afternoon. It was a strange day as far as batteries go. I noticed my cell phone was dead as soon as I was on the lake...my trolling motor battery was about shot from a previous trip. I'm glad it wasn't windy. My fish finder battery died at 3:30. All I can say is....at least the fishing was good !<br /><br />Here's the kicker to my day. I decide to take a few pics around 4:30. When I'm about finished taking a couple I notice something on my rod. I just had a feeling I would catch another fish while I was taking pics that I just let some line out and put the rod down. I start reeling it in and it's a huge white crappie ! I was hoping all day to catch a 15-inch crappie as I had caught a 14-inch my first trip up there a couple of weeks ago. What's strange is I think this was about the first white crappie out of all of the crappie Deb and I have caught up there. It measured 15 and 3/4 inches - woo-hoo ! It's like the whole day and last two weeks have been scripted for our entertainment. It's been an unbelievable two weeks - a fisherman's dream. I ended my day with the big "white". I didn't stop catching fish -- I just stopped fishing. Here's a few pics. One is a little bleached out. I'll have to work on that. I'm sending a few more pics than usual. I'm even trying to in some of them for a change.