03-01-2010, 10:00 AM
I went out today with a two-fold purpose in mind. First, to see if I could locate some keeper sized crappie in the river. I&#39;m not fooling with those little fish in the creek. Secondly, I wanted to pick out a spot for a cane hotel for crappie. Mission accomplished on both counts. <br /><br />I thought that Wanda was going to go with me, but she wimped out when she saw how cold it was this morning. So, I went alone. First stop was in 17 feet of water and I landed 5 consecutive crappie before missing one on the 6th cast. First two were nice sized keepers, 3rd was just a tad short of 10&quot;, 4th was a nice 12&quot; keeper, and 5th was a 10&quot; keeper that was released. I had looked at my fishing time watch and saw that I was in the middle of a 4 fish movement, meaning that it was a major feeding period for the day. During that hour, I landed 14 crappie, released 2 that were keeper sized (10&quot
and had only 3 throwbacks. Biggest crappie today was a 12.5 inch beauty. <br /><br />Six of the nine fish that I kept for supper were males. I fished with 1/32 oz jig with a stubby butt plastic body in the albino shad color with a tail light. That was the only lure that I threw. After fishing for the first hour and catching 14 crappie and 1 big bluegill, I never had another bite. After a few minutes of going fishless and biteless, I looked at my watch and noticed that I had moved out of the feeding period. I fished for another hour with only a couple of bluegill bites. Didn&#39;t hook these fish up, but I just know from experience that these were little bluegills just nibbling on the tail light on the jig. Lunch time for the fish was over and I was getting cold, so I hustled out of that spot and picked out my spot to launch the crappie hotel tomorrow. Hal is going to help me do that. We probably will fish for a while.<br /><br />Lake level was at 676.28, flow rate was 42,200 cfs, water temp was 44.4 degrees, cloudy, north wind about 5 mph (chilly). Saw a bass boat out there running up the river and saw another boat that had just put in from the Tyner Lane ramp and they were fishing or doing something about 200 yards off the Harrison Bluff. If they were fishing, they must have been catfishing. Although I did get a little bit cold inspite of all the clothes that I had on, I enjoyed myself quite a bit. If I had gotten on the water about 30 minutes earlier, I probably would have had a limit of keepers by the way that they were hitting when I started fishing. Bites were on a 4 to 6 count. Although the water was 17,18 feet deep, the fish were high in the water column. The biggest crappie hit on a 2 count. Most bites were subtle. If you don&#39;t watch your line, then you won&#39;t know when you get bit. emoBig
emoGeezer
and had only 3 throwbacks. Biggest crappie today was a 12.5 inch beauty. <br /><br />Six of the nine fish that I kept for supper were males. I fished with 1/32 oz jig with a stubby butt plastic body in the albino shad color with a tail light. That was the only lure that I threw. After fishing for the first hour and catching 14 crappie and 1 big bluegill, I never had another bite. After a few minutes of going fishless and biteless, I looked at my watch and noticed that I had moved out of the feeding period. I fished for another hour with only a couple of bluegill bites. Didn&#39;t hook these fish up, but I just know from experience that these were little bluegills just nibbling on the tail light on the jig. Lunch time for the fish was over and I was getting cold, so I hustled out of that spot and picked out my spot to launch the crappie hotel tomorrow. Hal is going to help me do that. We probably will fish for a while.<br /><br />Lake level was at 676.28, flow rate was 42,200 cfs, water temp was 44.4 degrees, cloudy, north wind about 5 mph (chilly). Saw a bass boat out there running up the river and saw another boat that had just put in from the Tyner Lane ramp and they were fishing or doing something about 200 yards off the Harrison Bluff. If they were fishing, they must have been catfishing. Although I did get a little bit cold inspite of all the clothes that I had on, I enjoyed myself quite a bit. If I had gotten on the water about 30 minutes earlier, I probably would have had a limit of keepers by the way that they were hitting when I started fishing. Bites were on a 4 to 6 count. Although the water was 17,18 feet deep, the fish were high in the water column. The biggest crappie hit on a 2 count. Most bites were subtle. If you don&#39;t watch your line, then you won&#39;t know when you get bit. emoBig emoGeezer