Personal Best Smallie!

[jad2t]

I fished JPP today from about 6:30 until 2. I fished with Blink and Mike McLean who isn't on this forum (I don't think). My primary goals were to find some Crappie since I want fish in my freezer and to catch a bass on my flyrod in the morning. It's a hassle flyfishing in a kayak. My fly line kept getting caught on my paddle, depthfinder, net, etc. so I gave up shortly. I found zero Crappie.

Onto the good part. In the morning I bass fished a bit and caught my personal best Smallmouth being 18.25" long. She hit a crankbait which I have caught some large bass on but no longer own since it is stuck at the bottom of the lake :(. Fat and ready to spawn, I released her back into the water to make some babies.

Later that day I was back to Crappie fishing with a CM under a float. The float goes down, I set the hook and drag starts going. I realized that wasn't a Crappie pretty quickly. Turned out to be a 20" drum haha. That was exciting on that 2lb test line though I was hoping it was a hybrid.

I really need to learn Crappie fishing.

[Halli]

Nice Smallie man!

[XxthejuicexX]

Good looking fish, both of them.


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[creekcrappie]

Nice smallie! I have only caught 2. One was 6 inches the other was 17 inches.

[tomlida1]

Nice man. I put in exactly where u did looks like and we didn't find anything but 1 largemouth. Couldn't locate the crappie. I'm thinking another week or two.

[bd-]

It's a hassle flyfishing in a kayak. My fly line kept getting caught on my paddle, depthfinder, net, etc. so I gave up shortly. I found zero Crappie.


The crappie guys I've been talking to are still finding their fish in 10 to 12 feet of water. That's awfully deep to reach with a fly, unless you load up a high density sinking line and count it down to really dredge for them. I might go through that kind of trouble for stripers, but not for crappie. Wait another month or so until the crappie are in 4 to 6 feet of water, and you'll do a lot better on a fly. Until then, I'd stick with conventional gear so you can get down deeper.

As far as fly fishing out of a kayak, I still have a lot to learn about kayaks, but to fly fish in small boats in general, you have to go pretty minimalist. Flyline hangs on EVERYTHING that's under your "wingspan" where the line falls as you strip it in. Try a vest or a pack with a magnetic net release so you can keep your net behind you until you need it. Downsize the amount of tackle you bring so it's not in your way, and try a vest, lanyard, or sling pack to keep it out from under your line. If you have to have a depth finder, you'll have to think about repositioning it or it'll snag your line on every third cast. Not much you can do about a kayak paddle except figure out a place to set it in your lap so that it's between your body and where your line falls. It's just one of those things where you have to adapt your fishing style to account for the differences between fly fishing and conventional gear.

[MNfisher]

Nice fish!

[Alphahawk]

Nice fish Jimmy......congrats.


Regards


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[jad2t]

BD, I was flyfishing toward the bank specifically targeting bass. I wouldn't try that for deeper Crappie either. Way more work than it's worth.

[jad2t]

This is the first fish I caught on my new rod/reel combo I bought at the Fishing Expo so I'd say I broke it in well! I was thrilled about this fish, I hope I have a few more moments like that this year. Everytime I get to fish I thank God for the opportunity and just hope for the best. See you all on the water soon!

[Pinwheeled]

Dang nice Smallie!

I've never seen it or had a day like this, but I've heard stories of tournaments being won on Priest in the spring with 20+lb bags of smallmouth.


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[jad2t]

Dang nice Smallie!

I've never seen it or had a day like this, but I've heard stories of tournaments being won on Priest in the spring with 20+lb bags of smallmouth.


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Thanks! I find that story hard to believe haha. I bass fish JPP a lot and I catch a lot of bass in there. I'd say for every 10 bass I catch, 2 of them are Smallies. There just aren't many in that lake...as far as I know. The ones I catch are mostly in the 12-14" range with a couple 16's and this one today. I just don't see someone catching 5 4lb Smallies there in the same day. I don't know how much mine weighed but I'm guessing every bit of 3.5lbs but not making the 4lb mark. Not saying it can't happen but if that happened to me, I'd definitely buy a lottery ticket immediately because it would be that lucky.

[creekcrappie]

Thanks! I find that story hard to believe haha. I bass fish JPP a lot and I catch a lot of bass in there. I'd say for every 10 bass I catch, 2 of them are Smallies. There just aren't many in that lake...as far as I know.

And that's the lower end of the Lake!

[fishfindergeneral]

Very nice Smallie, beautiful colors too. Congrats on the PB.

[Pinwheeled]

Thanks! I find that story hard to believe haha. I bass fish JPP a lot and I catch a lot of bass in there. I'd say for every 10 bass I catch, 2 of them are Smallies. There just aren't many in that lake...as far as I know. The ones I catch are mostly in the 12-14" range with a couple 16's and this one today. I just don't see someone catching 5 4lb Smallies there in the same day. I don't know how much mine weighed but I'm guessing every bit of 3.5lbs but not making the 4lb mark. Not saying it can't happen but if that happened to me, I'd definitely buy a lottery ticket immediately because it would be that lucky.


I believe it. I've caught enough 4+lb smallies on Priest to know that they're there. I'm just not good
at targeting them, unfortunately. They're a whole different animal and you probably won't catch big numbers of them while fishing for largemouth.

I think you would be surprised. There are some really really good tournament anglers around here and a bag like that wouldn't be out of the question. Heck, a local angler finished in the top 10 at the Bassmaster Classic this year.

I'd be ecstatic to catch one like yours right now. It's been tough for me this spring to say the least.




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[nomad60]

That's a very nice smallie, way to go!

I really need to learn Crappie fishing.

Me too.

[Down4ttown]

Had a friend catch a 9lb smallmouth near Jefferson springs. He has it mounted and plenty of photos. Looks to me like that was easily a once in a lifetime.

[Alphahawk]

Thanks! I find that story hard to believe haha. I bass fish JPP a lot and I catch a lot of bass in there. I'd say for every 10 bass I catch, 2 of them are Smallies. There just aren't many in that lake...as far as I know. The ones I catch are mostly in the 12-14" range with a couple 16's and this one today. I just don't see someone catching 5 4lb Smallies there in the same day. I don't know how much mine weighed but I'm guessing every bit of 3.5lbs but not making the 4lb mark. Not saying it can't happen but if that happened to me, I'd definitely buy a lottery ticket immediately because it would be that lucky.

Jimmy I used to fish JPP quite a bit 5 years back or so. As always I was a multi specie guy. In the spring I couldn't keep the Smallies off my Crappie and Trout Magnets....somedays catching 30 or more....many at the 20 inch mark. I used to meet my son there and we walked the banks and crawled down the rocks.....can't do that anymore. I used to fish it 4 or 5 days a week...it was that good.....but got to where I couldn't crawl those rocks so quit going there. They are there and in big numbers....unless something has happened to diminish their numbers. I need to get back up there now that I have a kayak but just never have. Here is a pic of one of my Smallies and some crappie from JPP caught at same spot. I was fishing for crappie when the Smallie hit....it was over 20 inches. It wasn't the only one that day just the biggest of the day. PM me if you want to fish a spot that is known to hold both crappie and Smallies.


Regards