TNBronzeback
07-28-2014, 10:16 AM
got out for the first time in a few weeks on JPP in search for crappies. Hit the water about 5:30 and was met with a nice manageable breeze. By the time i got to my place, that breeze turned into a gale! I had minnows with me as i always to for crappies and it was a tough, tough bite. the amount of fish passing thru was insane. There is no shortage of small yellow bass in that lake best i can tell, little minnow snatching, plastic tail biting-off little SOB's! LOL.
crappies wanted motion to the minnow, but not moving, im guessing they were being picky with the pressure changes, or that i was drifting about 20 MPH doing doughnuts in the boat! The bluegills and cats however were more than happy to accept my minnowy offering gladly. Caught 6 cats in the 1-5 lb range and about 2 dozen good size gills, eating size for sure. After about 3 hours of putting my little 30 lb thrust trolling motor thru its own personal hell, i took off in search for calmer waters for some trolling with my new rod holders i installed saturday.
Found some calm water and a good amount of bait so i reached for my crankbaits...and i reached, and reached....LOL...not in the boat!
With my crankbaits all M.I.A, i pulled a page out of my Great Lakes play book and reached for my wire-lining walleye spoons. Not your typical spoons as they super, super thin and ultra light aluminum spoons about 2-1/2" long. Rigged them 3-way style and put out 2 rods. I found the first school of shad on the screen as both rods went down at the same time....SWEET! 1 short black nose crappie and about a 13" channel cat. Set back up and made another pass, again, both rods down almost simultaniously, 1 big, fat white crappie and a keeper black crappie and im thinking game on! no wind here, no pleasure boaters, jet-skiers, bass-holes, ect.......
I wish my outting continued like the first 5 minutes, but sadly it ends there, I trolled another 45 minutes, no bait to be found, i ended up with 1 small rouge hybrid about 14" during that 45 minute, life choice contemplating time in my life. LOL. Fun fact about me...i DESPISE trolling, i hate it, it kills me to do it, its boring, sit there and do nothing fishing, i will do it, but its always a last resort for me.
i wanted to take my spoons back my normal spot, where i marked all the fish and bait, but it was white capping, so i opted out till next time.
ended the day about 1:00 taking home 5 crappies, a sun-burnt back and wind-burnt front. LOL....fun time though trying out something different and it working! Oh, and those fish that i got on the spoons, inhaled them! spoon, totally in the mouth! i believe those will be my replacements instead of crankbaits for crappie trolling from now on.
crappies wanted motion to the minnow, but not moving, im guessing they were being picky with the pressure changes, or that i was drifting about 20 MPH doing doughnuts in the boat! The bluegills and cats however were more than happy to accept my minnowy offering gladly. Caught 6 cats in the 1-5 lb range and about 2 dozen good size gills, eating size for sure. After about 3 hours of putting my little 30 lb thrust trolling motor thru its own personal hell, i took off in search for calmer waters for some trolling with my new rod holders i installed saturday.
Found some calm water and a good amount of bait so i reached for my crankbaits...and i reached, and reached....LOL...not in the boat!
With my crankbaits all M.I.A, i pulled a page out of my Great Lakes play book and reached for my wire-lining walleye spoons. Not your typical spoons as they super, super thin and ultra light aluminum spoons about 2-1/2" long. Rigged them 3-way style and put out 2 rods. I found the first school of shad on the screen as both rods went down at the same time....SWEET! 1 short black nose crappie and about a 13" channel cat. Set back up and made another pass, again, both rods down almost simultaniously, 1 big, fat white crappie and a keeper black crappie and im thinking game on! no wind here, no pleasure boaters, jet-skiers, bass-holes, ect.......
I wish my outting continued like the first 5 minutes, but sadly it ends there, I trolled another 45 minutes, no bait to be found, i ended up with 1 small rouge hybrid about 14" during that 45 minute, life choice contemplating time in my life. LOL. Fun fact about me...i DESPISE trolling, i hate it, it kills me to do it, its boring, sit there and do nothing fishing, i will do it, but its always a last resort for me.
i wanted to take my spoons back my normal spot, where i marked all the fish and bait, but it was white capping, so i opted out till next time.
ended the day about 1:00 taking home 5 crappies, a sun-burnt back and wind-burnt front. LOL....fun time though trying out something different and it working! Oh, and those fish that i got on the spoons, inhaled them! spoon, totally in the mouth! i believe those will be my replacements instead of crankbaits for crappie trolling from now on.