Nickajack 10-04-2012

[Alphahawk]

Headed to Nickajack this morning to see if the Crappie were in my hole. Yep.....just not the big ones so far. I have a limit of 15 and all the fish are between 11 and 11.5 inches. These Crappie are like all the Crappie I have caught at Nickajack....they are really chunky fish with broad shoulders. I caught over 100 fish today....measured all of them. Only 10 were dinks. The rest were all legal fish. I threw back the first 7 or so fish I caught. I told myself I was not taking any 10 inch fish home...after all this is Nickajack. So started putting 11 inch fish in the basket. There is also one small Kentucky Bass in there. All fish were caught on a Bison colored Trout Magnet using 2# test line with 3# test fluorocarbon leader. I had a size B split shot about 12 inches above the Trout Magnet. Fish were in 20 feet of water....but all fish were holding tight to cover....up against the drop off to the channel....or at the base of the wall. Saw my Crappie guy down there today. He said just caught it on a day when the big ones were not up there. So....it is now time to make 3 or 4 trips to Nickajack for the next 8 months....if I can afford it. But next week will fish Pickwick as I am getting cortisone shots to allow me to keep my knees hinged for that long drive to Nickajack. Get ready Larry. Life is good!


Regards

[white95v6]

nice fish. i may have to stop working all this over time. and try nickajack out.

[nomad60]

I'm getting hungry just looking at those pics! My wife and I have been eating Tilapia every now and then because we like the taste and I've been telling her how good crappie taste...now I just have to go find some!
This may be a stupid question but does anyone know if Crappie hang out in the Cumberland river? Or do they mainly like to hang out in still water/lakes?

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by nomad60

This may be a stupid question but does anyone know if Crappie hang out in the Cumberland river? Or do they mainly like to hang out in still water/lakes?

You can definitely catch them in the Cumberland. I used to catch slabs right below LP Field. Key is finding the structure they hang around.

Wood is a good place to start your search. They only place I have ever caught crappie where there was wood but no crappie on it was lake Seminole. Those crazy fish related to grass humps instead.

[Travis C.]

Nice job Alpha. That's some fun fishing when its like that.

We didn't fish much at Rockland today. Little britches was more interested in wandering around and swinging than fishing but that's fine with me. That's just more time outside and less inside so a win win.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

That is a good mess of slabs there Alpha!!!, looks like another fun trip!!!, i may have to stop working so much and maybe try one of these places!, did you fish out of the kayak?? It's been a while since last time i limited out on slabs!!, love the pics that come with the report!!

[Alphahawk]

Thanks guys...I didn't do any individual pics. I was hoping to get back into the same size fish I caught there last year....and hopefully they will be in there again. I have 6 spots to fish down there and only fished one of them today. I was not in the kayak today as this was an exploring trip to see if the Crappie are active there...and they are. Did not want to pull kayak 126 miles until I knew. There was some bass activity but not much. The Shad minnows are all over the place. I sat in that one spot catching Crappie and then decided to go below dam before heading home to see if any Whites...Hybrids...Striper action was there. There were only two people fishing below the dam. I walked up to the cutback but did not even get a hit. Was going to take tomorrow off but those Gills in that 40 plus feet of water are calling at Pickwick. Hope when I get up I feel like hitting it.



Regards

[agelesssone]

Alpha, I sure have to give you credit. You sure get around in your fishing quests. Makes me tired just to think of all that driving!

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

Alpha, I sure have to give you credit. You sure get around in your fishing quests. Makes me tired just to think of all that driving!

You know there are times when the driving gets to me. But on days like today I really get pumped up about fishing. I hope next Spring I can go to a lake and camp there for 2 or 3 days and then drive back home.


Regards