Odd stuff going on

[driller]

Guys--Fishing has slowed down the last few days even tho we have had some pretty nice weather for late Feb. and early march. For some reason the crappie seem to be "off their feed".

I have noticed that the few fish we are catching here have been eating algae off the brushpiles. Their stomachs are FULL of it. Any ideas?????

How do you get algae to stay on a hook????????????

Seriously--I have never noticed this before and am wondering if it is a normal thing for them to do.

[CrappiePappy]

can't say as I've ever heard of Crappie being "salad eaters" ... perhaps they are eating some type of aquatic critter that's IN the algae ??
How's the Shad population ? If there's been a big die off, like what happened in the Big Sandy area recently ... then maybe they are just subsisting on what they can.
Have you noticed the supposed transition of dominance, from White Crappie to Black Crappie, on Barkley ?? ........ cp

[driller]

Shad population here is good.

I know that the Fish and Wildlife dept says that the black crappie are becoming more plentiful than the whites, but I sure havent noticed it in my livewell. We probably catch 6-8 whites to each black.

[mattcombs]

Maybe the crap's have switched to a healthier, vegetarian lifestyle? :D

[markd85]

Hey Driller
I can confirm what your saying about the fish not biting real good the last week. The few I caught yesterday had something other than shad in their gut but I couldn;t say what it was. This was on Northern Ky. Lake. Also to CP, I catch 50 to 1 white to black crappie on Ky. or Barkley. I fish pretty deep compared to others I think, so that may be why. Still, most people I talk to say the same thing. They catch whites. Maybe I have to learn how to fish differently! Good luck.
Mark

[Greenwing]

I have noticed today and last Sunday there was alot of 2-3 inch shad on the surface not dead they appeared the same way a deep hooked fish looks this was on Barkley.

[stumpbumpers]

May their like dogs and eat it cause they've got a belly ache:rolleyes: . This would explain the lack of hungry fish:D

[EDDY CREEK BANDIT]

I worked very hard for a dozen today, they were slow for me on Barkley.
I noticed the same green slimey stuff as well, always thought it was partialy digested shad.

THE BANDIT

[newlite]

That's just digested shad you guys are seeing.I'v used enough shad guts catfishing to know what that looks like.We have had a pretty good shad die off around here in no.ky in the last month or so.Shad live off of that algae and stay full of it.I'v been seeing it also.Been catching a few in the creeks off the OH.

[Wiskers]

I've been fish'n Ky. and Barkley lakes and I have caught very few White Crappie. The ones I have caught have been a little deeper than the blacks. Earlier the blacks were starting to make thier move towards the banks but we are still catching good numbers in 10' to 12' of water. Wed, Thur, & Fri. just about everything I dressed was full of eggs; females. Sat. we kept 39 nice fish and I noticed they were about 50/50 male and females. I think this cooler weather has pushed the males back off into deeper water. The water temp has dropped about 4 degrees since Wed. It was 57 degrees Wed. and 53 degrees Sat. and will probably drop a couple more with this cold rain & cloud cover we are getting. The weather doesen't seem to effect the deeper fish as bad & I am still catching good numbers.