Thread: Deep or Shallow?

Along time ago a couple of men wanted me to carry them on a guided fishing trip on Lake Blackshear. I was hesitant at first but I went ahead and took them. I had no idea where to take these men. For some unknown reason I decide to take them fishing up in the Smoak House area. For those of you that are not familiar with this area it is in the northern end of Lake Blackshear. We fished in water that was no deeper that 6 feet. We ended up with 26 nice crappie. Now what is so weird about this trip is that it was 96 degrees outside and we cought these crappie in shallow water. What I want to know is do any of you think that the crappie would be up in that shallow water now? I would like someone to tell me why I cought crappie this shallow in this type of heat. It was inj the middle of the summer.

ha, I was going to write a new topic this morning than chickened out about the same sort of thing.
We went to a new millpond yesterday (the wife and I) and caught spec's in 3-4 ft of water. I should say she caught in all honesty ,while I kept jigging after she caught the 1st one on crickets. Yup ...crickets!. I couldnt buy a bite with jigs or anything else and to add insult to injury,she tried switching off to worms and minnows and nothing. Soon as she went back to crickets ....she was catching again.
My question is why? And like yours......why so shallow especially this time of year.Recorder said 4-5ft of water and the water temp was 82.3 degrees .

Most of that stuff you read about Todd Huckabee in Crappie mag says he fishes shallow in the summer time of course using Yum stuff. Our lakes are so low we can't find a whole lot of bank fishing trees etc. but I have not done a whole lot of shallow stuff in the hot weather to know.

I know of a dock here on lanier that gets alot of shade and its off the beaten path of most all boaters but the water is 3-7 feet deep. (Dennis you know where) but it holds fish all year. these are small fish but they are there. I do sometimes catch keepers in other areas shallow but I think thay are chaseing bait at the time. If there is deep water near then they could be heading up to the shallows to feed then back down to the comfort zone the rest of the time.

Rusty you know I have limited knowledge of blackshear. But IMO here is the deal. The reason it confuses so many people is that the depth is so shallow. The northern end is fed by springs. I dug up some old maps way before the dams. Indian maps that had springs marked in several areas that are now under water. The flint is a cool river and the influx of cooler waters from the river and springs keeps the upper end cooler. The sun does warm it but with the rains the aquifiers that feed the springs keeps the temps down. Also during winter and early spring the water from the springs is warmer than the air temps so it helps keep the water warmer and helps the sun warm it back up in the spring. that IMO makes the upper end the place to seek those bigguns. Does that make sense to yall. I know plenty of crappie can be caught south of the train tressle but I'll fish above it 90% of my trips there.
As for the pond... The fish gotta eat and that is where the food is located. Bugs are plentiful so crickets are the natural forage. If I'm targeting dock lights I take crickets too. I cast them on a weightless 4# line and #2 hook. They will stay on top but you have to be kinda to close. works for a couple each night. I use jigs first.

Guys,since I am new to Georgia, I havent had the chance to fish any of these lakes yet,but the same thing happened to me in southern Illinois. It was mid August and the temps where in the high 90s. I was fishing back waters off the Ohio river. Fishing the drops of creek channels just picking up a few here and there. I pulled over to the bank to stretch my legs a bit. When I got back in the boat I just dropped a jig by an old stump that had only 2 feet of water around it. Out of that one place a took 34 crappies from 12 to 15 inches long. I would fish that spot every time I went back, but never caught or even had a bite there again.

here is some of what I found.
""""The Georgia Coastal Plain sediments contain as many as eight separated, major aquifers, five of which are found within the Cretaceous-age sediments. From oldest to youngest, the Cretaceous aquifers are the Tuscaloosa, Eutaw, Blufftown, Cusseta Sand, and Providence. The remaining three aquifers, from oldest to youngest, are the Clayton, Claiborne, and Floridan. The Flint River and many other area streams have eroded into each of the Cretaceous aquifers between the fall line and Montezuma. From Montezuma south to the northern part of Lake Blackshear, the streams cut into the upper part of the Claiborne aquifer. In the areas where the Coastal Plain aquifers interact with area streams, groundwater may be discharged into the stream, or streamflow may be lost to the aquifer. The direction of flow is dependent on the relative hydraulic head (pressure) relation where the stream and the aquifer meet.""""

:D Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!

lmao.... I do study some crazy stuff when surfing for fishing info. I'm trying to find those indian maps again

Smitty,

What website did you get that last bit of information?

Regards,

Dave