Full-Moon Fever -- Catch it !!!

[Kaptain Kaliko]

A general message to fellow slab-seekers out there .... pay attention to the upcoming full-moon phase soon approaching us ....
this week ( Wed. 14th thru Sun. 18th ) ..... this WILL BE some of the
HOTTEST ACTION THIS YEAR !! I' ll bet my depthfinder on it !
Want details ? Post a reply to this thread !
If you can get out during this time ( day or night ) , by all means --
DO IT !! You won' t be disappointed !

There' s only a limited amount of warm-weather days left this year , to take advantage of excellent action for crappies . Don' t make the mistake of "wishing you had went" ..... get out there and get some slabs !!
I' ll be happy to share any useful tips and meteorological data for
the the next two weeks in this month . ( My "real job " involves
researching and collecting meteorological data -- past , present , and future ... including weather trends . )
Weather ALWAYS plays a huge role in the success ( or not ) of all
fishing activities . The more you learn about HOW weather conditions impact fishing activity , the more fish you can -- and WILL catch !!
Again , if anyone needs a specific detail(s) , don' t hesitate to ask .
P.M. to me , or simply reply to this thread . But I can only say that if you do post during the full-moon phase , I may be too busy to reply quickly ---- I' ll be out catching slabs !!
Kapn' K. ---- signing out

[fishnfilet]

how did u do eric

[Kaptain Kaliko]

how did u do eric

Hey Dave !

Oh well ..... can' t win ' em all ! Crappie were in a negative mode ..... lockjaw -- whatever ...... but we did manage a half a dozen runts .... did , however , ( as a consolation ) pick up three real
nice "jack" perch ..... 12" and 13" .... plus a few nice bucketmouths ,
15" and 16 " .... and even about 5 nice bull ' gills -- around 9" and 10 " ..... so , overall , not a washout ..... but still , no keeper
specks !! Durnit !! We literally threw every ' trick in the book ' at those finicky slabs ..... and they were DEFINITELY THERE , TOO !! Evidence showed by sonar , w/ typical suspended crappies schooling over deep weed points , right over deeper ( 20' to 28 ' feet ) water ,
but no taker slabs ...... I think that damned pesky hurricane that stalled over the mid-atlantic created a collusion with the mini-cold-front on Saturday night / Sunday morning , and shut down the slabs .
Too bad , cause the full-moon effect was just right -- would have set the stage for a dynamite outing ..... like I said -- Oh well !!

Now , for the REAL consolation ...... they can slow me down -- but they can' t STOP ME !! We' re going out tomorrow at noon , and will fish till the wee hours of Thursday .... like 3:00a or even longer ...... whatever it takes ...... we' ll be trying some new and improved tricks , if the slabbers give us any more negative vibes !!

One of these "new" tricks will be to employ a super-slow troll ,
w/ swimmin' jigs , tipped w/ BIG fatheads , and utilizing a zig-zag and sway motion w/ the boat & rods ...... also , we' ll be trying out some new-fangled horse-head jigs w/ "Yum" beavertails -- 2" , in black and white ..... and finally , trolling Smithwick Rouges ( in the
"Fire tiger" pattern , swimmin' 'em @ 2mph @ 18' to 24' depths ....
two-foot leader , barrel swivel , and in-line 2oz. lead . This crank-bait
pattern is one that I was turned-on to by a Crappie Pro out in the Mid-west .... he uses the "Rouge" for big slabs , when they are in one of their finicky moods .

Wednesday' s peak feeding time is from around 2:00pm 'till 7:00pm
and the evening bite SHOULD be good , but we' ll just have to see ..... We' re gonna give it our " all " ..... and what I can tell you about that is -- those slabbers better watch out ..... we' re on a RAMPAGE !!

I' ll post an update on the results of this outing on Friday .

Dave , how have you been hittin' 'em ? Are you noticing any changes in crappie movements ? Depths ? Are you changing any of your tactics ? Give me an update ..... Best of luck to you , and thanks again for the great photos !!

Tight lines ....... Kapn' K ..... signing off for now

[SteveJ]

While I'm from way down south I have found that I really have a tough time when the water is dead slick, any meteorological reason for that in your research?

[Kaptain Kaliko]

While I'm from way down south I have found that I really have a tough time when the water is dead slick, any meteorological reason for that in your research?

Hey Steve ,

What time of day ( or night ) are you referring to ? ( It DOES
make a difference ! )

A dead calm during daylight hours usually signals an unstable ( or
static ) barometer .... not always , but often . This condition is the absolute WORST for most game feeding activity .... they go into a
negative mode , hunker down , and you can' t pry their mouths open.

On the other hand , very light windspeeds ( or practically none at all ) at night , like well after sundown , is a fairly normal warm-weather pattern and usually promotes peak feeding activity , provided
most other weather-related and solar-lunar factors are favorable .
The key here is that optimum fishing conditions rely on several
factors , and simply having a rising barometer , w/ light windspeed ,
and comfortable airtemps doesn' t necessarily mean that you' ll fare
well with catching tons of fish on that particular day ( or night ).
Bottom line ; there are so many factors that come into play. The more you can learn about HOW such conditions affect feeding times,
the more successful angler you will become .
Personally , I spent many moonlit nights hunting for slabs on southern impoundments , mainly in Virginia and Florida. I still use many of the same techniques up here in New York State , to capture platter-sized crappies . I have simply adjusted some of my
methods to suit the climate and seasonal migration patterns .

I will say this -- I believe that New york State is highly under-
rated for crappie .... I have caught just as many slabs here in Upstate -- and just as big -- as I' ve caught in any southern lake , reservoir , or river . The fact is , most anglers up in this neck of the woods simply don' t target them , and plenty of these folks
don' t even believe that crappies grow more than 10" !!
All the more action for us , my friend .

I hope I' ve been some help , and if you need more information ,
please be very specific .... as I' ve already said , there are many ,
MANY factors !!

Kapn' K

[SteveJ]

Most of my fishing if not all is during the day and mainly in the morning until the late fall and winter. This last time was yesterday morning and it was a bluebird day, no clounds. I'm pretty sure we have a high over us now, thank the Lord it is keeping Rita from coming back thru here like Katrina did, we had a real bad time here in MS. I live in the central part of the state along the Ala. line. My sister-in-law lives just south of Houston and they have been ordered out. But back to fishing, it has been a while since rain and the lake is very clear for around here which I'm sure does help with my style of fishing which is jigpoling with a pole in each hand mainly following along creeks and dropoffs. Also it seems the lake is on the upswing as the crappie I have caught lately are much thicker than last year.

[Trihull]

Kapitan K

I sent you a PM.

Trihull

A general message to fellow slab-seekers out there .... pay attention to the upcoming full-moon phase soon approaching us ....
this week ( Wed. 14th thru Sun. 18th ) ..... this WILL BE some of the
HOTTEST ACTION THIS YEAR !! I' ll bet my depthfinder on it !
Want details ? Post a reply to this thread !
If you can get out during this time ( day or night ) , by all means --
DO IT !! You won' t be disappointed !

There' s only a limited amount of warm-weather days left this year , to take advantage of excellent action for crappies . Don' t make the mistake of "wishing you had went" ..... get out there and get some slabs !!
I' ll be happy to share any useful tips and meteorological data for
the the next two weeks in this month . ( My "real job " involves
researching and collecting meteorological data -- past , present , and future ... including weather trends . )
Weather ALWAYS plays a huge role in the success ( or not ) of all
fishing activities . The more you learn about HOW weather conditions impact fishing activity , the more fish you can -- and WILL catch !!
Again , if anyone needs a specific detail(s) , don' t hesitate to ask .
P.M. to me , or simply reply to this thread . But I can only say that if you do post during the full-moon phase , I may be too busy to reply quickly ---- I' ll be out catching slabs !!
Kapn' K. ---- signing out