Rockhouse in my kayak

[Ditch Basser]

Rockhouse in my kayak Work and family have kept me busy for a couple of weeks, but a carved out a few hours today to go and chase Crappie. I put my kayak in the creek that drains Rockhouse looking for somewhere to get out of the wind. I caught a couple hundred, most were over 10 inches. Kept some for dinner tonight, fresh crappie are always hard to beat.

Fish were scattered everywhere, never caught more that one off any single piece of brush. The area is pumped all the way down now. The creek has water a couple of feet deep, but that’s all. Lots of huge Carp, Buffalo and Gar everywhere. Tossed back a couple dozen Bass also, mixed bag and lots of fun.

I used a single 10 foot rod with a 1/16 oz chartreuse marabou jig. The largest I kept was just short of 15 inches (swallow the jig and probably would have died). I released a 15 and 16 inch Crappie. I also lost a Huge Black Crappie that was near 18 inches. I have to admit, I might have gotten that fish mounted to go over the fireplace if I’d gotten it in. I lost a large Black Crappie near 18 inches last year twice in this same area. Maybe I’ll get this one yet since the fish can leave the area (the pump/levee blocks access back into Wheeler). It’s also too difficult for most people to even consider fishing.

The fish had all spawned out and are still looking thick and health with the cool water temperatures. This area, with the very shallow water, can have a large fish kill off at any time during July and August.

[crappieseeker]

very nice

[WTucker]

Ditchbasser, you've had a much better year than I've had. You seem to catch huge numbers every time that you go. Maybe I need a kayak and not my boat. Nice report. Where is this "Rockhouse"? I've never heard of it.

[Ditch Basser]

Rockhouse is a waterfowl dewatering area. The fields are planted and left standing when flooded in the fall providing areas for waterfowl to feed and stay over the winter. During the spring the area is pumped out so it can be replanted. The levee’s and pump at rockhouse control water depth. A couple times a year Lake Wheeler gets high enough to flood across the levee into the dewatering area bring in the fish. Basically you have several hundred acres that’s three to four feet deep 6 months out of the year. All the fish area pulled into a creek that’s 30 foot wide and 2 or 3 miles long for the other 6 months.


When the pump is running for several weeks draining the area, dozens of people will be fishing the outflow into Lake Wheeler.

The fish trapped in the backside have no way of getting out and back into the lake. The creek has muddy steep sides with lots of vegetation, trees, snakes ect. The bottom is also very muddy. It’s all but impossible to get a boat in and out and you don’t want to be wide fishing it either.

Perfect area for a kayak though!

[wahanlin]

Very cool, thanks for the info DitchBasser. I have heard about fishing these waterfowl de-watering areas, but have never had the chance to explore any myself.

[DrJohn]

That's a nice looking mess of fish!

[Ditch Basser]

If the area is large and holds at least 36 inches of water year round, then there are fish in it. I use to catch Bass in storm ditches in Georgia, that's were I picked up the name. I caught a couple 7 1/2 pound Largemouth Bass in a ditch that only held 24 inches of water. Up stream and down stream went dry between rain events, but a half mile section had been cleaned out and was a little deeper.

If you want to catch fish, look for the areas that other people have over looked or labeled as too hard!

Good Luck!!

[Bob D]

Good run down thanks. Some of the buffalo in there are huge!! I've watched a number of folks shoot them with bows. This water is very sensitive to rain as well and muddies up badly very quickly.

[crappieseeker]

I have an area like this I have fished for nearly 30 years. I have caught thousands of fish there. It is not as good now as it use to be but it is still decent. All these areas seem to be good fishing areas

[Ditch Basser]

Bob D, you are right on both comments, a light rain will turn this area into chocolate milk for days. Some of the carp and buffalo are over 40 pounds and have nearly flipped my kayak. Nothing better for the heart rate than spooking a three foot long fish in two foot of water at daylight and having it go under your kayak.