last minute change of plans ...

[CrappiePappy]

I had a trip to Watts Bar planned for this past weekend .... but:
I did not make it to Watts Bar, as was planned. Last minute offer of free lodging and guiding, sent me to Weiss Lake. Fished Fri thru Mon AM (mostly 4-5hr trips, from daylight til midday/early afternoon, due to high winds in the afternoon). We averaged around 30 fish per day ... bumping bottom in 12ft of water, along channel edges, using minnows. Most fish were healthy 10-13" Black Crappie, with a few White Crappie in the mix. I even caught a Blacknose Black Crappie ... making Ala. the third state I've caught Blacknose from (Ky/Tn the other two).
Water temps ranged from 67-69degs ... morning air temps were in high 40's and topped out in the high 60's to low 70's. Small minnows/shiners seemed to be the key in bait selection. Shallower than 12ft usually resulted in Yellow Bass or small Channel Catfish ... deeper than 12ft seemed to be relatively devoid of any catchable fish. Shad were holding in large sized schools, around wood cover at the 12ft depth level ... and cleaned fish were found to have stomachs full of them. The bite could be anything from a wiggle of the rod tip, to a "slam dunking" of the entire top half of the rod !! We were using 7-10ft med-light action rods, with heavy lead sinkers attached to the end of the line and snelled hooks attached to the line 6-8in above the sinker. Water level is too low for any "dock shooting" action, and the fish seem to still be somewhat scattered along the channel edge cover. We fished mainly around the Little River area.
Here's a few pics:

My fishing buddy Paul ... cleaning our host and guide's boat - I did the fiberglass/seats/accessories, he did the carpet:




Our great host and guide, Richard ... intently watching his poles and graph:



My fishing buddy, Paul, and Richard ... waiting on the next bite:



The results (pics are of two different days catch)






Needless to say, we had several meals of fresh fried Crappie !!!
Paul and I had a great time, and a productive trip, all thanks to Richard.

.......... cp

[Speck]

Very nice C.P. Looks like a great time.

[anchorpuller]

Sounds like you had a nice long weekend..what better than fishing with friends?
The first picture shows the water line of the lake exposed.
Hey.. yer buddy has a nice boat!
Glad you got to enjoy

[crappiequeennc]

Those are the kind of plans we would all like to get to change...Glad you had a great weekend...

[L.A. stumpjumper]

Sounds like a great weekend, some good looking black crappie. Thanks for the pictures.

[eastkycrappie]

Nice looking crappie and glad to hear you had a good time.

[ribit]

Great way to spend a weekend and some good looking fish. lol

[Backlash]

Awesome way to spend a long weekend. Of course I'm envious.

[wrwest]

Sounds like ya had a good time nice bunch of fish there too. GOOD lookin boat ...

[skiptomylu]

Sounds like a good time and I am thinking you are talking about crappie that have that black stripe between their eyes right down their nose, right? We have them here on Toledo Bend too.

Glad you had a good trip!