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Thread: New Waters and New Techniques Pay Dividends

  1. #1
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    Default New Waters and New Techniques Pay Dividends


    Saturday I decided to try a new lake to see if the crappie population would warrant a good day of fishing. Lately, I've been testing my ability to push jigs tightlining on a local lake a few minutes from home, so naturally upon launching on the new lake, I went right to it. I immediately found fish that were willing to bite, but they seemed to be grouped up as a smaller year class than what I would want to keep. After a while, I fired up the Yammy and headed out to scout a bit. I found a mouth of a cove that ran about 16-18 feet deep, with rises on either side that turned into flats about 12 feet deep. Thinking that slow tightlining would take forever to cover the structural changes in the area, I repositioned my rod holders and tied on a couple of 1/8th oz Roadrunners with Garlands new 2 1/2" Swimmer Shad (I think that's the name) and Mr. Crappie's Joker, and decided to try some longlining. What a way to cover water and find active crappies!! I made a regular cast for distance behind the boat and tried to keep the boat moving between .7 and 1mph, with .7-.8mph producing the best. I ran back and forth through the area for hours, picking up multiple fish on each pass. It turned out to be a great day on a new lake. I ended up keeping only ten fish, as there didn't seem to be a solid group of bigger fish to choose from. With a creel limit of 50, I'm assuming there are many small crappies in the lake, and from my sampling of the day, this may be close enough to accurate.



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  2. #2
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    sounds like you'll be fishing closer to home more often, lots of fun and a good dinner to boot.
    smiles are contagious, spread them around
    Proud Member of the ZIPPER Club
    & Team Geezer
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  3. #3
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    Great job I love to fish new lakes. Way to adapt to
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  4. #4
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    Just what the doctor ordered!!
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  5. #5
    chaunc's Avatar
    chaunc is online now 2014 Crappie.com Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Gonna have to keep some of those smaller ones sometime or that's all that will be left in the lake. It's a 50 fish limit for a reason. They need thinned out so some will have a chance to get bigger.
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  6. #6
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    WTG! Love those close to home waters.
    "A voyage in search of knowledge need never abandon the spirit of adventure."
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  7. #7
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    Great job finding them in new water.
    The love for fishing is one of the best gifts you can pass along
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by chaunc View Post
    Gonna have to keep some of those smaller ones sometime or that's all that will be left in the lake. It's a 50 fish limit for a reason. They need thinned out so some will have a chance to get bigger.
    I've seen this on other small lakes as an effort to do just that. One other state managed lake is full of shorter crappies and the biologist in the region encourages keeping plenty of the smaller ones to help. While I like to catch the bigger fish when I can, they all taste the same to me!

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by RWiske View Post
    I've seen this on other small lakes as an effort to do just that. One other state managed lake is full of shorter crappies and the biologist in the region encourages keeping plenty of the smaller ones to help. While I like to catch the bigger fish when I can, they all taste the same to me!
    yep- like I told my neighbor, if you roll them up in yellow cornmeal and eat the with your eyes closed,little ones taste just like big ones!!
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