Originally Posted by alamancecreek
Hit the lake this morning alone. Got the boat launched and was making my way at idle speed towards the bridge, reach over to turn the Lowrance on......missing. Look up front for the trolling motor mounted Lowrance......missing. I remembered that lastnight after returning from Jordan I took them off the boat and brought them in the house. Doh So, with no electronics I set off on a blind voyage for crappie.
Although I live within 10 mins. of the ramp I rarely fish this lake. It's a nice lake, I just despise the ramp fees, having to be off the water at a certain time, lake closed certain days, etc. but for a quick morning trip it's an alright place to go.
There was a nice breeze and plenty of boats on the water as I got under the Huffman Mill bridge and headed towards the other side of the lake. I decided to try some brush piles that I thought I could locate without the Lowrance so I tightlined some jigs off the front and guessed at how fast I was trolling. Within a few minutes 3 of the 4 rods went down, all 8 inch fish and paper thin. I sat over that brush for an hour or so and must've caught 40 fish all the same size and so thin you could almost see through them.
By now the sun was beaming pretty hard and I decided to try for some bluegill. Mackintosh has a real nice overhang of trees/shrubs that give the fish a nice 3-4 ft. area of shade off the bank. Water was down a bit so it made flippin' under the bushes pretty easy. The gills were under just about every bush, and all it took was a 1/32 lead head tipped with a redworm and I was in business. Couldn't keep count on the gills but between the crappie early this morning and the gills later on, I'm almost positive 100 fish went in and out the boat today.
It was pretty funny watching all the bass boats look at me like I was alien with all the rods out over that brush pile this morning. Other than MacCrappie from the site here, I've never seen anyone spider rigging for crappie on this lake. Probably because it's not a real good lake to fish for big crappie to start with. (my opinion).
I'm not sure if it's overpopulated or just no food but over the last 10 years of me living in this area I've yet to catch a crappie over 12 inches in this lake. 99.9% of the fish are 6-8 1/2 inches and paper thin regardless of the time of year you catch them. I know they are in there somewhere but I've just never caught any. Even during the spawn when they are on the banks, it's been 8 inch fish.
On a side note, I took a picture of the boat with the front Tbar and back trolling bar along with my tip savers I picked up from Monk lastweek. The boat is turning out to be just about perfect for everything I need it to do. The tipsavers sure make a difference when traveling on the water and storing the rods going to and from the lake.
Although I live within 10 mins. of the ramp I rarely fish this lake. It's a nice lake, I just despise the ramp fees, having to be off the water at a certain time, lake closed certain days, etc. but for a quick morning trip it's an alright place to go.
There was a nice breeze and plenty of boats on the water as I got under the Huffman Mill bridge and headed towards the other side of the lake. I decided to try some brush piles that I thought I could locate without the Lowrance so I tightlined some jigs off the front and guessed at how fast I was trolling. Within a few minutes 3 of the 4 rods went down, all 8 inch fish and paper thin. I sat over that brush for an hour or so and must've caught 40 fish all the same size and so thin you could almost see through them.
By now the sun was beaming pretty hard and I decided to try for some bluegill. Mackintosh has a real nice overhang of trees/shrubs that give the fish a nice 3-4 ft. area of shade off the bank. Water was down a bit so it made flippin' under the bushes pretty easy. The gills were under just about every bush, and all it took was a 1/32 lead head tipped with a redworm and I was in business. Couldn't keep count on the gills but between the crappie early this morning and the gills later on, I'm almost positive 100 fish went in and out the boat today.
It was pretty funny watching all the bass boats look at me like I was alien with all the rods out over that brush pile this morning. Other than MacCrappie from the site here, I've never seen anyone spider rigging for crappie on this lake. Probably because it's not a real good lake to fish for big crappie to start with. (my opinion).
I'm not sure if it's overpopulated or just no food but over the last 10 years of me living in this area I've yet to catch a crappie over 12 inches in this lake. 99.9% of the fish are 6-8 1/2 inches and paper thin regardless of the time of year you catch them. I know they are in there somewhere but I've just never caught any. Even during the spawn when they are on the banks, it's been 8 inch fish.
On a side note, I took a picture of the boat with the front Tbar and back trolling bar along with my tip savers I picked up from Monk lastweek. The boat is turning out to be just about perfect for everything I need it to do. The tipsavers sure make a difference when traveling on the water and storing the rods going to and from the lake.
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