• The Honey Tree - by Slabsrus

    With the winds blowing out of the east and south east Saturday evening, and knowing that the waters would be stained brown from all the recent rains, I really didn’t expect much as I put my fishing gear in my kayak and headed out for a short scouting paddle to try and could located a few crappies or bluegills. I had 3 specific locations in mind that have produced decent panfish shortly after ice out on a regular basis over the past 8 years. I would make a few casts into each of those spot and if they produced any fish, or even just bites, then it would be time to start the search for enough fish for the first fish fry of the season.


    As I eased my kayak around the first shoreline point that I came to, ready to make my first cast of the season, I was disappointed to find a motor boat with two fisherman already fishing in one of my favorite early spring crappie holes. They said they were getting a few so I moved on to my next spot, which unfortunately didn’t even produce a bite. The third and fourth spots I tried were just as uneventful as the first, and I was beginning to wonder if it was just too early to find fish in those particular locations, though I was quite confident that the fish were nearby just waiting to come in. I then headed back to the spot where the other anglers were fishing but stayed near deeper water along the main river channel where it meets the entrance to the bay.

    About 3 casts into trying that spot I was hooked into a fish but the excitement of my first fish of the season was short lived as it came off before I managed to get it to the kayak. Even having lost that fish my spirits were high knowing that fish were there and at least one of them was willing to bite my bait. I continued to make one cast after another into the deeper water, allowing my bait sink to the bottom before slowly retrieving it. Over the course of about an hour I only managed to land one crappie and it was starting to get pretty chilly so I decided to call it quits and give it another shot on Sunday evening.


    Once again, Sundays’ weather was producing an east wind and it was a bit stronger than Saturday. Clouds had moved in and there was a thirty percent chance of rain causing me to ponder whether I really wanted to go fishing or not. Having only caught one fish on Saturday, and knowing that I could get rained on and not get a bite, it took a bit of convincing from my wife about how good a fresh fish dinner would be before I actually decided to head out.


    It was a bit of a surprise to see the same boat and fisherman in the first spot that I planned on fishing as there was on Saturday, but I knew fish were there so baited up my line and began fishing. Thirty minutes or so into my fishing, the other anglers packed up and left so I started making slow drifts across the entire little bay hoping to find a school of hungry crappie. Drift after drift my baits went untouched, and I only managed to land one crappie in two hours. Fresh fish dinner wasn’t looking very likely as the evening was passing quickly leaving me only about an hour to fish before having to return home come up with an alternative plan for supper. It was time for a move and a last minute effort to bring home some fillets, and I knew just the spot that might produce.



    Less than a two minute paddle from where I had been fishing is a submerged tree that I can count on to give up a few crappies and bluegills all year, but from time to time it can be chock full of them. The problem is that the majority of that tree is underwater and even though I don’t use electronic fish finders or graphs, and don’t always know exactly where the deepest water branches are, I was confident that I could stay far enough away when I start casting and then slowly work my way in until I started catching fish or began getting tangled in the unseen tree limbs. Once I hit fish or branches, I would just work my lure in and around the area, trying to search every nook and cranny of the submerged tree.


    Well it didn’t take long to find out if my move was a good idea or not as my first cast was answered by a thump and steady pressure on my line. My first reaction was that I had found the tree, but when I felt a fish shake its head my excitement began to rise. Even though the water was too stained to see a fish more than a couple feet away, I was sure it was a crappie just by the way it felt as I was reeling it in. If you have caught crappies then you know what I am talking about, but if you haven’t, imagine a wet paper bag on the end of your line that has a tendency to move to the side from time to time. Sometimes they just come to the top and flop on their side, without putting up much of a fight at all. But either way I had one on, and it wasn’t long before I was able to see it. It was a crappie, and it was a nice one. I reeled it to within about six feet from the end of my rod then swung my rod to the opposite side of my kayak, placing the fish along the side the kayak , and then reached down and scooped it up. As is my personal tradition, I released that fish since it was the first keeper of the day, and then mentally crossed my fingers hoping that a couple more would follow so that I could at least take home a few fillets for my wife.






    In an instant it was as if someone had dropped me on a pond full of crappies that had not been fed in months. Every cast of my lure was picked up by a fish. One after another, crappies began to fill my bucket. On three separate occasions, while placing a fish in my bucket, another crappie took my bait while it was dangling in the water over the side of my kayak. I was on the fish and they were hungry for my bait, and in just under an hour I had my 25 crappie limit and was paddling my way home.





    The weather was nice with a tailwind helping push me the half mile paddle home. The fishing was great with a limit in my bucket. But the most amazing part of the day was when those first fillets came out of that hot grease bath and onto our plates.

    Comments 13 Comments
    1. Billbob's Avatar
      Billbob -
      looks good
    1. DCottrell's Avatar
      DCottrell -
      Awesome.
    1. yankee doodler's Avatar
      yankee doodler -
      Nice read Frank, but ya just gotta give more detail...like where the tree is, what colors, water depth, fishing depth...nothing too specfific.
    1. RetiredRR's Avatar
      RetiredRR -
      Good report.
    1. crappiebum_kc's Avatar
      crappiebum_kc -
      Nice lookin crappies, and those fillets is making me hungry
    1. mikelane's Avatar
      mikelane -
      How about some GPS coordinates? Lol - great story!
    1. crappiecrazy's Avatar
      crappiecrazy -
      Good article! What did you bread those fillets in? Looks good!
    1. boatdocksam's Avatar
      boatdocksam -
      yum
    1. crappiehogman's Avatar
      crappiehogman -
      thank you for sharing with us your fillets, they look delicious.
      Nothing like the hit, hit, BAM...and then you have the rest of the story, and a good one. again thanks.
    1. NYHellbender's Avatar
      NYHellbender -
      Nice lookin fillets, what did you bread them with? Beer batter?
    1. Bikeman53's Avatar
      Bikeman53 -
      looks good
    1. slabsrus's Avatar
      slabsrus -
      NYHellbender, that is simply a cheap batter from the $1 aisle at the grocery store where my wife works. Don't even know the brand but it works real good.
    1. ronetone's Avatar
      ronetone -
      great read, nothing like fresh fish for dinner
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