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Reply With QuoteGreat report.Thats the way it was when I fished there. you would hit small schools. but i would go back over the exact same spot and nothing.
Keeper
Floating on Lake Monroe 10/18 + 10/19
Saw a lot of people out on the water both days. It was real nice with Sunday being more windy and a little choppy but still very comfortable even on my little center console. I'm still in the learning process and working with minimal equipment so my numbers don't match what other's post but I'm still very happy with my catches and have a blast.
Technique: Pulling poles at 1-1.1 knots
Saturday Morning
Started off in the high 50s but calm. The moon was fairly high in the sky when I got to the boat. Poles went into the water around 7:30am and we finished up at 12:15pm. Started doing my usual path and it was a little slower than the other trips. However, 50% of the day's catches had two lines being hit at the same time or consecutively. It gave me some confidence that my presentation must have been fairly decent. Once my bait was going through a school, they bit and caught at least. I was using different color jigs on 5 poles, 3 with just power bait, 2 with a short wiggly worms. My 6th and 7th poles were my new 12' B'N'M Pro Staffs. They have Okuma Magda counter reels on them that I honestly hate. I can learn a lot out through the setup though so it's not all lost. Mom and I had 19 keepers that day with about 30 caught total.
Sunday Morning
I hit the water with my wife who was just coming for the ride. She has no interest in fishing but loves to read so she spent the day lounging and reading. This morning was warmer in the low 60s but the wind was a little stronger. Tried the usual path again and it was pretty slow most of the time, and when they hit, they hit in pairs or succession again. I didn't have 3 poles going out at once yet, but it's bound to happen soon. Same poles out on Sunday but this time I was 1-manning it! Kept me busy and I loved every minute of it. I had 17 keepers with about 30 caught again. I tried not taking anything that isn't easy to fillet lol. I actually ended up ordering a fillet knife last night as I was using a sharp kitchen knife instead. My mother has one and I always ended up cleaning them at her house in the past. She took Saturday's catch with her knowing I was taking wifey out Sunday so Sunday I was caught fillet knife-less.
Nothing beats fresh same day caught crappie!!! I have to start diversify our recipe for it or we'll get bored soon lol. Ended up bringing fried fillets to 3 neighbors and they all loved it.
I have some photos of other boats I saw trolling out on the water but I didn't want to post them on here without asking first.
Goals for next trip: Install a mount for front of boat to move trolling motor there. Try pushing some crank baits from the sides instead of having all jigs in the rear.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend out there with bent poles!
I'll be hitting the lake either Wednesday and Thursday or Thursday and Friday so let me know if anyone else plans on going out and I'll make sure to say hello when we pass. Time to work now though! Have to get ahead on my work to do so. You have to work hard before you can play hard... otherwise the wife gives me dirty looks!
Take care all! Wojtek
Last edited by wojtek9321; 10-20-2014 at 06:40 AM. Reason: I need to proof read before hitting submit lol
Crappie.com 1K Star General
Great report.
THE BEST TIME TO FISH IS WHEN IT'S RAINING AND WHEN IT'S NOT RAINING
Keeper
I don't really turn much unless I'm turning around completely but it's a slow turn. I have 7 lines pulling in the back and it's being done by a 15 year old 35 ft/lb minn kota that's on a transom mount. I need to get my trolling motor to the front as movement on the boat sets me off course all the time. What I really need to do is get a bigger boat and a ipilot lol.
By the way if anyone knows anyone looking to sell a 3 or 4 rod holder I'm interested. I'm looking to get one without waiting for shipping though so used local would be ideal. I do plan on taking a ride to Bass pro tomorrow to see if they carry one there.
Crappie.com Legend
Great report....I might be going Wed or Thur... got to check and I'll send you a PM
aka: Baconator
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER and SBF
authorized by: billbob and "G"
Crappie.com 3K Star General
Sounds like a great weekend........both days on the water....I can only pull that off every now & then
The finest gift you can give to any fisherman is to put a good fish back, and who knows if the fish that you caught isn't someone else's gift to you?"
Crappie.com 1K Star General
Great report
Luke:5
6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
Crappie.com Legend
Bass Pro stocks Driftmaster. I got mine there and have found nothing at all wrong with them.Originally Posted by wojtek9321
Keeper
Awesome let me know what you'll be trolling in and I'll try and spot you. I'm planning on being out Wednesday alone to install some new toys on the rig and try them out. On Thursday and Friday I'll be bringing each one of my parents... separately lol. They can't seem to fish without arguing so I need to bring them both out individually. I just wish either one of them got used to controlling a boat well enough so they could dock and go on their own. I might ask the marina to swap spots when one becomes available where they can make a straight shot into the spot.
No one else in my family is willing to pull the boat out themselves so I'm the captain and it gives me a lot of "I have to take" excuses. The past two months I've been going out 6-10 times a month. I'm self employed so I end up being at work from 6-7am during the non-fishing days to get ahead and sneak out early morning when I do go fishing. Typically when I fish on workdays I'm back at the office by noon-1pm. I also stay late and work from home so a slacker I'm notSounds like a great weekend........both days on the water....I can only pull that off every now & then. The wife is definitely understanding of my addiction to fishing but I got lucky with her.
Thanks I'll be posting up another one to recap the end of the week or updating this one. I hope I don't create too much buzz with my reports lol. Going to make them seem too good and crowd up the fishing spots.
I ended up supporting my local baitshop. The price was better than Bass Pro's pricing even so it was a double win. I try putting money in the local economy when I can, and it's great when you get to meet really friendly people at the same time. I'm a small business owner myself so I'm kind of biased though... Anyway... Stopped by Bitter's Bait on 17-92 and had the chance to speak to John. Not sure if he's a member on here or not but I did mention that I learned a lot from reading this forum and he agreed that it's a really great forum. I ended up picking up the Driftmaster system and learned a lot about setting up my jig for pushing instead of pulling. He went as far as showing me exactly how to tie it all together. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that the crappie season is just pretty much starting. I wasn't sure what the season is like all year as this is my first month crappie fishing in FL. I used to catch crappie in NY as a little kid under a bobber on a minnow but that was totally different. My parents always chose live bait over artificials so I grew up on live bait. I experimented with artificials here and there but nothing extensive.
I also ended up picking up a Minn Kota V2 Powerdrive 45lb trust from a guy in St Cloud last night. Slowly upgrading the rig! I got it for $220 and it's in excellent shape. I don't need anything fancier or stronger. It will allow me to keep any eye out for a iPilot Link or iPilot standard that might pop up used for sale.
Happy fishing everyone!
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Nice report and some good-looking pics. Looks like you had a good time.
Crappie.com Legend
Hey 9321...looks like I'll never catch up here.....Sorry but I won't coming over this week...was looking forward to meeting you and of course catching some big ones.
Mike
aka: Baconator
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER and SBF
authorized by: billbob and "G"
