Thread: Curious ?

I enjoy targeting almost all species other than Bass, however I love eating 14-16" large and smallmouth bass through the ice. Crappies deserve the same respect as all other species, and I target them the most because I tourney fish them, but my true love is walleye, but I cheat regularly via the crappie, catfish, carp, bluegill, pike, soon to be musky... Life is good when your fishing, that's for sure!

i switch it up as well. there are times of year that pull me to other fish. this time of year i have to split my time mainly between cats and crappie. but i do toss in a dash of bass gills pike n eyes, when i get the notion.

totally after crappie. Use to bass fish for years, tourneys, the trips, always bass. But then it hit me that a day of 3 bass, one legal keeper, 2 short fish and 1 missed bite, I would consider a good day. And hundreds and hundreds of $$$$ I knew I had to change. Went crappie fishing with a buddy I hadn't seen in years, it was August 5th and hot 95. He ask if I wanted to go crappie fishing and told him I had nothing but bass equipment. He said he had everything, gave me a 10 ft pole and we jigged straight down off the bottom with jigs and nibblets and flat tore the crappie up. NICE ONES. That was 15 years ago and have never went back and after seeing what some of them crank-baits go for 20-25$$ I am glad when I break off a 52cent jig. I have seen it more than once: fishing a point over a brush pile and a bassfisherman comes by and I let him cross in front and with all his fancy cr.. I mean stuff he does not even see the pile ask him how he is doing and he says one little one and had 2 bites and is so proud. He ask how I am doing a tell him I just got started and had 7 12inchers and 15 10inchers and am so PROUD.

Originally Posted by bigarm

That was 15 years ago and have never went back and after seeing what some of them crank-baits go for 20-25$$

I don't fish tournaments much, but I do own some 20 dollar crankbaits. Someone above said something about musky fishing, want to talk about expensive hobby.

Crappie 85% of the time bass 15% bass fishing is to much like work lol..

90 percent of the time i fish for crappie and bluegill. I use to fish for catfish and largemouth bass when i was younger but now i really have no interest in either of them. I also do most of my fishing now in the spring. I used to fish a lot over the summer but not anymore. If i do get out in the summer it's usually along the eel river for some big smallmouth, even get lucky sometimes and find the very rare bonus walleye in there. I also go to lake michigan occasionally in the summer and charter fish for salmon. In the fall, i like to fish Michigan City harbor off the shore for the Kings that make there spawning run. That's a lot of fun but i have been skunked the last 2 years now.

I'm going to say 80% bass fishing still, 15% crappie fishing, and 5% everything else, mostly bluegill and white bass. Love walleye, but they're mostly incidental since I'm not close to any "good" walleye lakes. Have given up on all the tourney stuff, though I did it for 25 years. Have downsized boats, but still get in 100+ days a year on the water, about the most I can do since I'm not retired. Do enjoy the crappie fishing though, especially deep open water graphing for isolated cover and jigging using light rods, small line and casting techniques. And yes, $20 crankbaits (and topwaters), I've got 'em. Many I've paid more than that for

-T9

Crappie 90%, 5% Bluegill, 5% Big Catfish.

For me it's the challenge of finding the ELUSIVE, sometimes finicky, sometime lock jawed, great tasting critters! Most times I leave the lake skunked!!! But by the next morning or weekend, I'm all fired up ready to get back after them!
Like Bigarm said though, If you do find them & strike gold, then you also have some good eats. BUT, it can also get as expensive as bass fishing. ( for me anyways) The wife looks at me strange when I come home successful, (RARE)
As if to say, "All of that,...for that!" LOL,