Thread: Crankin KY Lake Oct 2nd

I got a late week call for a short notice trip from a father and son from the Louisville area. We got it worked out and got on the water shortly after 7. It was plenty cool and the cloud cover hung around for quite some time. Neither of these guys had ever even heard of pulling cranks for crappie, much less done it. When they saw the size of some of the baits we were going to use they were even more surprised.

I spent several minutes explaining what we would be doing and why, explaining the reels and how they worked since they had always cast for bass and such, and getting the logistics of how the rods would be organized and what we would do when a fish was hooked or a bait hung up. All the explaining in the world is no substitute for just getting some baits wet and learning from doing. The lake was really calm for most of the day even though we got some chop from a northeast wind a little later.

Earlier in the week I had been on a really good bite for numbers but the quality was way down from what I expect to see. Monday and Tuesday (by myself Monday and with client Tuesday) we had boated 28 keepers with zero under 10 inches and zero above 12 inches.

The crappie started cooperating pretty quick and my clients were quick learners. At one point we had 4 keepers on and landed all 4. We caught a few short crappie, several small yellows, and a couple keeper bass. We ended up with 23 keeper crappie.No monsters were caught but 2-3 in the 14 inch range made the ziplock bags look better.

My bout with vertigo has taken a bunch out of me and I was beat when we got to the dock fish cleaning station. I started filleting and had several piled up when we realized we hadn't taken any pics. Here's a shot of what were left to do. It ended up being a good day with 2 tickled clients who are already making plans on what they need to buy to set up their small boat to pull cranks.

Originally Posted by wilbur

Nice job Doug as usual. Which dock has a cleaning station? Dont think I ever seen one on the lake.

Just about all the smaller resorts have cleaning stations. Moors and Big Bear just rerbuilt theirs this year. Ky state park and Green Turtle do not have them unfortunately. Hillman Ferry campground has one but its WAY up a hill around the bend from the water. Kids love to carry a bucket full of fish....just ask them!!! They also love to watch fish fileting. I have helped two boy scouts earn a merit badge for catching and also for cleaning a fish!!! Life is great!!