Some nice fish Jerry. That's the way they are on L. Monticello, even if you bring them up slow their air bladder is up in their throat.
We went to Lake Greeson this morning to sink some bamboo and do some scouting. The wind was up pretty good and blowing out of the NE with the passing of a cold front so we ducked into a deep creek arm just off the main channel where we've been catching a few crappie around 20-feet deep to get some protection from the wind.
We didn't get any bites at the depths we've been catching them there and my graph showed fish near the bottom from 28 to 35-feet deep so we dropped down to that depth range and started catching fish. We fished three bucket/bamboo condos and caught 2 or 3 fish on each one but the most productive area was a big rock pile where we caught over 20 crappie.
We caught a few on Rosy Red minnows but most came on chartreuse/silver/chartreuse and white/red/chartreuse hair jigs and the majority were right at 32-feet. (We mark our lines with permanent marker so we know how deep we are fishing).
Fortunately they were all good fish (except one that was about 9-inches) because their air bladders were bulging up in their throats and they were bleeding from their gills and I don't think any of the ones we caught over 30-feet deep could have survived if released.
So, I guess you could say they are heading into a winter pattern here even though our surface temperatures are still in the mid 50s.
Some nice fish Jerry. That's the way they are on L. Monticello, even if you bring them up slow their air bladder is up in their throat.
A bad day of fishing
beats a good day at work.
Jerry
Nice looking fish Jerry...
Deep fish is something we rarely get to play with out here but every so often when on the troll bite they drop out from the normal feeding depth of 12 to 16 feet and suspend around 25 feet or even hug the bottoms at 35 or so. Try as we may we have only caught fish once when they drop out. That was trolling at 1 mph with twin 1/8 oz JCJ's and Kalin grubs, 6 lb fireline and 100' of line out. BTW check out these reels for your trolling or drop fishing. They are a good reel for the little money and make it sooo easy to change depths on the fly... http://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...ductId=1731968
What methods could you share to up our odds on the deep fish?
Thanks...
Last edited by Jumping Cholla Jigs; 12-19-2006 at 06:22 PM.
Nice catch Jerry...
Hey JCJ:Originally Posted by Jumping Cholla Jigs
It's really unusual for us to catch crappie over 25-feet deep. This one creek arm seems to be the exception as I found them over 30-feet deep there last February too. The middle of the channel is about 60-feet deep where the creek arm meets the main river channel, which is about 70-feet deep. The sides drop off at least at a 45-degree angle, maybe more and our condos and the rock pile are a little more than half-way down the banks.
We fish the same way deep as we do shallower - hovering over the cover (brush, bamboo and today a rock pile) with minnows under slip-floats and vertical jigging 1/32nd and 1/16th ounce hair jigs either with or without a jig tipper (small Rosey Red) using 10 and 11-foot jig poles.
We don't anchor but use the trolling motor to position and move the bait over and around the cover or hold in place when we start getting bites.
We mark our lines with permanent marker at 20 and 30-feet so we know how deep we are fishing. We don't cast out at all, just drop straight down to the depth we're marking fish or we've had bites and move the jig up and down slowly or hold the jig as still as possible. We try to keep our lines tight - no slack - on the down stroke and sometimes move it downward just as slow as possible.
We use colored line so we can see a twitch or slack in the line but I also run the line lightly between my middle and index finger on my pole hand so I can feel the slightest nudge or even a slight change in pressure indicating a bite.
Most of the bites we had today were very light and all but one that really thumped it were hooked just inside their top lip.
Good going Jerry, Sounds like ya had a good time too. I just started fishin deep water 30' - 40' early last spring it was productive too. Keep it up
Gonefission
Bill
Thanks Jerry...
In similar situations we have a couple of tactics I think will improve your minnow bites even more.
1st... Use chartruese hooks. Believe it or not they work more often than other colors.
2nd... Bring along some paper cups (disposable) and put 1/2" of Berkley's Crappie scent in one. Just before you drop the minnow over the side dip his little butt in the scent. I've never seen it hurt the fishing but often seen it turn a picky bite into a hard bite.
Most things that work out west also work back east so take a shot and try them then let me know what you think.
Take care...
Hey JCJ:
I use Cod Liver Oil on my jigs but I've not tried scent on minnows yet. We were talking about trying chartreuse hooks today. Chartreuse is a good color to have on jigs so it should work on a minnow hook as well.
So many things to try and so little time!!
Jerry,
Nice pic of the "hushpuppie man"!! I still NEED that receipe!
Titleman
Hey Titleman:
Yep, that's Carlos The Hushpuppy Man. Guess what we did right after we took that picture. Yep, he started frying hushpuppies and fish while I filleted and he had a pile ready when I got done - and they were GOOOOOOOD too! That recipe is on the Crappie Camp Thread somewhere.