SIGHT ketchn on the BEDS !

[Ketchn]

Some will cry foul as they always do and to be sure I got a lesson on bedded fish the other day . The things I learned are in the ole memory bank for ever and several of them defy EVERYTHING I thought I knew and have always heard and read about crappie spawning .
I got an invite to a private lake I haven't been to in a while , the owner of a tract along the shore has 3 docks and said the crappie were all on beds right under his docks !
I was like well sir I would sure love to give them a go if its possible and he said sure come on out .Got there about 8 am and sure enough there were so many beds under his docks in around 3 to 5 fow I was shocked ! hundreds and hundreds of beds all along the shore and NOT a crappie on one of them !
He tells me this , they usually don't show up here until around 9 am and I was like what ? In real clear water they come when the sun is shining hard down on the beds ? Well sure enough I cant get a peck and manage one bluegill and just about say this is enough and THEN ….all the sudden about 9 am they came in like a pack of hounds and set up on every bed !
VERY nice and orderly and no aggression to each other at all and to make it even better several bass and a herd of bluegill came in with them and set up on bed locations in close proximity to them .
Now here is where it gets real interesting , EVERYONE worked together as a community to protect each others beds and pumpkin seeds even hit jigs going over crappie beds .The next thing that was VERY noticeable was a jig HAD to be drug by the beds , if it sat over a bed and went to slow nobody would even look at it ! If it had a fair cadence and went by pretty steady they would slam it !
AND it gets better , almost no fish actually on the beds you targeted would hit the jigs , it was always a neighbor fish from pretty far away the would race over and hammer it ?
to add to it they set up frequently black white black white with only an inch or so border between the beds and that in turn is what I am sure causes hybridization , note the small fish in the one photo on the dock ,pretty sure its hybridized along with several others I managed to ketch
Anyway it was very interesting for sure and I couldn't stay long but I filled his basket and had a splendid time for about an hour …..
on a final side note they fish seemed to have an affinity for fresh water clam beds to spawn over if that matters .
and for sure I wish I didn't have to leave
stay tuned and have a great day

[SuperDave336]

Gorgeous pictures! Interesting read for sure. Thanks for sharing.

[PawPaw Gene]

That sure throws out a bunch of theories and facts. It make you wonder what do we really know. Well one thing we know is the Ketchn can Ketch some slabs.
"gene"

[scrat]

Nice crappie. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this report and pictures.

[Slabprowler]

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting stuff ! Nice pics

[GREENFISH]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing the observations!!


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

[StantheMan2567]

Definitely hybridization going on. Your observations are very interesting, water temps must be ideal for all three species to be setting up housekeeping. I have seen Bluegill and Bass beds but never Crappie beds. That is cool.

[keeferfish]

Sight fishing for Crappie has to be the funniest way I’ve ever caught them!

In MN they get under the Lilly Pads and you can watch them hit your jig.

Most don’t or suck it in and spit it out faster than you can set the hook.

Glad you had fun!

[Lake Life]

What a beautiful sight! Nice job, Ketchn.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[mighty]

You know I seen something like yesterday and just though it was bream and bass. Thanks for the knowledge

Sent from my SM-J737T using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app