Find the Bait they say ....

[Ketchn]

And often times you are on them big . The only problem with finding the bait in my opinion is there is such a thing as to much bait !
I sometimes see a huge amount of bait and find the fish under them less than cooperative .
I am not sure if they are just not overly interested in a stray and or about to pop full of food already , but to be sure they can be finicky under real large bait balls .
We found ridiculous amounts of bait yesterday and a fair number of fish , the fish were all in the nice size wise range but to be sure getting a bit was a work out .
A few times we could see clouds within clouds , being big yellow dots in the haze of light yellow . they were crappie this much I know because this particular spot has not other open water predators . a few cats and a stray bass once in while but there are no striped devils and the crappie reign the lake .
all the bites we got occurred with a foot of the bottom no matter the water depth .
water temp was 47 when we started and 48 when we left . fish were holding under or near bait in 17 to 26 foot of water .
big pearl colored baits seemed best ......
Here is the kicker ....I USED AND AN 8 FOOT FLY ROD !
my wife found 2 nice fly rods at a yard sale a while back ready to roll for 10 bucks each .
i took the one i liked best and put a spinning reel on it loaded with braid .
i DID not care for the action or the fights that ensued and will go back to a regular rod .
it was very difficult to handle the fish with one and almost impossible to land them as well
not to mention that whippy action miss the bite thing after it telegraphs about from new york city to my hand to my brain
i do use an 8 footer sometimes but it is stiff and fast and can man handle a fish like a dream in a medium action ....i go no horse and cart so i dont need no whip
KABOOM is me yawl

[SuperDave336]

Nice pics Ketchn. Like that last one with slabs in each hand.

[Ketchn]

Nice pics Ketchn. Like that last one with slabs in each hand.

i told my friend to let me grab 2 for a photo before i went off to work .
you know the ole salt and pepper opp .
the blackie was a rare fish in there , we dont see many and hardly ever a good size one if we do ....

[Gomer Snerd]

They might have been bigger if you had spent more on depth finders. Lol

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[BobC]

That whippy rod might be just the ticket on a small stream. I have what they call a “full flex” 3 wgt that is aces on stream pans and crappies. Just a fun afternoon session rod.
Bob

[Takeum]

Ketchn, what kind of setup do you have for kayak? I’ve been thinking of getting one for shallow water fishing here in winters,,,, I need something that won’t flip when my fat butt turns from side to side,,, something really stable,,,,

[Noodle rod]

Well those have been my fishing conditions for two months now. On the other hand I much prefer the rod action you described well. I was even reluctant to try it from a kyak, but once I did I enjoyed it very much. Its very difficult to lip the crappie, and reach the tip of the rod,should it get wrapped or need restringing. Still it is my favorite way to fish for giant crappie.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

Tha bait is for sure a hindrance to my catchn here lately.....
These dang crappie don't have to spend any energy to be plum bursting full.....

[ezgoing]

Unfortunately, you don't always find the crappie when you find the bait. I've found huge bait balls the last two days and no predator fish in them nor around them.

I found the bait balls in 12-18 feet of water with the lake temperature being right around 50 degrees each day. The bait balls were suspended near but not close to brush piles nor bridge pillars. By not near I mean 50-100 feet away from the brush piles and in between the sets of bridge pillars.

I suspect the crappie are in the barrow pits along the dam but the south wind has been too much to search the north side of the lake. At least I managed to catch a few at the slips so I wasn't skunked.

Hopefully, the wind will allow me to fish the deep water tomorrow to see if that is their hiding place.

[Ketchn]

Ketchn, what kind of setup do you have for kayak? I’ve been thinking of getting one for shallow water fishing here in winters,,,, I need something that won’t flip when my fat butt turns from side to side,,, something really stable,,,,

i only have a paddle around john boat as i type , no other floatation devices , i do ride with my friends some though that have boats