A bad day at Abel Reservoir

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10-15-2008, 09:34 PM
Corker

A bad day at Abel Reservoir

I hit the road for Fredericksburg this morning & spent the day checking out Abel Res. A couple of regulars rolled in as I was preparing to launch.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1390.jpg
When asked about the crappie population at Abel, they said they didn't know if there were any crappies in the lake (but admitted that they only bottom-fish worms for bream.) Not an encouraging start.

The water was fairly clear (18" to 24" vis.), somewhat dark, and not as cool as I hoped: 67.4 at launch time and as high as 76 by mid-afternoon. Lake level is down at least a foot

One small bridge crosses the lake - right next to the launch area. I figured that would be a good place to start & if there really were specks in this long skinny lake, some of them were bound to be there. Within minutes, wham!
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1409.jpg
Looks like the lake does have crappies. :)

Page 2 in the "How to Catch Crappies" book says "look for brushpiles and fish them." Sometimes it's hard to know a BP is there, but this one was a snap.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1392.jpg

Page 3 says "look for wood"--no problem! Abel has wood everywhere you look.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1401.jpg

Did I mention beaver huts? Everywhere you look--I even saw the beaver scurrying away from one!
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1412.jpg

One section of Abel looks like a mountain stream--complete with shear rock dropoffs.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1405.jpg
Nothing in the book explained how to fish this kind of water & being a flatlander, I decided to dial up Wasabi the mountain man & get some OJT. After his phone rang and rang and rang it became obvious that I was going to have to figure this out on my own. Fortunately, the specks helped out.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1408.jpg

Other sections of this exciting lake are quiet coves & creeks
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1411.jpg
and beautiful vistas.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1417.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1422.jpg
DGIF lists this lake as 185 acres, but it seems many times that big due to the extensive shoreline.

Every fisherman I saw on the lake grumbled about how bad a day today was. If this was a bad day, I can't wait to fish Abel on a GOOD day!!!!
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i..._/IMG_1427.jpg
For the day:
30+ specks (13 keepers, largest = 11.5")
3 white perch (2 eating size)
3 green carp
1 catfish

Minnows were the ticket, but occasionally one would hit a jig. If there was a color of the day, I didn't find it.
10-15-2008, 09:39 PM
greenchicken

great pics and nice story as well, thanks for taking the time to go into so much detail
10-15-2008, 09:54 PM
dedawg1149

great looking lake nice catch
10-15-2008, 10:20 PM
TapOut64

Great pic's and great report. That's what I like to see, nice job.
10-15-2008, 11:03 PM
fishman78

Nice pics and report Corker. That is one fine looking lake. I am going to have to put that on my list of places I want to fish.
10-16-2008, 04:34 AM
Boscoe

Way to go, that sure looks like a pretty place.
10-16-2008, 04:42 AM
horseshoer

Good report Cork. Great pics too. Wish I coulda went but just too busy. What a beautiful place man. Glad the fish cooperated thats a good mess. You da man!!!
10-16-2008, 04:47 AM
Don G

Wtg

Real good day on the water...Really enjoyed the pictures & the detailed report..

Wonder what the working folks are doing?:)
10-16-2008, 05:47 AM
squirrel hunter

As usual, another great report!!
10-16-2008, 06:55 AM
Corker

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonG

Wonder what the working folks are doing?:)

They were working. Several showed up for an hour of fishing at about the time I hauled the boat.
10-16-2008, 06:59 AM
spec2ring

good job corker great report.
10-16-2008, 07:01 AM
ShellQuacker

Nice catch Corkster!
10-16-2008, 07:15 AM
berdman

Well, I would have to say you are really catching on to be A+ pupil on these reports. Great report and have fun.
10-16-2008, 07:23 AM
Rapprunner

Nice report and good pics, and good looking fish to boot! You da man.
10-16-2008, 09:22 AM
backtocrappie

Nice work Corkey! Should of called me up. I can inform you about fishing water that drops 45 feet just 8 feet from the bank. Trees on water like that tend to fall and either float away or sink in place. A good idea is to look for holes in the bank where a tree USED to be, go over it with sonar and at least 50% of the time it's still there out of sight.

Where we fish at Fountainhead on the Occ there 2 trees 99% submerged even though they are 75 feet long in 45 feet of water, they just fell right off a cliff and sunk.
10-16-2008, 09:30 AM
Corker

Quote:

Originally Posted by backtocrappie

Should of called me up.

Better still, this one's as close to you as me--you should just join me there for a rerun in a week or two.
10-16-2008, 10:27 AM
brad reedy

Corker:

Great report. Thanks for taking the time.
10-16-2008, 11:37 AM
crappie12

Very nice report and great pictures and what a fine mess of fish you have there. :)
10-16-2008, 04:26 PM
backtocrappie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corker

Better still, this one's as close to you as me--you should just join me there for a rerun in a week or two.

Tempting offer Corkey!
10-16-2008, 04:38 PM
Anchor Man

Nice mess Corker, just where is Able res.? Also I will not be working on Friday and I'm thinking about going to Chick lake. Are you busy?
10-16-2008, 05:00 PM
Corker

Go to Fredericksburg. Take Rte. 17 north for a couple of miles, turn right onto Route 616, and right again on Route 651. It's 75 to 80 miles from northern Chesterfield & probably a bit closer for you. Normally, I'd jump at a chance to fish the Chick in your beautiful new boat, but I've fished 5 out of the last 8 days & need a day to catch up.
10-16-2008, 05:30 PM
bfishn10

hard day at work i see

great report , glad to see some doing there job.
10-16-2008, 06:52 PM
LBM

Corker

Great posting with great photos. You Virginia folks sure have some senic places to fish. The one thing that really stands out with all the pictures is that it seems like the wind is never howling there.

Seeing that reminds me of a lady from work who was originally from Virginia and one thing she complained about Kansas was that she could never have a picnic here because it was always too windy and would blow her plates and stuff around.

Good posting there.
10-16-2008, 07:02 PM
wasabi

What a dynamite report!

http://www.alexrudloff.com/media/2007/01/dynomite.jpg
10-16-2008, 07:26 PM
Corker

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBM

The one thing that really stands out with all the pictures is that it seems like the wind is never howling there.

We don't get as much wind as you do, but I've had many a miserable day this year when it was all I could do to handle the boat. Last weekend's bash was fairly windy, for example. It was just short of white capping. Yesterday was an unusually calm day & I ALWAYS try to go fishing on those days to make up for the windy ones.
10-17-2008, 08:54 AM
Corker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anchor Man

Also I will not be working on Friday and I'm thinking about going to Chick lake.

Today's working out to be a nice "day off"--did you stay home & watch it rain? Want to talk about tomorrow?