Sandy River Reservoir 1-26-12
Decided mid-day yesterday that it was too nice of a day not to go fishing. Hooked up the boat and headed to Sandy River Reservoir. Hadn't fished there in almost 2 years. Place has gotten really crowed in the last few years from bass fisherman looking for the big one. It now ranks right there with Briery Creek. Too bad the crappie there run on the small side. On the water around 11:30. Caught a crappie right off as I was approaching my 1st spot. Fish brushpiles in 12-18 fow. Manage 4 small bass but no more crappie. Moved to the mouth of one of the larger creeks. Guy longlining 2 poles in front of me managed to catch a decent crappie, then I caught one. Trolled (tightlined) around this area and caught a few more over the next couple of hours. Headed back to the ramp still fishing, crossed a long point, when I got to the non-wind blown side I caught a crappie. Turned the boat around and got into them pretty good, caught over 20 in this one spot and left them biting. Too bad most were in the 7 to 9 inch range but for the day I manged to bring enough decent size fish (9-1/2 to 11 inches) home for a meal. Fish were suspended in open water in creek mouths or relating to points in 18 to 25 fow. Caught fish from 10 to 18 feet deep. Some on plain minnows but most on jigs tipped with minnows. They liked it moving slow. Missed lots more than I caught. Had a fun day. May have to make it back out there again during the week before it gets too crowded, there were about 12 or so rigs in the parking lot when I left at 4.