April 23rd Clarks Hill Fishing with JIGGS!

[Fisher-o-Men]

I planned a crappie trollin' trip on Saturday morning and lo and behold the fellow I planned to go with never did show up as I waited at the McDonalds from 5:30 to 6:20 am!

Well, that time o' morning I didn't know who else to call but JIGGS...he's an ol' coot like me so I figured he'd be up either gettting ready to fish or doing honest work...(OK so maybe he's not exactly like me...:D)

Anyhow, he was willing and we arrived somewhat late to the lake to a very popular area and were absolutely shocked to see the ramp totally empty with no vehicles in the lot and no boats on the water! (Guess that big tournament on Russell sucked all the boats into that black hole! ) Anyhow, we pulled jigs along at around 0.85 mph in water from 10 to 16 ft, and I was really pleased that while we didn't get stellar numbers (28 fish total), we did catch some really quality black and white crappies. The fishing started off fast but shut down completely by 10:30 am.

Got to see Butch out there in his brand new crappie ride, and then his son Allen came by with his lady friend in hot pursuit of crappie, stripers or both. A wonderful morning on the water with a good friend...what could be better than that? (And just maybe his "Older than Dirt" cap will take just a bit of the heat off me and my funky ol' hat! Rofl)

[Fisher-o-Men]

Oh yes, here's the fish we split up when we called it a morning shortly after 11. Beautiful coloration and nearly every fish still with either bright yellow or pale egg sacs.

[gabowman]

Looks like you guys did good William. We'll probably fish that same area in the morning for a bit and then move on out into the lake. Jiggs, nothing wrong with that cap either. I like it.Thumbs Up It was good seeing you guys out there Saturday and congrats on some nice fish.

[Fisher-o-Men]

Thanks Butch, and I hope you wear em out tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be a great morning with little to no wind!

[palmettores]

Good report. Thanks for sharing. I threw around shallow a little at Hwell Saturday but did not catch any. Sounds like we may catch some up there spawning in May which would be a first for me I think.

[Fisher-o-Men]

Palmettores,

I can't say this with certainty, but it seemed to me that the white crappie still had bright yellow, somewhat loose eggs that they were probably heading in to lay, but the eggs in the black crappie I cleaned looked pale, and I suspect that these fish had partially spawned already and were resorbing those eggs that they didn't get to lay....but who knows? I've caught very small spawning fish in May over the years that were probably going through their first spawning season.

[Inkdabber]

It may have been a blessing in disguise that your first partner never showed. His replacement and yourself had a fine day with some beautiful fish caught. Congrats!

[strmwalker]

thats a nice cooler of fish!!congrats on the catch!!!

[Tracy Swanson]

hum fom lets see may be the spot is cooter crk or pistol crk just 2 stabs in the dark on this one but im thinking im right

[hollidas]

Thanks for the report FOM. Sounds like a good day on the water.