crappie every 3.333 minutes :)

Started fishing around 4PM and just like last two days- nothing happening until after 5PM - I was getting ready to quit cause my fingers were COLD - so I checked time and it was 5:10PM - and guess what the fish started rolling in the shad (sound familiar ?)

I got 3 crappie in 10 minutes but they were cold so I felt sorry for them and decided to quit i.e. 3 fish in 10 minutes
(bottom line they were little babies like last two days and I was too cold to mess with them today - in fact my fingers are hurting as I type this - time to go wash the dishes in nice HOT water.

Silly Crappie don't like wind and sun

Today I had a fishing buddy from around 3PM until about 4:30PM - we didn't catch a fish and only got one bite (probably a big shad or a bream :(

Then just as he was leaving I saw a fish playing on the surface in some shad - I said I was going to catch one - but I didn't get a bite - UNTIL about 10 minutes after he left and it was only a tiny bass

But by now it was almost 5PM and sun was behind the mountain and wind stopped so water was calm - so I could see fish chasing shad - and yep - JUST like yesterday they finally started biting (10 minutes past 5PM I got my first crappie and 20 minutes later I had 8 crappie (oops I should mention they were baby crappie again - just like yesterday

It's still fun getting a bite or catching a fish on every cast - even if they are small baby fish - cause you never know when a big crappie might be mixed in with the babies :)

But just like yesterday by 5:30PM the fish were not playing - chasing the shad any more - I think the shad moved deep into my brush pile (or took off somewhere else)

Bottom line: I think these baby crappie are part vampire - they wait until the sun is behind the mountain (not shinning on the water) plus they probably think I'm starting to get cold when the sun goes down behind the mountain (and I am - dang it)

Tomorrow I may just wait and fish from 5PM until 5:30PM - after I put on my longjohn's cause a cold front is moving thru tonight

BTW: I hope the duck hunters are happy - some of the spillway gates are still open and the water dropped 1" / day for past couple of days. Dang it they have enough water - and the fishing would improve if they let the lake stay level

Slow day

Around 3PM - decided to try the fishing but didn't catch anything for about one hour - then it was a bream. Fished 55 more minutes without a bite - it was beautiful day - no wind - 62F - so why worry about catching fish

Then I saw some shad jumping and a cast into them produced a bass - but a little one so I was going to give up for the day and watch the 5PM news.

But then more shad were jumping in the brush pile so I decided to try one more cast - well it was a school of little crappie working the shad - I got 6 crappie in the next 30 minutes (and got at least that many more bites). But as fast as they showed up - they left by 5:30PM - besides it was getting cool and starting to get dark - so I stopped at 5:45

Summary: Just when you think that crappie are not biting - a school may show up (and tomorrow maybe it'll be a school with 'college size fish' instead of elementary school size fish - like today :) :)

15 Crappie

We had rain yesterday - and the stupid duck hunters only got part of the water - so the lake level did not drop like it's been doing

So - yep - the crappie were biting this afternoon

Only got a couple that were big enough to keep - but just stayed around my pier - didn't go looking for the big ones - was just glad to get some 'crappie action'
Hope they close the spillway gates tomorrow but will not be surprised if they leave them open and 'use all the water coming down from upstream' (dang duck hunters have until Jan 25 before season closes

I missed a chance

I haven't fished much - barely wet a hook each day because the AGFC keeps taking out water for the duck hunters.

Well during night we had a heavy thunder storm but I saw that the AGFC opened the gates at the spillway (they do this on Friday to give water to the duck hunters - in Grassy lake below the spillway

So all day I figured water was dropping - then between 3:30 and 4PM I noticed water looked higher - so I went fishing - and guess what I only had about an hour before it got dark - and the crappie and bream were biting (probably been biting all day but I had assumed water was dropping - but the rain upstream was raising the level even with a couple gates open at spillway

I blew it - should have been fishing all day- but all I got was slightly over an hour - and 6 crappie and one BIG bream - but I lost about half dozen more crappie cause they were biting 'lite'

BTW: Only one of the crappie was a keeper - but just think - if I had fished early I probably would have ended up with a few more big ones - and had a crappie supper (4-5 slabs is plenty for me.

But I had made the dumb assumption that water was dropping - misjudged the amount of rain upstream and this is first time in a month the water was coming up

Of course - the water level is now starting to turn and it will drop tonight - which always shuts down the fishing - dang duck hunters - I hope they have a hole in their boots and get cold feet when the cold front moves in tomorrow

Hooded Merganser

Made water bird video last year - so this year only adding a few video of birds that were not 'close' last year (winter 2007-2008)

No water for fish

Duck season was open a week - then shut down for 5 days - then opened again today - until January 25 (except closed xmas day)

Sounds like 4th of July at shooting time and lot of ducks show up around here - and just now I noticed a dozen that consisted of 9 male and 3 female e.g. those hunters must miss the drakes and hit the females (see bottom for low water bitch :)


Lake is full of birds right now - including those dang sea gulls that keep trying to get a shad (they are not very good). But worst - the stupid water turkeys (Cormorant) see the sea gulls and they go to the same spot - and they can wipe out crappie - bream - small bass in a short time. I keep scaring them away but when the sea gulls start diving - the water turkeys come right back

Starting to see more ringneck ducks and a few bufflehead - but not really doing video of them like last year e.g. I have a lot of video of the birds from last year - and will probably not make many this year

Oh yell I almost forgot the "Great White Egret" and blue heron are stealing their share of fish - and they seem to like crappie (plus they leave big 'splats' of shit on my fishing pier) - bottom line I'm not much of a bird lover this year

Got off track - just wanted to bitch about duck hunters getting all my water - they drop the lake during duck season if the water is low in Grassy lake hunting area (below the spillway). It rained one day this past week but they opened up the spillway gates the next day and the duck hunters got all the water (lake if over a foot low right now)

Fish do NOT bite when water is falling or low - hope those duck hunters have a terrible season - and I wish the water turkeys would choke on a fish - and the coots die from eating too many shad - got to run to chase white egret off my fishing pier and brush pile (about 2 dozen of them keep showing up to get my crappie)

Birds - Grebe

Been too busy fishing to make many video but had to test new camera 'drivers' so I grabbed these grebe shots

Dumb 4 lb bass

Been catching catfish and crappie (but not many :(

This dang 4 lb Bass got my crappie minnow. I let him go so the Bass fishermen can get him in the spring :)