Brownlee report

Crappie Chaser · 03-29-2009, 08:12 AM

There's no big runoff this spring and the fish are showing. Thursday dad & I did some shore fishing with Dan(dragon67) and his dad. After the sun warmed it up a little the crappie bit pretty good. They would go in flurries and we were doing pretty good until some surface debris drifted into our area. They were still biting but it was hard to do anything with the bite thru the debris. I put the boat in yesterday for the first time. Lots of small schools scattered in front of the parks. 45 deg water temp. They're hanging about 8' down early then go down to 12' mid-day. They haven't put on much length over winter but have filled pretty good. Mostly 3 yr old fish with a few 2 yr olds. Tasty fish out of that cool water.

tsaelee · 03-29-2009, 10:34 PM

Thats good to know theres fish out there. I havent been down to the snake in a couple years. Last year i heard they were really little. Have they gotten better?

shinnookums · 03-30-2009, 01:12 PM

Thanks for the report! I'm going out of Woodhead thursday and will do the same.

retaliate · 03-30-2009, 02:26 PM

Thanks for the report CC, keep em comming, only 5 more weeks til our spring Vacation.

wannacatchem · 03-30-2009, 07:25 PM

CC... or somebody... can you post some tips for bank fishing for crappie for somebody thats never done it before? Somehow I don't think my 12 foot bank rod, 16 oz sinkers and K15's would be whats used.

Any help?

dragon67 · 03-31-2009, 07:04 AM

It was really nice to fish with Crappie Chaser and his Dad. Caught some crappie with them and as he fishing said the grass that was floating by slowed it down. Crappie Chaser and his father left and my dad and I went over to Hewitt day park. I had to get my perch fishing on, it was alot hotter than the crappie fishing. The perch were only about 9inches big, have seen bigger there, but still a good size for them. Filled up the small bucket we had and started filleting them. Great day over there because the sun made it nice and warm and I got to fish with Gary and his dad. The perch fishing was easy because it was weight on the bottom of the line and then about a foot up is your hook with worm on it. Was weird that you would be fishing and I got a double on then the wind started blowing and no bites, wind stopped and bite back on.

dragon67 · 03-31-2009, 07:10 AM

The way I was fishing the crappie was about a 6.5ft pole, light action. Four pound test. Tie on a crappie jig on the bottom of you line and start casting out, you can also put another jig another jig about a foot up for a top bite. This way you are covering several feet of water depth. We were using red/white crappie jigs, while people next to us were using black/green., plus don't forget your crappie nibbles. Good luck

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannacatchem

CC... or somebody... can you post some tips for bank fishing for crappie for somebody thats never done it before? Somehow I don't think my 12 foot bank rod, 16 oz sinkers and K15's would be whats used.

Any help?

FelonFinder · 03-31-2009, 07:31 AM

Toss and retrieve some road runners for starters. Don't need big ones. Tip with crappie nibbles. The bass might try to steal it though!

Crappie Chaser · 03-31-2009, 08:09 AM

I had a party of 3 out yesterday ( Monday the 30th). The wind blew strong all day Sunday and the water temp had cooled off to 41.The morning started off slow but as the sun warmed things up the fishing got better. When the water temp got up to 43 the crappie got pretty active. We made controlled drifts with the trolling motor and found some good schools of fish. We ended the day with 162 crappie. Out of these we had probably 120 that I would call good keepers considering what's available now. We weren't sure how much of a day we would get in because of the wind so we kept some smaller fish early before the bite picked up. It looked like we were going to get blown off the the water several times but then it would settle down. There were enough fish to be selective and you could have kept just the thicker 3yr old fish. We did pretty good but it is not wide open and you still had to have a feel for the light bite. A boat came in at the same time as us and said they never had a bite all day.

Hunt'nFish · 03-31-2009, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crappie Chaser

............We did pretty good but it is not wide open and you still had to have a feel for the light bite.
A boat came in at the same time as us and said they never had a bite all day.

Well Crappie Chaser, goes to show what your customers are getting.......about the best knowledge possible for the $$.

Glad to see your posts and see you guys getting out. Thanks for the report.
Can't wait to get over there. Looks like this year we'll have the water...now we just need a few warmer days.
Hunt'nFish

shinnookums · 04-03-2009, 02:49 PM

Due to heavy morning snow we didn't launch at woodhead until 2pm thursday. I was all pumped up for bass but my Dad talked to some guys at the launch who caught some crappie by the dam and wanted to do the same. I reluctantly agreed and after an hour of drowning jigs without so much as a nibble he decided he wanted to try trolling for trout...(sigh) not wanting to go against the wishes of a 70 year old I quickly saw my hopes at bass disappearing. After a while of that he caught a 13 inch smallmouth on a wedding ring and I finally convinced him to bass fish for the last couple hours of sunlight we had left. I put on a crankbait and caught an 11 1/2 incher and then caught a pair fat 17" and 16 1/2" smallies before we had to leave. I can't help but think how many more we could've caught but was just happy to end the trip on a good note.